Chapter 6
As the elder Link drove the carriage through Hyrule Field, the younger Link had cried himself to sleep with his head lying on Zelda's lap. Zelda ran her hand through his hair and petted him every once in a while. A tear slowly found its way down her cheek and onto Link's cheek.
"How many times have I wished for moments like this," Zelda thought. The elder Link looked back at them for a moment and smiled but then he frowned. He had always wanted to have his son back but not like this.
"Where are we going Link," Rauru asked the elder Link. Rauru had taken a seat next to Link in the front.
"We have to go to Lon Lon Ranch and check on Talon and Ingo. We have to tell them about Malon as well," Link said sadly. Malon had truly been one of his best friends and one of the kindest most loving souls a person could know. He couldn't think of anyone but her to take care of his son when he and Zelda had to hide him.
"I see…" Rauru said. He had never personally met the family that ran Lon Lon Ranch but he heard Link and Zelda speak of them many times. From what he had heard, he thought they were a very loving family.
As the four of them sped through Hyrule Field, they finally came upon Lon Lon Ranch and Link was horrified by what he saw. The ranch had been burned completely to the ground. From the stench Link could tell that the horses and probably Talon and Ingo had been burned alive.
"That bastard," Link thought as he scowled and just turned the carriage around and started off in another direction.
"Link, why did we not…" Zelda began but was cut off by the elder Link.
"I don't want our son seeing this if he wakes up. It'll be too much for him. It'll be less of a shock if we tell him later, away from this place," he said as he continued riding off in a southern direction.
"Link, are we going to Kokiri Forest," Rauru asked the elder Link.
"Yes. It's the safest place I can think of now. Besides, Saria and Mido will be more than happy to help us," the elder Link said as the entrance of the forest came into view.
Link would have been excited if not for the situation they were presently in. He had not seen Saria in several years and she had been an even better friend than Malon. He had once thought about letting the young Link live with her but he decided against it. With her duties as a Sage, she would've been far to busy to raise a child. As far as Mido, he and Link had finally buried the hatchet and became good friends after he had defeated Ganondorf.
The entrance to the forest was too narrow for the carriage to get through so Link motioned for everyone to get off. Zelda woke the younger Link and told him they were getting off. Link silently did so and walked over to the elder Link. He looked up at his father and couldn't help but notice the constant look of heroism on his face. How his father seemed to be ready for anything and even if he wasn't prepared he would still give everything he had to protect those he loved. For a brief moment, Link admired his father like any other son would admire his own father.
"Have you ever been to the forest," the elder Link asked his son.
"No. I've been to the entrance but I've never gone in. For some reason I found that I couldn't bring myself to go in," Link said sleepily. He still wasn't fully awake which may have been the reason why he wasn't being defiant or snapping at his mother and father.
"Well, we're going in now. We're going to meet a good friend of mine. She took care of me like Malon….," the elder Link began to say before he closed his mouth and lowered his head. The younger Link felt a single tear fall down his cheek and a small sob escape his lip but he somehow managed to control his emotions.
"Well, let's go," Zelda said as she and Rauru followed the two Links into the forest.
As they crossed a suspension bridge, the elder Link heard a familiar feminine voice coming from behind them.
"So you finally came back after all these years," the voice said as they all turned around. The elder Link smiled when he saw his best friend.
"Hello, Saria. It most certainly has been a long time," the elder Link said as he walked over to Saria and shook her hand. It had certainly been a long time because now Link towered over her by a good two feet and his hand seemed to completely hide hers in it.
"So what brings you back to the forest my friend," Saria asked him in her usual cheery tone. Link frowned and told her that they needed to talk but somewhere else.
"Oh, well let's go to the Forest Temple. There are no longer any monsters there and with the help of the Kokiri we managed to turn it into an actual working temple. Hold onto to me everyone," Saria said as she turned her back to them. Each of them placed a hand on her shoulders and Saria then raised her hands into the air. A green ball of light shot up from her hands and a blue column of light shot up from the ground. In a flash of light they all disappeared.
When the younger Link opened his eyes he found himself in front of a beautiful temple with trees and flowers of almost every variety in the courtyard outside of it. In the middle of the courtyard he noticed a large stone circle with the Triforce on it.
The elder Link saw his son looking at the stone and said, "When you play a song called the Minuet of Forest on your ocarina, you will instantly be transported to that exact spot."
"Oh," was all the younger Link said as they continued into the temple
The elder Link took a look around the temple and was surprised by what he saw. He had not actually been inside the Forest Temple since he had defeated the phantom copy of Ganondorf. The main room still split off into several other rooms but it was now much brighter looking than it had been when he was there and the floors were adorned with green carpeting instead of the red that had been there before. He still noticed that the elevator was still in the middle of the room but it was much larger now.
"Shall we," Saria said as she motioned for them to get into the elevator. They did so and it started with a slight jolt and slowly descended into the floor. For a moment the younger Link nearly jumped out of his skin and latched onto Zelda for a moment. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly let go of her dress and turned away from her. Zelda bit her lip to keep the sob from escaping it.
When the elevator reached the bottom, they all stepped off and headed into the chamber in which the elder Link had fought the phantom copy of Ganondorf. It had been changed into what appeared to be a meeting room. Saria moved over to a large chair at the head of a large table and everyone else sat in a chair near her.
"Now tell me," she began, "what has happened?" The elder Link began to explain the situation to Saria as best he could and Rauru or Zelda would fill him in whenever he missed something.
"So this is your son," Saria said as she pointed to the younger Link. The younger Link turned his head away from her and looked up to stair at the ceiling.
"Yes, he is the Hero of Time now and if the legend is true and Ganondorf has corrupted the seven spirits, then he may very end up fighting all of you sages," the elder Link said.
"Oh my goddesses! Is there nothing we can do to stop this from happening," Saria asked in shock.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid not," Rauru spoke. "Once the spirits have been corrupted it is only a matter of time before we sages become corrupted as well. The spirits can only be purified when the Hero of Time defeats us and absorbs them into his body then brings them to the Sacred Realm."
"I see," Saria said as she lowered her head and began to think. She then realized something very important.
"You all do know what will happen even if we recover the spiritual stones and open the Door of Time? Once Link pulls the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time then his spirit will also be imprisoned in the Sacred Realm until he is of age to become the Hero of Time like his father before him. Although he is older than his father was when he pulled the Master Sword from the pedestal it is not by much and he will still be trapped for several years before he is released."
The elder Link then slapped himself on his forehead. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been in forgetting that.
"I don't care how long I have to be trapped. I'm going to kill that monster that was responsible for killing my mother," the young Link said as he shot up from his chair. He did it so quickly that he knocked his chair over.
"But your mother is…." Saria began to say before she was cut off by the younger Link.
"SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER," he yelled as he banged his fist on the table and a tear slid down his cheek. At that moment everything he had put into trying to forgive his birth parents was in vain and his old feelings about them returned.
Saria became angry when she saw the display that the younger Link was putting on. She got up from her chair and walked over to him. He was a bit taller than she was but not so much that she had to look up at him. Then Saria did something that no one in the room expected. She outstretched her arm and slapped the younger Link as hard as she could.
"You know, you should stop treating your parents like that. They did what they had to do because they loved you. You should be lucky that you had and still have parents that love you that much. Even Malon understand why they did what they did. Don't you think it's time you realized why they did it as well," she said as she stormed back to her seat and sat back down.
The younger Link just stood there with a blank expression on his face and put his hand on his cheek where Saria had slapped him. He couldn't believe she had done that. As he felt the stinging go away he slowly realized that despite all his attempts to blame everything on his parents and no matter how much he wanted to hold on to his hatred of them…he couldn't. He finally realized that they really did love him.
He pulled his chair back up to the table and quietly sat down. He didn't speak for a moment but then he finally said something that he meant with all his heart.
"Mother, father, I forgive you but when the time comes, I am still going to avenge my mom. I hope it doesn't bother you that I call her that but that is what she is to me and as I said, when the time comes, I will kill the monster that was responsible for her death."
The elder Link nodded his head as well as Zelda. Saria was glad that she had managed to bring the family together but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Back to the subject at hand, we have to find the spiritual stones first. Do we have any idea where we can begin to look," she asked. With the exception of Rauru, everyone scratched their heads in confusion. No one had any idea where Ganondorf's fortresses were.
"I believe I can help with that," said a voice coming from the entrance to the meeting room.
"MIDO," the elder Link said. He was actually happy to see the long time acquaintance of his.
"Hello, Link. It's been a while," Mido said with a smirk. He remembered when Link was still his size and how jealous he had been because of all the attention he got from the Deku Tree and Saria.
"Mido, you know where to find the spiritual stones," Saria asked with a look of hopefulness on her face.
"I know where to find the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. A few of the other Kokiri and I were looking for some Deku seeds in the forest when we happened upon a fortress. At first we thought it was one of the abandoned fortresses from the first war with the Gerudo but we saw some guards standing at the front gate. We also saw a figure that looked like Link but much darker looking go inside with the spiritual stone in his hand. This was yesterday so I don't know if it's still there," Mido said as he sat down at the meeting table.
"You think you can lead us to it," the younger Link asked.
"Well, well. So you're the one that's supposed to replace the big guy here," Mido said as he looked at the elder Link.
"Well…" the younger Link said with a very serious look on his face.
"Sorry. Yes I can take you there but it will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Why's that," the younger Link asked somewhat agitated.
"For several reasons my young friend. One, you don't know how to use a sword and will be pretty much useless until you learn how to use one. Two, it's almost dark and security around that place is almost impossible to breach without alerting the whole fortress of our presence. Three, you're going to need to rest up if you're planning on breaking into that place," Mido said smugly. "That reminds me. I brought you a little something."
Mido reached behind him and brought out a small sword and handed it to the younger Link.
"You remember this sword, buddy," he asked the elder Link.
"Yeah, I sure do. Had some good times with it," he said as he smiled.
"There's also someone I want you to meet, my young friend. Your father knew her well," Mido said as he stepped inside.
Out of nowhere a blue ball of light flew straight at Link and flew right into his face. It started fluttering around him like crazy and for a moment it seemed to be kissing his cheek.
"LINK! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH," a little voice cried out as the blue ball began circling the elder Link again.
"NAVI! Is that really you," the elder Link asked surprised. He had not seen his fairy friend even longer than he had Saria.
"It's great to see you Link. I can't wait to help you beat that bastard Ganondorf again," Navi said excitedly.
"Not me. You'll be helping my son this time," Link said as he pointed to the younger Link sitting across from him.
Navi flew over to the younger Link and circled around him as if inspecting him. She stopped at his face and looked at it a moment and then flew back to the elder Link.
"I see the resemblance but he isn't anywhere as near as handsome as you," Navi said with a smile. Link's cheeks became red a little but the younger Link and Zelda took offense to Navi's comment and gave her the evil eye. Link saw them and remembered the seriousness of the situation before them. He then explained everything to Navi as quickly as he could.
"THAT MONSTER! We have to stop him," Navi said enraged.
"I agree. So, the plan is the big guy here teaches the little guy how to fight, we rest up, then tomorrow we sneak into the fortress," Mido said to the group.
"Agreed," they all said in unison.
"I will all show you to my house. You can rest there. Link and Link…um, is there anything we can do to cut down on the confusion," Saria asked.
"Not really. Just make sure you're looking at which one you want to talk to," Mido said.
"Okay then. You remember where the practice grounds were, don't you Link," she said as she looked at the elder Link. He nodded his head.
"You can teach him there. If that's everything, let's take our leave then," Saria said as they all headed towards the elevator. On their way out, the younger Link suddenly grabbed Navi out of the air and held a tight grip on her.
"Listen here you. Let's get one thing straight. If all you're going to do is make fun of me and joke the whole time then you might as well go back to wherever it is fairies come from, got it," he said and then let her go.
As he walked off, Navi stuck her tongue out at him and said, "Whatever, Mr. Cranky Pants."
As the elder Link drove the carriage through Hyrule Field, the younger Link had cried himself to sleep with his head lying on Zelda's lap. Zelda ran her hand through his hair and petted him every once in a while. A tear slowly found its way down her cheek and onto Link's cheek.
"How many times have I wished for moments like this," Zelda thought. The elder Link looked back at them for a moment and smiled but then he frowned. He had always wanted to have his son back but not like this.
"Where are we going Link," Rauru asked the elder Link. Rauru had taken a seat next to Link in the front.
"We have to go to Lon Lon Ranch and check on Talon and Ingo. We have to tell them about Malon as well," Link said sadly. Malon had truly been one of his best friends and one of the kindest most loving souls a person could know. He couldn't think of anyone but her to take care of his son when he and Zelda had to hide him.
"I see…" Rauru said. He had never personally met the family that ran Lon Lon Ranch but he heard Link and Zelda speak of them many times. From what he had heard, he thought they were a very loving family.
As the four of them sped through Hyrule Field, they finally came upon Lon Lon Ranch and Link was horrified by what he saw. The ranch had been burned completely to the ground. From the stench Link could tell that the horses and probably Talon and Ingo had been burned alive.
"That bastard," Link thought as he scowled and just turned the carriage around and started off in another direction.
"Link, why did we not…" Zelda began but was cut off by the elder Link.
"I don't want our son seeing this if he wakes up. It'll be too much for him. It'll be less of a shock if we tell him later, away from this place," he said as he continued riding off in a southern direction.
"Link, are we going to Kokiri Forest," Rauru asked the elder Link.
"Yes. It's the safest place I can think of now. Besides, Saria and Mido will be more than happy to help us," the elder Link said as the entrance of the forest came into view.
Link would have been excited if not for the situation they were presently in. He had not seen Saria in several years and she had been an even better friend than Malon. He had once thought about letting the young Link live with her but he decided against it. With her duties as a Sage, she would've been far to busy to raise a child. As far as Mido, he and Link had finally buried the hatchet and became good friends after he had defeated Ganondorf.
The entrance to the forest was too narrow for the carriage to get through so Link motioned for everyone to get off. Zelda woke the younger Link and told him they were getting off. Link silently did so and walked over to the elder Link. He looked up at his father and couldn't help but notice the constant look of heroism on his face. How his father seemed to be ready for anything and even if he wasn't prepared he would still give everything he had to protect those he loved. For a brief moment, Link admired his father like any other son would admire his own father.
"Have you ever been to the forest," the elder Link asked his son.
"No. I've been to the entrance but I've never gone in. For some reason I found that I couldn't bring myself to go in," Link said sleepily. He still wasn't fully awake which may have been the reason why he wasn't being defiant or snapping at his mother and father.
"Well, we're going in now. We're going to meet a good friend of mine. She took care of me like Malon….," the elder Link began to say before he closed his mouth and lowered his head. The younger Link felt a single tear fall down his cheek and a small sob escape his lip but he somehow managed to control his emotions.
"Well, let's go," Zelda said as she and Rauru followed the two Links into the forest.
As they crossed a suspension bridge, the elder Link heard a familiar feminine voice coming from behind them.
"So you finally came back after all these years," the voice said as they all turned around. The elder Link smiled when he saw his best friend.
"Hello, Saria. It most certainly has been a long time," the elder Link said as he walked over to Saria and shook her hand. It had certainly been a long time because now Link towered over her by a good two feet and his hand seemed to completely hide hers in it.
"So what brings you back to the forest my friend," Saria asked him in her usual cheery tone. Link frowned and told her that they needed to talk but somewhere else.
"Oh, well let's go to the Forest Temple. There are no longer any monsters there and with the help of the Kokiri we managed to turn it into an actual working temple. Hold onto to me everyone," Saria said as she turned her back to them. Each of them placed a hand on her shoulders and Saria then raised her hands into the air. A green ball of light shot up from her hands and a blue column of light shot up from the ground. In a flash of light they all disappeared.
When the younger Link opened his eyes he found himself in front of a beautiful temple with trees and flowers of almost every variety in the courtyard outside of it. In the middle of the courtyard he noticed a large stone circle with the Triforce on it.
The elder Link saw his son looking at the stone and said, "When you play a song called the Minuet of Forest on your ocarina, you will instantly be transported to that exact spot."
"Oh," was all the younger Link said as they continued into the temple
The elder Link took a look around the temple and was surprised by what he saw. He had not actually been inside the Forest Temple since he had defeated the phantom copy of Ganondorf. The main room still split off into several other rooms but it was now much brighter looking than it had been when he was there and the floors were adorned with green carpeting instead of the red that had been there before. He still noticed that the elevator was still in the middle of the room but it was much larger now.
"Shall we," Saria said as she motioned for them to get into the elevator. They did so and it started with a slight jolt and slowly descended into the floor. For a moment the younger Link nearly jumped out of his skin and latched onto Zelda for a moment. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly let go of her dress and turned away from her. Zelda bit her lip to keep the sob from escaping it.
When the elevator reached the bottom, they all stepped off and headed into the chamber in which the elder Link had fought the phantom copy of Ganondorf. It had been changed into what appeared to be a meeting room. Saria moved over to a large chair at the head of a large table and everyone else sat in a chair near her.
"Now tell me," she began, "what has happened?" The elder Link began to explain the situation to Saria as best he could and Rauru or Zelda would fill him in whenever he missed something.
"So this is your son," Saria said as she pointed to the younger Link. The younger Link turned his head away from her and looked up to stair at the ceiling.
"Yes, he is the Hero of Time now and if the legend is true and Ganondorf has corrupted the seven spirits, then he may very end up fighting all of you sages," the elder Link said.
"Oh my goddesses! Is there nothing we can do to stop this from happening," Saria asked in shock.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid not," Rauru spoke. "Once the spirits have been corrupted it is only a matter of time before we sages become corrupted as well. The spirits can only be purified when the Hero of Time defeats us and absorbs them into his body then brings them to the Sacred Realm."
"I see," Saria said as she lowered her head and began to think. She then realized something very important.
"You all do know what will happen even if we recover the spiritual stones and open the Door of Time? Once Link pulls the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time then his spirit will also be imprisoned in the Sacred Realm until he is of age to become the Hero of Time like his father before him. Although he is older than his father was when he pulled the Master Sword from the pedestal it is not by much and he will still be trapped for several years before he is released."
The elder Link then slapped himself on his forehead. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been in forgetting that.
"I don't care how long I have to be trapped. I'm going to kill that monster that was responsible for killing my mother," the young Link said as he shot up from his chair. He did it so quickly that he knocked his chair over.
"But your mother is…." Saria began to say before she was cut off by the younger Link.
"SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER," he yelled as he banged his fist on the table and a tear slid down his cheek. At that moment everything he had put into trying to forgive his birth parents was in vain and his old feelings about them returned.
Saria became angry when she saw the display that the younger Link was putting on. She got up from her chair and walked over to him. He was a bit taller than she was but not so much that she had to look up at him. Then Saria did something that no one in the room expected. She outstretched her arm and slapped the younger Link as hard as she could.
"You know, you should stop treating your parents like that. They did what they had to do because they loved you. You should be lucky that you had and still have parents that love you that much. Even Malon understand why they did what they did. Don't you think it's time you realized why they did it as well," she said as she stormed back to her seat and sat back down.
The younger Link just stood there with a blank expression on his face and put his hand on his cheek where Saria had slapped him. He couldn't believe she had done that. As he felt the stinging go away he slowly realized that despite all his attempts to blame everything on his parents and no matter how much he wanted to hold on to his hatred of them…he couldn't. He finally realized that they really did love him.
He pulled his chair back up to the table and quietly sat down. He didn't speak for a moment but then he finally said something that he meant with all his heart.
"Mother, father, I forgive you but when the time comes, I am still going to avenge my mom. I hope it doesn't bother you that I call her that but that is what she is to me and as I said, when the time comes, I will kill the monster that was responsible for her death."
The elder Link nodded his head as well as Zelda. Saria was glad that she had managed to bring the family together but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Back to the subject at hand, we have to find the spiritual stones first. Do we have any idea where we can begin to look," she asked. With the exception of Rauru, everyone scratched their heads in confusion. No one had any idea where Ganondorf's fortresses were.
"I believe I can help with that," said a voice coming from the entrance to the meeting room.
"MIDO," the elder Link said. He was actually happy to see the long time acquaintance of his.
"Hello, Link. It's been a while," Mido said with a smirk. He remembered when Link was still his size and how jealous he had been because of all the attention he got from the Deku Tree and Saria.
"Mido, you know where to find the spiritual stones," Saria asked with a look of hopefulness on her face.
"I know where to find the Spiritual Stone of the Forest. A few of the other Kokiri and I were looking for some Deku seeds in the forest when we happened upon a fortress. At first we thought it was one of the abandoned fortresses from the first war with the Gerudo but we saw some guards standing at the front gate. We also saw a figure that looked like Link but much darker looking go inside with the spiritual stone in his hand. This was yesterday so I don't know if it's still there," Mido said as he sat down at the meeting table.
"You think you can lead us to it," the younger Link asked.
"Well, well. So you're the one that's supposed to replace the big guy here," Mido said as he looked at the elder Link.
"Well…" the younger Link said with a very serious look on his face.
"Sorry. Yes I can take you there but it will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Why's that," the younger Link asked somewhat agitated.
"For several reasons my young friend. One, you don't know how to use a sword and will be pretty much useless until you learn how to use one. Two, it's almost dark and security around that place is almost impossible to breach without alerting the whole fortress of our presence. Three, you're going to need to rest up if you're planning on breaking into that place," Mido said smugly. "That reminds me. I brought you a little something."
Mido reached behind him and brought out a small sword and handed it to the younger Link.
"You remember this sword, buddy," he asked the elder Link.
"Yeah, I sure do. Had some good times with it," he said as he smiled.
"There's also someone I want you to meet, my young friend. Your father knew her well," Mido said as he stepped inside.
Out of nowhere a blue ball of light flew straight at Link and flew right into his face. It started fluttering around him like crazy and for a moment it seemed to be kissing his cheek.
"LINK! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH," a little voice cried out as the blue ball began circling the elder Link again.
"NAVI! Is that really you," the elder Link asked surprised. He had not seen his fairy friend even longer than he had Saria.
"It's great to see you Link. I can't wait to help you beat that bastard Ganondorf again," Navi said excitedly.
"Not me. You'll be helping my son this time," Link said as he pointed to the younger Link sitting across from him.
Navi flew over to the younger Link and circled around him as if inspecting him. She stopped at his face and looked at it a moment and then flew back to the elder Link.
"I see the resemblance but he isn't anywhere as near as handsome as you," Navi said with a smile. Link's cheeks became red a little but the younger Link and Zelda took offense to Navi's comment and gave her the evil eye. Link saw them and remembered the seriousness of the situation before them. He then explained everything to Navi as quickly as he could.
"THAT MONSTER! We have to stop him," Navi said enraged.
"I agree. So, the plan is the big guy here teaches the little guy how to fight, we rest up, then tomorrow we sneak into the fortress," Mido said to the group.
"Agreed," they all said in unison.
"I will all show you to my house. You can rest there. Link and Link…um, is there anything we can do to cut down on the confusion," Saria asked.
"Not really. Just make sure you're looking at which one you want to talk to," Mido said.
"Okay then. You remember where the practice grounds were, don't you Link," she said as she looked at the elder Link. He nodded his head.
"You can teach him there. If that's everything, let's take our leave then," Saria said as they all headed towards the elevator. On their way out, the younger Link suddenly grabbed Navi out of the air and held a tight grip on her.
"Listen here you. Let's get one thing straight. If all you're going to do is make fun of me and joke the whole time then you might as well go back to wherever it is fairies come from, got it," he said and then let her go.
As he walked off, Navi stuck her tongue out at him and said, "Whatever, Mr. Cranky Pants."