Spinning Slash, Chapter 2: Link
Icy arrows pounded at the windowpane, shattering into tiny drops that ricocheted back, out into the storm. A snap of lightning, followed by a bellow of thunder, indicated further the ferocity of the monsoon raging outside.
Sighing a distressed sigh, Miss Claire gazed out the window, twirling her creamy brown curls around her first finger. Her breathing was uneasy, and she took another fleeting glance out the window. Moaning once more, she tore her thoughts away from the outside and turned to the(mostly drenched) crowd inside her small schoolhouse, and then at the two unaccompanied five-year-olds standing below her.
"Gee," she grumbled, "I certainly do hope your fathers get here OK. are you absolutely positive that they're coming?"
"Positive. They wouldn't let us down." testified Elaine with assurance.
"Well, I trust you two. but do you think they'll make it here alright? That's one pretty mean storm out there." She pointed her thumb behind her at the window, outside which a tempest raged.
"Ehh, he'll bring an umbrella." mused Elaine.
"He's seen worse." was Posie's only reply.
"I hope so. this is the first time in my career that a child, let alone two children, have had their parents come after them like this. usually it's a package deal."
"Well, um."
Posie, however, was left without a good reply this time.
Miss Claire took another glance at the hoard of children and their parents, milling about with nowhere better to go. She had planned for this to be a gala outdoors event, but the strain of bad weather had forced everyone inside. Storms like this were typical in Hyrule at this time of year, especially in Kakirio Village-for some reason, the creaky old windmill near the graveyard seemed to attract them like a magnet. She mused that the strange music drifting up from its interior had something to do with it.
A sudden crack exploded outside, and at first one might mistake it for thunder. But a sudden blast of cold air-from the now opened door- indicated otherwise.
A figure, silhouetted against the rapidly darkening sky, stood in the doorway, a long raincoat draped around his shoulders. He was tall, at least six foot three, and his overlarge feet clomped like horses' hooves as he strode in. Humongous footprints, each a foot in length at least, stained the perfect pink carpet. He pivoted quickly, and shut the door to avoid the storm from coming inside and dampening the crowd further.
The man rose his rough, worn hands, and pulled the brown hood of his raincoat back down to his neck. He shook his short brown hair, sending tiny droplets scattering everywhere. He opened his eyes, which were like deep chocolate pools sitting in his face. From his size, large feet, and deep eyes, she could tell he was most certainly not Posie's father, he had to be Elaine's.
The man knelt, sending his coat sliding off his shoulders and onto the floor. He wore a deep crimson shirt, with long denim pants, and his hair was thick but cut off above his elongated Hyrulian ears. He looked up into Miss Claire's face, and his hawk-like nose was red with cold.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Claire." he said kindly. He picked up her hand, and stood himself up. "I'm Randal Jacob Parkerstine, Elaine's dad, but, you can call me Randy." He shook her hand wildly, and she tremored as if she was stranding on a fault line in the middle of an earthquake.
"W-w-well it is a p-p-pleasure to m-m-meet you, M-M-Mr. P-P- Parkerstine, b-b-but would y-y-you happen to know the whereabouts of your daughter's friend Posie's f-f-father?"
Randy released his grip on Miss Claire's hand. "Hmm, him? Nope. Haven't seen him. But you'll love him, he's a great guy-fun-loving, witty, extremely kind. well, once you meet him, you'll understand."
"I hope so." grumbled Miss Claire, slightly dizzy.
"No, really! Just take my word for it! I swear, honest! I've met him, 'es a good friend of mine!"
"Oh, I believe you, I believe you!" Miss Claire rubbed her aching forehead. "I just wish I knew when he was coming, I don't think I have much more patience left and neither do the other parents!"
"He'll be along, don't you worry. I'm betting either he got caught in the storm, or his boss saddled him with a last-minute job." Randy coughed, but his chuckles were unmistakable under his hacking.
Miss Claire was curious who he worked for, but she decided to keep her nose out of such business until he did come. She was, indeed, very eager to meet him-with her odd name, small size, and unusual attitude, Posie was an enigma herself, and her father, if she was anything like him, was bound to be an interesting man.
Tony slunk away from his mother, who was busy chatting with a boy named Quince's mom, and stole over to Posie's side.
"Well, midget, I'm impressed. You actually managed to get your dad to come. I would think you'd be too scared to ask him."
Posie sneered at him, but did not respond.
"Now we can all see just how goofy he really is, no matter what you say. We'll all know where you get it from!" Tony laughed maliciously, and Posie burned hot in the face. He was insulting her father! Well, she figured, she'd be the one with the last laugh. After all, he was.
A blinding streak of lightning flew across the sky, revealing a strange figure approaching. It strode briskly in front of the window, showing only a blurred green outline. All heads cocked to see who was nearing, when the door flung open.
A somewhat short, yet lanky figure hung in the door, its head pointed downward, looking about the room. There did seem to be a point on top of its head, like a person in a cloak, but the figure didn't appear to be wearing one. The person's feet were small, and something rather bushy stuck out to one side of the person's shadowed face. The only sign that the face was, indeed, a living face and not a stone statue, were two glittering points beneath the large, bushy object.
The person attempted to take a single step inside, sending one leather shod foot over the threshold, but it somehow missed its mark entirely and he stumbled, flailing his arms about wildly, until finally coming down with a thump on the plush carpet.
Everyone gasped when they saw the man's face, for it was familiar to all in the room. The only persons whose mouths remained closed were Posie's and Elaine's, Posie's because she was frowning slightly, and Elaine's because she was on the verge of breaking up with laughter.
He propped himself up on his long, flannel-wrapped arms, and lifted his head. His sapphire eyes twinkled with foreign anticipation, and his thick, golden blonde hair was plastered with sopping rain, his bushy bangs sticking out ungainly to the side. His tiny, pointy nose was as red as Randy's had been, and his tight mouth was twisted into a thin grimace as he came to his feet. He brushed off his forest green tunic with his gauntlet- covered hands, and took a quick glance up at the crowd gawking at him.
"Oh." said Link, with surprise that, for some reason, seemed only half sincere. "I'm sorry. Did I barge in on your little gathering here? Real sorry, folks. I was just out looking for this house where I'm supposed to meet someone, top secret government business, strictly hush-hush, y'know. and of all the crazy things, I thought this place was it. Isn't that just, y'know, too nutty?" He leaned over, against a case of shelves.
"What is he doing?" mumbled Posie into her arms, now trying to hide her face.
"Well, I just barged on in, expecting a group of top warriors, and I ended up here. Weird, huh? But, no need to worry, folks, it was just an accident."
"Oh no." grumbled Posie, putting her hands up in front of her face. "This had better not be what I think it is."
"I'll bet it is." Elaine grumbled to Posie back.
"Oh yeah?" Randy challenged. He took one long, sliding step over to Link, giving him an odd look. "An accident, hey? I doubt it. imposter!"
"Hey, who are you calling an imposter, punk?" Link growled menacingly at Randy.
"My dad's not that dumb, it has to be. Oh no. Once everyone realizes. we'll be the laughingstocks of the whole kindergarten!" Elaine was beginning to cry.
"I'll bet you've been sent by Gannon! An assassin bent on destroying us all and the whole village!" Randy fired his scorns.
"You're positively insane!" Link's voice was beginning to take on the air of an enraged lion.
"You can't be the real Link! He would never come barging in here, he would know what this place was! He can READ ya know! There's a big sign! So just give in so we can take you over to the dungeons of Hyrule Castle!"
"How DARE you accuse the Hero Of Time so!"
"Ha! Don't give up easily, do you? What am I s'possed to do, hold a contest of skill to prove that you're not the real Link?" Randy's voice was loaded with sarcasm.
"Yeah!" came a sudden rush of outcries from most of the children, excluding Posie and Elaine. "Con-test! Con-test! Con-test!"
Link and Randy suddenly stared at each other, bewildered. Link mouthed something at Randy, but he just shrugged in reply.
"Whoa there!" Miss Claire suddenly found the nerve to intrude on the scrimmage between Link and Randy. She brushed the observing throng away with her arms to make her way towards the two of them.
"Look," she said to them in the tone she often took one when dealing with the small, kindergarten children, "you're both sensible, grown men-so why can't you handle this like them? I am confident both of you are who you claim to be, but it seems like the children-"
"Con-test! Con-test!" Several definitively older voices had now joined the calls.
"-And their parents-both want to see a bit of a competition between you two. So, why not? I mean, it would be fun, and would probably settle this dispute. So, what do you say?"
Both Link and Randy just swiveled their heads and stared at each other, looks of positive confusion laid out upon their faces. They both turned to Miss Claire and nodded simultaneously, looking as if they were a couple of dolls bobbing their heads in sync.
"Well, since they demanded it, I think your audience should choose what you do-just leave me out of this from this point forward, please?"
Link and Randy nodded in sync again, looking positively grim this time.
"Well, you can take it from here then-like I said, I want no part of this."
Once more with synchronized motions, the two of them wheeled around to face the acclaiming crowd.
Under their breaths, Link and Randy started to mumble to each other softly.
"What the heck are we s'pposed to do now?" This was Randy's comment.
"Don't look at me, this was your idea." Link growled at him through clenched teeth.
"Well, I didn't mean it! This wasn't s'pposed to happen!"
"I know it, I know it! Just. think of something, before they eat us up!"
"OK, Ok! Just gimmie a sec. hmm. AH-HA!" He exclaimed the last part rather resoundingly.
"What, what?" came the clamor of voices.
"You tell us what to do, we do it. Whoever does it better by your standards, wins. Make it. three out of five. In other words, in case you don't understand, we'll have five matches, and whoever wins three of them is the winner! Sound good?"
"Yeah!" came the chorus of voices.
"Well, then, it's up to you. What'll be first?"
*******************
The needles of ice continued to pound on Link's head, but if it was dodgeball they wanted, it was dodgeball they'd get. Many years ago, he had told a group of kids how good he was at the game. and he wasn't about to let them down. Almost six years ago, in fact. A little more. It had been about six months after Ganon, and that whole ordeal had been seven, seven unbelievable years ago. fourteen if you counted that one incident with the Ocarina of Time that went unnoticed by the populous.. His breath clung to the air, and his skin was starting to pop up with goosebumps, but he wasn't about to let a little rainy frost get him down.
Why, of all days, did it have to be today? He wondered this to himself. So cold, and wet. why not a warm, sunny day? The kind of day that made you feel like celebrating for no good reason, except that you were feeling joyful? The kind of day when you had a rainbow sitting on your shoulder! But he had made a promise. and he wouldn't break it. He wasn't in the mood to let a single kid there down, including the one. well, just including everybody. But he hoped he'd win, for the sake of that one.
Tony, standing in the middle of the court, spun the large red ball on his finger like a basketball. He seemed to have taken over and was orchestrating the whole thing. His young mother, with deep, black, almost unnatural eyes and ebony hair, stood behind him, watching him with what appeared to be a sense between pride and exasperation. But something, something in the boy's eyes indicated loss of some unknown patience, like he was waiting for some grand even that either had not come or was taking its sweet time. All of the children had a similar look, but Link reasoned that, more or less, it had to do with dodgeball.
"Alright." Tony commanded in his boisterous voice. "Round one? Dodgeball. Link versus Mr. Parkerstine. Rules are simple: Link'll throw, Mr. Parkerstine dodge, then switch. Each hit counts as one point, and hits above waistline don't count. First guy to score 10 points on the other one wins. Oh, and, by the way, no getting help from anybody else, no 'random people running in to trip the dodger,' or the thrower, or whatever. This is their match! Ready. Set. GO!!!"
With an amazing arm, Tony launched the ball onto the court, and Link scooped it up before its second bounce. He began to dribble the ball, and Randy feinted to the right to avoid Link's left-handed throw.
From the back of the crowd, Posie and Elaine watched with uneasiness.
"This is so not good." Elaine mumbled to her friend.
"Couldn't they have at least said something when they came, without diving into this?" Posie hung her head and shook it in shame.
"How about mentioning it beforehand and not springing it on everybody? For those guys, it's a riot, but back on our end of the spectrum."
"Tell me about it." mumbled Posie, staring up at Elaine. "Even though I have no clue what a 'speck-trum' is."
"Ask Mr. Green after he realizes what he's doing."
Posie gave her a glaring look, but remained silent.
There was the hard smack of cold rubber on skin for the fourth time, and Tony began to wave his arms about wildly.
"Alright, switch out, switch out!" He began to bustle the two competitors about like a heard of cattle, and Link and Randy thought darkly about how little respect he had for his elders. Probably, for anyone.
Link handed the ball off to Randy, and somehow found a few moments to whisper in Randy's ear, "Watch the right leg, still recovering from a Dodongo's scratch there."
"I know, I know!"
The second round of the game began, but Link was far too agile on his small(compared to Randy's) feet. He even managed an impressive backflip over a shot, that had most of the crowd in unhindered "oohs" and "ahhs."
"Well, with any luck, my dad'll lose. not that I don't support him, do I ever, but."
"Understood." Posie didn't even need Elaine to finish her sentence.
The two switched their positions again ,and Link scored six more smacks to Randy with the ball, winning the first game. Very few people were surprised, but they cried Link on anyway. They would be able now to see the next test of power. But Link was glad-he had won, and hadn't let anybody down, except maybe Elaine. But at least he hadn't been bragging when he said he was good at dodgeball.
Tony grumbled-he had been secretly been cheering Randy, even though the ref wasn't supposed to be biased-and called everyone else to attention.
"OK! One win to Link, zero to Mr. Parkerstine. NEXT GAME!"
"What will that be?" asked Link, hoping whatever it was could be played inside.
"Volleyball."
"Oh no." Link moaned. Not another outside sport!
"Follow me." Tony commanded, and beckoned everyone over to a large net set out over the other side of the court. Link hadn't known it would be used for anything regarding them, but, more than likely, it had been set out beforehand and had been conveniently cited in the small group powwow that the students had performed-which, Link had noticed- excluded Posie and Elaine.
The large group strode over to the court, children giggling and pointing, adults griping about the chill, and Miss Claire hanging behind in the nice, warm classroom that would have certainly been a better choice for such an event on such a day.
"Alright." Tony said, explaining the rules as he walked, "Quite simple. Link on one side, Mr. Parkerstine on the other. No surprises there. Since Link won last game, Mr. Parkerstine gets to serve first. Ball bounces more than twice on opponent's court, that's a point for you. We go by five this time-first person to get five points wins. I presume you both know the basic rules of this game in general?"
"We know, we know." mumbled Randy. "You don't have do be so impatient!"
"Alright then! TO YOUR RESPECTIVE SIDES!"
If Tony could be this bossy with adults, Link wondered, what was he like with the other kids? He shuddered at the thought of how he might have bullied the others. But, this was not the time to worry-it was gametime. He hustled over to one of the marked sides, preparing for the serve.
"How did this happen?" Elaine grumbled under her breath to Posie.
"I dunno, what do you think?! More importantly, though, why did this happen?"
"I know for a fact it wasn't my dad's idea-he never comes up with crazy stuff like this on his own! It had to be Mr. L-I-N-K."
"Huh?"
"L-I-N-K! That spells LINK, duh!"
"You know I'm not that good with spelling yet! I can read better than most of the other kids including you, but not spelling!"
Elaine sighed. "Well, I also know they were hoping to do something dramatic, yet funny-only it doesn't come off as funny on the ends they intended!"
"I'm sure not laughing."
SLAP!!!
Immediately, the two of them turned their heads from their conversation. A satisfying smack had echoed across the landscape only a second before.
Painfully, Link removed his hand from his face. He wasn't sure if his nose was bleeding or not-it felt swollen, but he had not, yet, tasted anything hot and metallic-flavored in his mouth. He turned up to face Randy, and he shook his head in confirmation. Link had definitely gotten slammed in the face with the ball, and it most certainly hurt, but no serious damage was done-a good sign.
"You can take that point, Randy-I kept my eye on the ball well enough, but the ball just had to keep itself on my eye, as well. I was just being clumsy. Go ahead. One Randy, zero me."
No one seemed even the least bit surprised that Link knew Randy's first name. In fact, most people didn't even seem to notice it.
The game continued. Link managed to score a point on Randy, but Randy scored two more to counterstrike. Volleyball, it certainly seemed, was clearly not Link's area of expertise, but Randy did appear to have an upperhand.
With a powerful spike, Randy slammed the ball down hard on Link's side of the court, and Link had to jump to the side to avoid being hit as it ricocheted. It fell to the court, meaning another point had been scored for Randy. Link grumbled about the cold impairing his skill, but launched it back over anyway. With the speed of a cheetah, Randy leapt and was able to return the serve with ease. Link made an attempt to catch the ball with his right hand, but as he was very much the opposite of right- handed, the awkwardness of having to use his non-dominant hand made him fumble and drop the ball.
"GAME!" Tony bellowed. "MR. PARKERSTINE FIVE, LINK ONE! GAME TO MR. PARKERSTINE!"
The audience cheered and applauded, and Link, disappointed, slunk down and away to avoid further embarrassment.
It was then that he noticed Posie, sad and forsaken, hanging in the very back of the crowd with Elaine.
"He-WOAH!" Link had attempted to wave, but something had tugged him from behind by the rim of his tunic-the something known as Tony.
"No time! No time! NEXT GAME!!!"
Link had a wrenching feeling deep in his stomach on what that kid was going to be like when he grew up.
"Now." he lead his two competitors forward. "You're both tied, one to one. If you stay deadlocked on the next two games as well, the final one will be, ultimately, the tiebreaker. You got that?"
"Yes." Link and Randy replied at the same moment, as if they were the children and Tony was the all-knowing adult.
"Good. Now, I know how forsaken you are about having to play out in the cold and rain like this."
"Yeah?" Also simultaneously, the brightened at the prospect of being removed from the rain.
"Well, too bad! The next game's outside also. So deal with it!"
Link didn't know if it was just him, but he was starting to feel awfully put down.
"Now. for an intriguing game by the name of Four Square." Tony didn't even turn his back to speak to the two adults following him.
"Hey, hey, don't you need four people to play Four Square?" Link was beginning to recognize the doubts he'd been having since his pal had announced, a week and a half back, "Hey, I've got a great idea that's bound to be hilarious!" He shook his head in annoyance, but no one took heed-they were too anxious either to see the outcome of this ridiculous match-up, or to see it over, period.
"Ehh, well, two square, then. I'd make it Four Square, but Link just ended up here on accident-nobody with him. Riiiiiiiiiiight?"
Link opened his mouth to reply, but, as he was raising his finger to answer, he heard a tiny, familiar voice, panic stricken and with the air of somebody desperately praying to every god and goddess she knew, frantically crying to herself: "Don't answer, don't answer, please, don't answer."
"Erm. of course!" Link's reply seemed even a little too exuberant. "After all, who. who is there to come with? I'm just a lone Wolfos warrior. right? Right?"
His grin was overly cheeky and somewhat suspicious.
"Whatever." Tony brushed his hand at the frigid air as he stormed ahead.
"Now." Tony, Randy and Link now stood at the edge of a white-painted court, four adjoining squares lined up and by their sides perfectly for the game of Four Square, which involved trying to make your opponents miss catching the ball-but they had to genuinely miss, it couldn't hit them. Link gulped, for, though he knew he could play, he doubted his ability. He had never really played before.
Randy nudged Link in the side as they approached the court. "Psst. how's about letting me win this one? You know, they already worship you ENOUGH."
"What? No way, you freak!" Link laughed quietly and good-naturedly, giving Randy a small nudge towards the large tree. "Your stupid idea has already given me enough trouble! I don't need any more!"
"Well, I certainly hope it's given you enough time to think!"
"Thinking? Aww, I gave up on that years ago!" Link chuckled as Randy shoved him back playfully. "But seriously, what about?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about only how you're going to break it to the kids?!?!" Randy was very stern and strict now, giving Link a glare and a fearsome growl.
Link gasped, pulling his breath back with a vacuum effect. "Oh no! I completely forgot about that! Oh, no, no no, what the Gel am I gonna."
"WE'RE HERE!" Tony shouted far above the clashing of the thunder, and the twittering conversation behind his heels. The two automatically snapped to attention. Having both served in the Hyrulean Military, they could both compare him to one or two commanding officers they'd seen. Link was reminded not-so-fondly of his coworker and [forced] opposite leader, Igre Rendelholfe, Hyrule's Minister of War. That gorilla of a man was always bossing Link around with no respect to the fact that they were supposed to be working WITH, not AGAINST, each other.
"Alright, are we all set back there?" Tony turned his head around to take a look at the pair of grown men hobbling after him like a pair of newborn ducklings. "You know what to do, correct?"
"Of course." Randy nodded at Tony, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"No duh, little man." Link tried to do the same, but got that cheesy, dubious type look again. Something wasn't right around him; Tony could very well sense Link's unease. Perhaps he was only nervous about the game ahead, that was very well a possibility. But it seemed to have an air above that, like he was hiding something.
Yeah, right. Link thought to himself. I know what to do. Pah, I wish.
Discreetly, he shook his head in shame, sorrow, and utter confusion.
***********************
Leaning against the bookcase, Posie sighed with helplessness. How she had survived through these remaining three rounds, she was clueless. Something she'd inherited, she supposed. Natural endurance. Yeah, natural endurance. If only this were natural. But there was just something. oh, I don't know, out of the ordinary, about seeing her best friend's father, with his great size, pretty much kneeling down inside one of the kindergarten chairs, hunched over the low, kindergarten table and the checkerboard that lay upon it.
Stalemate. That's how it had lasted, for what seemed to have been going on for half an hour. Impatience was catching like the flu among the crowd. And in her, though it was more likely she was the vector. Along with Elaine. After Link had made a come-from-behind Four Square victory, he was nailed flatly by Randy once again in a match of two-on-two basketball. The man simply had a pure advantage of height in that game. Now had come the surprise tiebreaker, a match of checkers mercifully inside. Tony, the ref as always, peered with and eagle eye at the leathery hands of the two men competing. He was dearly hoping to catch a cheater in the act, but it seemed like the giants in fame and size were simply too civil to stoop to such tactics. Nobody was enjoying this any more. Couldn't they just give up?
Link's mind clearly wasn't on the game.
His palms sweated as, without even looking, he shifted one of his pieces to a spot that allowed Randy to accomplish a triple-jump. His eyes darted about aimlessly; to the back of the room most often; to the ceiling, then only swiftly down at the black-and-red square below. Winning didn't matter at all now, what mattered was making it through what came afterwards. Winning or losing, it couldn't change what he had to state, sooner or later, champ or no champ. But how? Was it going to make sense, in his twitchy state? Would anyone believe it, regardless? This didn't look like it would come out in his favor. Nor did the game. Why not just stop now, and say it?
But think of how stupid you'd look. His brain, programmed into an overly logical state(Blast that Navi), was analyzing every imaginable pro and con. Mostly con. What ridicule would come to him? To them? What sort of scarring to his reputation? He hated it all now. The whole plan. He'd always know it, but the sweetalk slipping from his friend's lips had convinced him to overcome his own common sense: Telling the truth is always easier than lying. Telling the truth is never having to remember what you've said.
His eyes somehow slipped back to the game laid out before him, and they nearly popped out of their sockets. He wasn't at all sure how he had come to notice it right away, but there it was-Randy's last move had been so unbearably stupid, many of his own paled in comparison. A chain of leaps had been established that, if Link took it, he would eliminate all but Randy's last two kings, lurking back on his side of the board where they had been crowned. It was so simple, it was easy. All he had to do was make that jump. Voila, game good as over, it ended quickly, he won, was worshipped a little, then he sat down and calmly explained the whole ordeal. Cool and collected, laying out the story as basically as possible.
Great. Now he just had to make that move. Simple, right? Just pick up the wooden disk, move it over the black pieces, and move them off the board. Nothing to it. Wait, no, wait-where did that move go again? He panicked. Ah, there it was. All he needed was to touch that piece. Just touch it. Just make his trembling hand move forward. Then, just clasp the piece-he dropped it!
Link Hiro Blade, you're letting your nerves rule you! Snap out of it! Link used his thoughts like a slap to his mind, urging himself to wake from his skittish trance. Pretend. you're fighting a fierce Dodongo. A giant STONE Dodongo. Who won't eat any bombs. But then, gazing at the carved black pieces that belonged to Randy, he saw that the only bomb-like objects in view were his opponent's checkers. He scratched his forehead and made a new reach.
There. Solid wood, beneath his fingers. A rough, even grip. Like a sword hilt. That's it. A sword hilt. You can hold a sword; no problem. Now, wave the sword! That's it! You're demonstrating. A complicated move. You're under scrutiny; heavy scrutiny. She has her eye on you. Even though she's never seen this one, she can tell when things don't go the way you expect by the dulling of your eyes and the tightness in your face. So loosen up. Be graceful. This may be the one time you REALLY have to get this right. Now, you ease on, into one of your stories. Back before you were born, when Ganondorf ruled all of Hyrule, a fierce fire once sprung up in the very spot in Kakariko Village where your feet are now.
"And this is strategical how?" Randy grumped as Link's hand hovered over the board, checker in hand. He didn't realize that he had been holding it there in mid air for almost a minute, and he had even started mumbling the little tale about the fire to himself as he prepared to place the red disk back down.
"Sorry." At least Link's mind was clear now; he could refocus on the game.
Place it down, lift it over, place it down, lift it over, place it down, lift it over, place it down. As if he was chopping through water, he slowly swept all three black checkers off to his side of the table. Then he, for the first time in the hour or so since they'd arrived, he looked Randy directly in the deep brown eyes and said, without the slightest hint of incredulity or worry, "it's your turn." Like he had finally, after five rough and tumble rounds, come to accept this man who he seemed to have been brought to by fate. For those observing the game, with the exceptions of those two, of course, it had been since they had arrived. But for those two, and for Link and Randy themselves, it had been since three years ago when a similar problem had sent them together searching, together finding, and together laughing once the troubles had passed. Two oddball friendships, and yet four firmest of friends. So under the Goddesses' order it passed, as they said in Hyrule. The Hyrulean version of "That's how the ball bounces."
Elaine rocked on the balls of her feet. She bit her lower lip in her small spot of nervousness. Link could very well win this last game and the contest to boot. She sniffed the air, and caught a small, familiar, subtle whiff of something warm and fresh. No hiding it from her nose, she thought. Mrs. B's best peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting. Too bad she was allergic to peanuts. Those cookies were her very favorite food. It was only by chance she had ever tasted them, and once she had, she had made up her mind to taste them again. Every once in a while, when Posie had one or two to spare with dessert, she would break off a little piece for friend to sample. It was torture, not being able to just grab up a handful and wharf them down. But, genetics had not been nice to her. Not nice at all, a sudden very sharp undertone cut through her thoughts, as she reached behind her to feel the back of her neck where the large birthmark started.
Maybe, she thought, it wouldn't hurt, not at all, to just go up and sort of ask, just edgewise, if she could have a cookie, or a little bit of one. Link was a nice fellow, after all. He knew about her allergies, but even he couldn't withstand if she gave him puppy dog eyes and whimpered a little. For someone with such a sharp tongue, she played the innocent act very well. An innocent act impossible to resist. So she could have a cookie. Or a little piece of one. Just a little. Just enough to satisfy her craving. Though, truth be told, their probably wouldn't be enough peanut butter cookie with chocolate frosting in the whole world to do that.
"Posie, I'm going to go and beg some. PB and CF at ten 'o clock. Catch you in a sec."
"I thought I smelled their distinctive smell. Do it quiet, OK? And remember, your daddy's right there."
"I know, I know." Ducking her head down to the floor, Elaine tried to be inconspicuous as she scuttled over to Link's side.
What happened at that moment was a blur for the most part, and for those farthest from the action; parents and their children sitting off to the sides, as far as possible from the checker board, it seemed to simply jump from peaceful tranquility to utmost chaos. But if one was right there, part of the inner ring of the tightly pressing crowd of spectators, there was a definite transition. It all happened so very fast, one could hardly remember what happened, especially after the mind-numbing conclusion reached after the case fell. But, for those on the scene, most particularly Posie herself, a general agreement can be reached that it happened somewhat like this:
The cookie-craving Elaine, hungry for a taste of the tabooed sweat bread, snuck up in an unsuspecting way on the deeply concentrating Link. Maybe Elaine was too sneaky or Link too deep in thought, but Link had not noticed her approach, and Elaine had not noticed that he did not notice. And with his thoroughly burnt nerves, one tap on the shoulder was enough to send him screeching. His hands flung up, completely disrupting the game and giving him a sweep of reverse momentum. He was upended from his chair as he fell back, his legs flailing and kicking the light, wooden table. Now, though at times they may seem twiggy, Link's legs are actually quite powerful, and one might even goes as far as to say they are muscle- bound. If Link had a weapon other than his fabled sword and quick bow, it might as well have been his mighty kick. An ample amount of force was transferred from that unexpected kick to that table, and went flying. The immense bulk that was Randy was forced to duck, and there was a great commotion as the small table shattered into a million splinters as it rammed the bookcase at a great velocity.
The bookcase began to wobble.
All those in the general area were quite suddenly in immediate danger. Men and women ushered their dawdling children away from the now violently rocking shelves, praying to each of the Goddesses for the safety of the little ones. Some even dared to mumble a curse or two under their breaths, though, because they did take care not to poison the precious minds of their sons and daughters, many of those curses were in the ancient Hylian language. Tony's dark-haired mother, normally large eyes now positively dilated with fright, uttered a little cry of "Oh!" as she gave Tony a small shove from the backside out of the way. Instinctively, back where the table had once been, Randy reached over and put his arms tightly around Elaine, not letting herself squirm free and into the potentially hazardous zone again.
The radius around the toppling case was bleak, with the exception of one, miniscule, fifteen inch girl with golden hair, sapphire eyes, and a green tunic. She was all alone, and paralyzed with fear. There was no doubt her tiny body would be thoroughly crushed by the toppling mass of the chest, severely injuring and quite possibly killing her. Elaine watched, blind-eyed, as the only friend whom she had ever had, in all of her short, infant life, stood before impending doom. The ever strong Randy seemed now a fragile man of glass, and both seemed to be both fixed upon Link. His jaw hung slack; he was lost in a maelstrom of his own mind. He had to act. Despite the great amounts of weight that case could still press upon his body, he, unlike the child, could withstand it. He knew what he had to do. There was no arguing out of it.
Link made a great lunge forward, with his arms tight against his torso as if he were breaking free of the grasp of some fatal vines that had started creeping around his chair and that had been holding him down. He then spread those arms wide as he both fell and dove as the bookcase finally found its way out of its base of support and was collapsing altogether. Perhaps it was somewhat over-dramatic; but that was Link, always having to put up a good show for it. Like a giant clamp sweeping out of the heavens, he swiftly grabbed the child and pressed her up close to his chest as away the two of them tumbled. The carpet did not prove very good to slide upon, but nevertheless it was in the blink of an eye that they were safely out of harm's way and onto a bare patch of carpeting. The bookcase fell with an almighty crash that could very well have sent a small quake through all of Kakariko, and the pair clad in green simultaneously released their breaths into heavy, ragged gasps. Link was bent over the carpet, down on his knees, looking fearfully down at the small, trembling bundle he had scooped into his limbs.
Posie could not state, in a million words, how very comforting it was to be back in those noble, and yet familiar, arms one more. Even since her first day on earth, something was embedded within her to tell her that nothing could come close to her in the depths of that grip. She closed her eyes, wishing with all her might that she could simply break down and cry, a relief-ridden stream that away with it flowed every trouble from that day. She buried her face in the deep green folds of the tunic, inhaling great breaths of the familiar air of her sweet forest with the spicy undercurrent of Hyrule's majestic landscape. With her elfin ear, flattened up against the smooth, warm cloth, she could both hear and feel his heart beating. And it was not the ravaging, steady throb of a great warrior; it was the same as any man's who was terrified for the sake of someone he loved dearly, loud and quick. Loud and quick. So very misperceived, this marshmallow of a man was.
She lifted her head. All around, drops of bulging eyes peered and prodded, inquiring silently, "is she alive?" Her bejeweled watch returned, "alive, but terrified." Not that some could care. Although, most curiously, even Tony seemed even a mote worried as he looked from behind his mother's legs at the girl most suddenly and miraculously rescued by the greatest hero ever known to their world. Perhaps a small bit of jealousy smoldered within his soul. Perhaps he did genuinely care, and all of his banter was merely a ruse. Or maybe it was only basic human inquisition, the need to know everything and everything. Whatever was the case, he still sat emotionless as her little blue eyes skipped to the deep abyss of Elaine's.
Wakened from the bored haze at her desk, Miss Claire was now stumbling over the numerous underfoot kindergartners and strewn objects to make her way over to the hunched-over Link, clutching a Posie who was just waking from the trance of her horror. She had intended to wait until she had reached the odd-looking duo before she began her inquisition, but the words were racing from her lips as quickly as the bookcase had fallen. "Are you OK? Are you hurt? You aren't too scared, are you? That was amazing, Link, we don't know how we can ever repay you."
"I've 'repaid' myself enough as is, Miss Claire, but thank you just the same. You are a kind woman, I can clearly see."
"Well, that's nice of you, but at the moment I'd like a word with Posie. she that little girl you just now rescued."
"I know." Most people assumed, naturally, that he meant that he knew that Miss Claire wished to speak with Posie. In truth, this was only partially right. But, right or half-right or not right at all, Link nodded and set the child down on the ground. Not seeming even the slightest bit fazed now, she toddled over to the young teacher, and said, most politely and as if nothing had just happened, "Yes, Miss Claire?"
"Well. you seem to be alright now. so I guess we can skip that part of the conversation. but there is still a very serious matter at hand which we must discuss."
"Yes?" Posie gazed up into Miss Claire's eyes as innocent as an angel, and it almost hurt her in the heart to talk to the little girl as seriously as she must. "Well. you know. it's been over an hour since Parent's day started, and. well. do you realize that your father hasn't yet showed up?"
Posie made a strange face. "But what do you mean, Miss Claire? He's been here all this time. A long time."
It was Miss Claire's turn to purse her lips in thought. "What do you mean, Posie? I haven't seen him. There's been no one in this school or schoolyard who even remotely seems to have been him."
"But surely, you musta noticed him. Mommy says he and I look so ezactly alike, that if we were the same size you couldn't tell us apart. We've both got blue eyes and blonde hair, and out clothes."
"No, Posie, I haven't seen another person with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a forest green-"
Her jay instantly stopped moving, hanging down and open with shock. Her eyes no longer focused, they gazed almost through the child standing before her, at her rescuer behind. The one called Link, golden- haired, cobalt-eyed, and with that green tunic and hat they all knew so well. The Link. The famous Link. The Savior-of-Hyrule, Hero-of-Time Link.
The family resemblance was unmistakable.
Icy arrows pounded at the windowpane, shattering into tiny drops that ricocheted back, out into the storm. A snap of lightning, followed by a bellow of thunder, indicated further the ferocity of the monsoon raging outside.
Sighing a distressed sigh, Miss Claire gazed out the window, twirling her creamy brown curls around her first finger. Her breathing was uneasy, and she took another fleeting glance out the window. Moaning once more, she tore her thoughts away from the outside and turned to the(mostly drenched) crowd inside her small schoolhouse, and then at the two unaccompanied five-year-olds standing below her.
"Gee," she grumbled, "I certainly do hope your fathers get here OK. are you absolutely positive that they're coming?"
"Positive. They wouldn't let us down." testified Elaine with assurance.
"Well, I trust you two. but do you think they'll make it here alright? That's one pretty mean storm out there." She pointed her thumb behind her at the window, outside which a tempest raged.
"Ehh, he'll bring an umbrella." mused Elaine.
"He's seen worse." was Posie's only reply.
"I hope so. this is the first time in my career that a child, let alone two children, have had their parents come after them like this. usually it's a package deal."
"Well, um."
Posie, however, was left without a good reply this time.
Miss Claire took another glance at the hoard of children and their parents, milling about with nowhere better to go. She had planned for this to be a gala outdoors event, but the strain of bad weather had forced everyone inside. Storms like this were typical in Hyrule at this time of year, especially in Kakirio Village-for some reason, the creaky old windmill near the graveyard seemed to attract them like a magnet. She mused that the strange music drifting up from its interior had something to do with it.
A sudden crack exploded outside, and at first one might mistake it for thunder. But a sudden blast of cold air-from the now opened door- indicated otherwise.
A figure, silhouetted against the rapidly darkening sky, stood in the doorway, a long raincoat draped around his shoulders. He was tall, at least six foot three, and his overlarge feet clomped like horses' hooves as he strode in. Humongous footprints, each a foot in length at least, stained the perfect pink carpet. He pivoted quickly, and shut the door to avoid the storm from coming inside and dampening the crowd further.
The man rose his rough, worn hands, and pulled the brown hood of his raincoat back down to his neck. He shook his short brown hair, sending tiny droplets scattering everywhere. He opened his eyes, which were like deep chocolate pools sitting in his face. From his size, large feet, and deep eyes, she could tell he was most certainly not Posie's father, he had to be Elaine's.
The man knelt, sending his coat sliding off his shoulders and onto the floor. He wore a deep crimson shirt, with long denim pants, and his hair was thick but cut off above his elongated Hyrulian ears. He looked up into Miss Claire's face, and his hawk-like nose was red with cold.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Claire." he said kindly. He picked up her hand, and stood himself up. "I'm Randal Jacob Parkerstine, Elaine's dad, but, you can call me Randy." He shook her hand wildly, and she tremored as if she was stranding on a fault line in the middle of an earthquake.
"W-w-well it is a p-p-pleasure to m-m-meet you, M-M-Mr. P-P- Parkerstine, b-b-but would y-y-you happen to know the whereabouts of your daughter's friend Posie's f-f-father?"
Randy released his grip on Miss Claire's hand. "Hmm, him? Nope. Haven't seen him. But you'll love him, he's a great guy-fun-loving, witty, extremely kind. well, once you meet him, you'll understand."
"I hope so." grumbled Miss Claire, slightly dizzy.
"No, really! Just take my word for it! I swear, honest! I've met him, 'es a good friend of mine!"
"Oh, I believe you, I believe you!" Miss Claire rubbed her aching forehead. "I just wish I knew when he was coming, I don't think I have much more patience left and neither do the other parents!"
"He'll be along, don't you worry. I'm betting either he got caught in the storm, or his boss saddled him with a last-minute job." Randy coughed, but his chuckles were unmistakable under his hacking.
Miss Claire was curious who he worked for, but she decided to keep her nose out of such business until he did come. She was, indeed, very eager to meet him-with her odd name, small size, and unusual attitude, Posie was an enigma herself, and her father, if she was anything like him, was bound to be an interesting man.
Tony slunk away from his mother, who was busy chatting with a boy named Quince's mom, and stole over to Posie's side.
"Well, midget, I'm impressed. You actually managed to get your dad to come. I would think you'd be too scared to ask him."
Posie sneered at him, but did not respond.
"Now we can all see just how goofy he really is, no matter what you say. We'll all know where you get it from!" Tony laughed maliciously, and Posie burned hot in the face. He was insulting her father! Well, she figured, she'd be the one with the last laugh. After all, he was.
A blinding streak of lightning flew across the sky, revealing a strange figure approaching. It strode briskly in front of the window, showing only a blurred green outline. All heads cocked to see who was nearing, when the door flung open.
A somewhat short, yet lanky figure hung in the door, its head pointed downward, looking about the room. There did seem to be a point on top of its head, like a person in a cloak, but the figure didn't appear to be wearing one. The person's feet were small, and something rather bushy stuck out to one side of the person's shadowed face. The only sign that the face was, indeed, a living face and not a stone statue, were two glittering points beneath the large, bushy object.
The person attempted to take a single step inside, sending one leather shod foot over the threshold, but it somehow missed its mark entirely and he stumbled, flailing his arms about wildly, until finally coming down with a thump on the plush carpet.
Everyone gasped when they saw the man's face, for it was familiar to all in the room. The only persons whose mouths remained closed were Posie's and Elaine's, Posie's because she was frowning slightly, and Elaine's because she was on the verge of breaking up with laughter.
He propped himself up on his long, flannel-wrapped arms, and lifted his head. His sapphire eyes twinkled with foreign anticipation, and his thick, golden blonde hair was plastered with sopping rain, his bushy bangs sticking out ungainly to the side. His tiny, pointy nose was as red as Randy's had been, and his tight mouth was twisted into a thin grimace as he came to his feet. He brushed off his forest green tunic with his gauntlet- covered hands, and took a quick glance up at the crowd gawking at him.
"Oh." said Link, with surprise that, for some reason, seemed only half sincere. "I'm sorry. Did I barge in on your little gathering here? Real sorry, folks. I was just out looking for this house where I'm supposed to meet someone, top secret government business, strictly hush-hush, y'know. and of all the crazy things, I thought this place was it. Isn't that just, y'know, too nutty?" He leaned over, against a case of shelves.
"What is he doing?" mumbled Posie into her arms, now trying to hide her face.
"Well, I just barged on in, expecting a group of top warriors, and I ended up here. Weird, huh? But, no need to worry, folks, it was just an accident."
"Oh no." grumbled Posie, putting her hands up in front of her face. "This had better not be what I think it is."
"I'll bet it is." Elaine grumbled to Posie back.
"Oh yeah?" Randy challenged. He took one long, sliding step over to Link, giving him an odd look. "An accident, hey? I doubt it. imposter!"
"Hey, who are you calling an imposter, punk?" Link growled menacingly at Randy.
"My dad's not that dumb, it has to be. Oh no. Once everyone realizes. we'll be the laughingstocks of the whole kindergarten!" Elaine was beginning to cry.
"I'll bet you've been sent by Gannon! An assassin bent on destroying us all and the whole village!" Randy fired his scorns.
"You're positively insane!" Link's voice was beginning to take on the air of an enraged lion.
"You can't be the real Link! He would never come barging in here, he would know what this place was! He can READ ya know! There's a big sign! So just give in so we can take you over to the dungeons of Hyrule Castle!"
"How DARE you accuse the Hero Of Time so!"
"Ha! Don't give up easily, do you? What am I s'possed to do, hold a contest of skill to prove that you're not the real Link?" Randy's voice was loaded with sarcasm.
"Yeah!" came a sudden rush of outcries from most of the children, excluding Posie and Elaine. "Con-test! Con-test! Con-test!"
Link and Randy suddenly stared at each other, bewildered. Link mouthed something at Randy, but he just shrugged in reply.
"Whoa there!" Miss Claire suddenly found the nerve to intrude on the scrimmage between Link and Randy. She brushed the observing throng away with her arms to make her way towards the two of them.
"Look," she said to them in the tone she often took one when dealing with the small, kindergarten children, "you're both sensible, grown men-so why can't you handle this like them? I am confident both of you are who you claim to be, but it seems like the children-"
"Con-test! Con-test!" Several definitively older voices had now joined the calls.
"-And their parents-both want to see a bit of a competition between you two. So, why not? I mean, it would be fun, and would probably settle this dispute. So, what do you say?"
Both Link and Randy just swiveled their heads and stared at each other, looks of positive confusion laid out upon their faces. They both turned to Miss Claire and nodded simultaneously, looking as if they were a couple of dolls bobbing their heads in sync.
"Well, since they demanded it, I think your audience should choose what you do-just leave me out of this from this point forward, please?"
Link and Randy nodded in sync again, looking positively grim this time.
"Well, you can take it from here then-like I said, I want no part of this."
Once more with synchronized motions, the two of them wheeled around to face the acclaiming crowd.
Under their breaths, Link and Randy started to mumble to each other softly.
"What the heck are we s'pposed to do now?" This was Randy's comment.
"Don't look at me, this was your idea." Link growled at him through clenched teeth.
"Well, I didn't mean it! This wasn't s'pposed to happen!"
"I know it, I know it! Just. think of something, before they eat us up!"
"OK, Ok! Just gimmie a sec. hmm. AH-HA!" He exclaimed the last part rather resoundingly.
"What, what?" came the clamor of voices.
"You tell us what to do, we do it. Whoever does it better by your standards, wins. Make it. three out of five. In other words, in case you don't understand, we'll have five matches, and whoever wins three of them is the winner! Sound good?"
"Yeah!" came the chorus of voices.
"Well, then, it's up to you. What'll be first?"
*******************
The needles of ice continued to pound on Link's head, but if it was dodgeball they wanted, it was dodgeball they'd get. Many years ago, he had told a group of kids how good he was at the game. and he wasn't about to let them down. Almost six years ago, in fact. A little more. It had been about six months after Ganon, and that whole ordeal had been seven, seven unbelievable years ago. fourteen if you counted that one incident with the Ocarina of Time that went unnoticed by the populous.. His breath clung to the air, and his skin was starting to pop up with goosebumps, but he wasn't about to let a little rainy frost get him down.
Why, of all days, did it have to be today? He wondered this to himself. So cold, and wet. why not a warm, sunny day? The kind of day that made you feel like celebrating for no good reason, except that you were feeling joyful? The kind of day when you had a rainbow sitting on your shoulder! But he had made a promise. and he wouldn't break it. He wasn't in the mood to let a single kid there down, including the one. well, just including everybody. But he hoped he'd win, for the sake of that one.
Tony, standing in the middle of the court, spun the large red ball on his finger like a basketball. He seemed to have taken over and was orchestrating the whole thing. His young mother, with deep, black, almost unnatural eyes and ebony hair, stood behind him, watching him with what appeared to be a sense between pride and exasperation. But something, something in the boy's eyes indicated loss of some unknown patience, like he was waiting for some grand even that either had not come or was taking its sweet time. All of the children had a similar look, but Link reasoned that, more or less, it had to do with dodgeball.
"Alright." Tony commanded in his boisterous voice. "Round one? Dodgeball. Link versus Mr. Parkerstine. Rules are simple: Link'll throw, Mr. Parkerstine dodge, then switch. Each hit counts as one point, and hits above waistline don't count. First guy to score 10 points on the other one wins. Oh, and, by the way, no getting help from anybody else, no 'random people running in to trip the dodger,' or the thrower, or whatever. This is their match! Ready. Set. GO!!!"
With an amazing arm, Tony launched the ball onto the court, and Link scooped it up before its second bounce. He began to dribble the ball, and Randy feinted to the right to avoid Link's left-handed throw.
From the back of the crowd, Posie and Elaine watched with uneasiness.
"This is so not good." Elaine mumbled to her friend.
"Couldn't they have at least said something when they came, without diving into this?" Posie hung her head and shook it in shame.
"How about mentioning it beforehand and not springing it on everybody? For those guys, it's a riot, but back on our end of the spectrum."
"Tell me about it." mumbled Posie, staring up at Elaine. "Even though I have no clue what a 'speck-trum' is."
"Ask Mr. Green after he realizes what he's doing."
Posie gave her a glaring look, but remained silent.
There was the hard smack of cold rubber on skin for the fourth time, and Tony began to wave his arms about wildly.
"Alright, switch out, switch out!" He began to bustle the two competitors about like a heard of cattle, and Link and Randy thought darkly about how little respect he had for his elders. Probably, for anyone.
Link handed the ball off to Randy, and somehow found a few moments to whisper in Randy's ear, "Watch the right leg, still recovering from a Dodongo's scratch there."
"I know, I know!"
The second round of the game began, but Link was far too agile on his small(compared to Randy's) feet. He even managed an impressive backflip over a shot, that had most of the crowd in unhindered "oohs" and "ahhs."
"Well, with any luck, my dad'll lose. not that I don't support him, do I ever, but."
"Understood." Posie didn't even need Elaine to finish her sentence.
The two switched their positions again ,and Link scored six more smacks to Randy with the ball, winning the first game. Very few people were surprised, but they cried Link on anyway. They would be able now to see the next test of power. But Link was glad-he had won, and hadn't let anybody down, except maybe Elaine. But at least he hadn't been bragging when he said he was good at dodgeball.
Tony grumbled-he had been secretly been cheering Randy, even though the ref wasn't supposed to be biased-and called everyone else to attention.
"OK! One win to Link, zero to Mr. Parkerstine. NEXT GAME!"
"What will that be?" asked Link, hoping whatever it was could be played inside.
"Volleyball."
"Oh no." Link moaned. Not another outside sport!
"Follow me." Tony commanded, and beckoned everyone over to a large net set out over the other side of the court. Link hadn't known it would be used for anything regarding them, but, more than likely, it had been set out beforehand and had been conveniently cited in the small group powwow that the students had performed-which, Link had noticed- excluded Posie and Elaine.
The large group strode over to the court, children giggling and pointing, adults griping about the chill, and Miss Claire hanging behind in the nice, warm classroom that would have certainly been a better choice for such an event on such a day.
"Alright." Tony said, explaining the rules as he walked, "Quite simple. Link on one side, Mr. Parkerstine on the other. No surprises there. Since Link won last game, Mr. Parkerstine gets to serve first. Ball bounces more than twice on opponent's court, that's a point for you. We go by five this time-first person to get five points wins. I presume you both know the basic rules of this game in general?"
"We know, we know." mumbled Randy. "You don't have do be so impatient!"
"Alright then! TO YOUR RESPECTIVE SIDES!"
If Tony could be this bossy with adults, Link wondered, what was he like with the other kids? He shuddered at the thought of how he might have bullied the others. But, this was not the time to worry-it was gametime. He hustled over to one of the marked sides, preparing for the serve.
"How did this happen?" Elaine grumbled under her breath to Posie.
"I dunno, what do you think?! More importantly, though, why did this happen?"
"I know for a fact it wasn't my dad's idea-he never comes up with crazy stuff like this on his own! It had to be Mr. L-I-N-K."
"Huh?"
"L-I-N-K! That spells LINK, duh!"
"You know I'm not that good with spelling yet! I can read better than most of the other kids including you, but not spelling!"
Elaine sighed. "Well, I also know they were hoping to do something dramatic, yet funny-only it doesn't come off as funny on the ends they intended!"
"I'm sure not laughing."
SLAP!!!
Immediately, the two of them turned their heads from their conversation. A satisfying smack had echoed across the landscape only a second before.
Painfully, Link removed his hand from his face. He wasn't sure if his nose was bleeding or not-it felt swollen, but he had not, yet, tasted anything hot and metallic-flavored in his mouth. He turned up to face Randy, and he shook his head in confirmation. Link had definitely gotten slammed in the face with the ball, and it most certainly hurt, but no serious damage was done-a good sign.
"You can take that point, Randy-I kept my eye on the ball well enough, but the ball just had to keep itself on my eye, as well. I was just being clumsy. Go ahead. One Randy, zero me."
No one seemed even the least bit surprised that Link knew Randy's first name. In fact, most people didn't even seem to notice it.
The game continued. Link managed to score a point on Randy, but Randy scored two more to counterstrike. Volleyball, it certainly seemed, was clearly not Link's area of expertise, but Randy did appear to have an upperhand.
With a powerful spike, Randy slammed the ball down hard on Link's side of the court, and Link had to jump to the side to avoid being hit as it ricocheted. It fell to the court, meaning another point had been scored for Randy. Link grumbled about the cold impairing his skill, but launched it back over anyway. With the speed of a cheetah, Randy leapt and was able to return the serve with ease. Link made an attempt to catch the ball with his right hand, but as he was very much the opposite of right- handed, the awkwardness of having to use his non-dominant hand made him fumble and drop the ball.
"GAME!" Tony bellowed. "MR. PARKERSTINE FIVE, LINK ONE! GAME TO MR. PARKERSTINE!"
The audience cheered and applauded, and Link, disappointed, slunk down and away to avoid further embarrassment.
It was then that he noticed Posie, sad and forsaken, hanging in the very back of the crowd with Elaine.
"He-WOAH!" Link had attempted to wave, but something had tugged him from behind by the rim of his tunic-the something known as Tony.
"No time! No time! NEXT GAME!!!"
Link had a wrenching feeling deep in his stomach on what that kid was going to be like when he grew up.
"Now." he lead his two competitors forward. "You're both tied, one to one. If you stay deadlocked on the next two games as well, the final one will be, ultimately, the tiebreaker. You got that?"
"Yes." Link and Randy replied at the same moment, as if they were the children and Tony was the all-knowing adult.
"Good. Now, I know how forsaken you are about having to play out in the cold and rain like this."
"Yeah?" Also simultaneously, the brightened at the prospect of being removed from the rain.
"Well, too bad! The next game's outside also. So deal with it!"
Link didn't know if it was just him, but he was starting to feel awfully put down.
"Now. for an intriguing game by the name of Four Square." Tony didn't even turn his back to speak to the two adults following him.
"Hey, hey, don't you need four people to play Four Square?" Link was beginning to recognize the doubts he'd been having since his pal had announced, a week and a half back, "Hey, I've got a great idea that's bound to be hilarious!" He shook his head in annoyance, but no one took heed-they were too anxious either to see the outcome of this ridiculous match-up, or to see it over, period.
"Ehh, well, two square, then. I'd make it Four Square, but Link just ended up here on accident-nobody with him. Riiiiiiiiiiight?"
Link opened his mouth to reply, but, as he was raising his finger to answer, he heard a tiny, familiar voice, panic stricken and with the air of somebody desperately praying to every god and goddess she knew, frantically crying to herself: "Don't answer, don't answer, please, don't answer."
"Erm. of course!" Link's reply seemed even a little too exuberant. "After all, who. who is there to come with? I'm just a lone Wolfos warrior. right? Right?"
His grin was overly cheeky and somewhat suspicious.
"Whatever." Tony brushed his hand at the frigid air as he stormed ahead.
"Now." Tony, Randy and Link now stood at the edge of a white-painted court, four adjoining squares lined up and by their sides perfectly for the game of Four Square, which involved trying to make your opponents miss catching the ball-but they had to genuinely miss, it couldn't hit them. Link gulped, for, though he knew he could play, he doubted his ability. He had never really played before.
Randy nudged Link in the side as they approached the court. "Psst. how's about letting me win this one? You know, they already worship you ENOUGH."
"What? No way, you freak!" Link laughed quietly and good-naturedly, giving Randy a small nudge towards the large tree. "Your stupid idea has already given me enough trouble! I don't need any more!"
"Well, I certainly hope it's given you enough time to think!"
"Thinking? Aww, I gave up on that years ago!" Link chuckled as Randy shoved him back playfully. "But seriously, what about?"
"Oh, I don't know, how about only how you're going to break it to the kids?!?!" Randy was very stern and strict now, giving Link a glare and a fearsome growl.
Link gasped, pulling his breath back with a vacuum effect. "Oh no! I completely forgot about that! Oh, no, no no, what the Gel am I gonna."
"WE'RE HERE!" Tony shouted far above the clashing of the thunder, and the twittering conversation behind his heels. The two automatically snapped to attention. Having both served in the Hyrulean Military, they could both compare him to one or two commanding officers they'd seen. Link was reminded not-so-fondly of his coworker and [forced] opposite leader, Igre Rendelholfe, Hyrule's Minister of War. That gorilla of a man was always bossing Link around with no respect to the fact that they were supposed to be working WITH, not AGAINST, each other.
"Alright, are we all set back there?" Tony turned his head around to take a look at the pair of grown men hobbling after him like a pair of newborn ducklings. "You know what to do, correct?"
"Of course." Randy nodded at Tony, and gave him a thumbs-up.
"No duh, little man." Link tried to do the same, but got that cheesy, dubious type look again. Something wasn't right around him; Tony could very well sense Link's unease. Perhaps he was only nervous about the game ahead, that was very well a possibility. But it seemed to have an air above that, like he was hiding something.
Yeah, right. Link thought to himself. I know what to do. Pah, I wish.
Discreetly, he shook his head in shame, sorrow, and utter confusion.
***********************
Leaning against the bookcase, Posie sighed with helplessness. How she had survived through these remaining three rounds, she was clueless. Something she'd inherited, she supposed. Natural endurance. Yeah, natural endurance. If only this were natural. But there was just something. oh, I don't know, out of the ordinary, about seeing her best friend's father, with his great size, pretty much kneeling down inside one of the kindergarten chairs, hunched over the low, kindergarten table and the checkerboard that lay upon it.
Stalemate. That's how it had lasted, for what seemed to have been going on for half an hour. Impatience was catching like the flu among the crowd. And in her, though it was more likely she was the vector. Along with Elaine. After Link had made a come-from-behind Four Square victory, he was nailed flatly by Randy once again in a match of two-on-two basketball. The man simply had a pure advantage of height in that game. Now had come the surprise tiebreaker, a match of checkers mercifully inside. Tony, the ref as always, peered with and eagle eye at the leathery hands of the two men competing. He was dearly hoping to catch a cheater in the act, but it seemed like the giants in fame and size were simply too civil to stoop to such tactics. Nobody was enjoying this any more. Couldn't they just give up?
Link's mind clearly wasn't on the game.
His palms sweated as, without even looking, he shifted one of his pieces to a spot that allowed Randy to accomplish a triple-jump. His eyes darted about aimlessly; to the back of the room most often; to the ceiling, then only swiftly down at the black-and-red square below. Winning didn't matter at all now, what mattered was making it through what came afterwards. Winning or losing, it couldn't change what he had to state, sooner or later, champ or no champ. But how? Was it going to make sense, in his twitchy state? Would anyone believe it, regardless? This didn't look like it would come out in his favor. Nor did the game. Why not just stop now, and say it?
But think of how stupid you'd look. His brain, programmed into an overly logical state(Blast that Navi), was analyzing every imaginable pro and con. Mostly con. What ridicule would come to him? To them? What sort of scarring to his reputation? He hated it all now. The whole plan. He'd always know it, but the sweetalk slipping from his friend's lips had convinced him to overcome his own common sense: Telling the truth is always easier than lying. Telling the truth is never having to remember what you've said.
His eyes somehow slipped back to the game laid out before him, and they nearly popped out of their sockets. He wasn't at all sure how he had come to notice it right away, but there it was-Randy's last move had been so unbearably stupid, many of his own paled in comparison. A chain of leaps had been established that, if Link took it, he would eliminate all but Randy's last two kings, lurking back on his side of the board where they had been crowned. It was so simple, it was easy. All he had to do was make that jump. Voila, game good as over, it ended quickly, he won, was worshipped a little, then he sat down and calmly explained the whole ordeal. Cool and collected, laying out the story as basically as possible.
Great. Now he just had to make that move. Simple, right? Just pick up the wooden disk, move it over the black pieces, and move them off the board. Nothing to it. Wait, no, wait-where did that move go again? He panicked. Ah, there it was. All he needed was to touch that piece. Just touch it. Just make his trembling hand move forward. Then, just clasp the piece-he dropped it!
Link Hiro Blade, you're letting your nerves rule you! Snap out of it! Link used his thoughts like a slap to his mind, urging himself to wake from his skittish trance. Pretend. you're fighting a fierce Dodongo. A giant STONE Dodongo. Who won't eat any bombs. But then, gazing at the carved black pieces that belonged to Randy, he saw that the only bomb-like objects in view were his opponent's checkers. He scratched his forehead and made a new reach.
There. Solid wood, beneath his fingers. A rough, even grip. Like a sword hilt. That's it. A sword hilt. You can hold a sword; no problem. Now, wave the sword! That's it! You're demonstrating. A complicated move. You're under scrutiny; heavy scrutiny. She has her eye on you. Even though she's never seen this one, she can tell when things don't go the way you expect by the dulling of your eyes and the tightness in your face. So loosen up. Be graceful. This may be the one time you REALLY have to get this right. Now, you ease on, into one of your stories. Back before you were born, when Ganondorf ruled all of Hyrule, a fierce fire once sprung up in the very spot in Kakariko Village where your feet are now.
"And this is strategical how?" Randy grumped as Link's hand hovered over the board, checker in hand. He didn't realize that he had been holding it there in mid air for almost a minute, and he had even started mumbling the little tale about the fire to himself as he prepared to place the red disk back down.
"Sorry." At least Link's mind was clear now; he could refocus on the game.
Place it down, lift it over, place it down, lift it over, place it down, lift it over, place it down. As if he was chopping through water, he slowly swept all three black checkers off to his side of the table. Then he, for the first time in the hour or so since they'd arrived, he looked Randy directly in the deep brown eyes and said, without the slightest hint of incredulity or worry, "it's your turn." Like he had finally, after five rough and tumble rounds, come to accept this man who he seemed to have been brought to by fate. For those observing the game, with the exceptions of those two, of course, it had been since they had arrived. But for those two, and for Link and Randy themselves, it had been since three years ago when a similar problem had sent them together searching, together finding, and together laughing once the troubles had passed. Two oddball friendships, and yet four firmest of friends. So under the Goddesses' order it passed, as they said in Hyrule. The Hyrulean version of "That's how the ball bounces."
Elaine rocked on the balls of her feet. She bit her lower lip in her small spot of nervousness. Link could very well win this last game and the contest to boot. She sniffed the air, and caught a small, familiar, subtle whiff of something warm and fresh. No hiding it from her nose, she thought. Mrs. B's best peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting. Too bad she was allergic to peanuts. Those cookies were her very favorite food. It was only by chance she had ever tasted them, and once she had, she had made up her mind to taste them again. Every once in a while, when Posie had one or two to spare with dessert, she would break off a little piece for friend to sample. It was torture, not being able to just grab up a handful and wharf them down. But, genetics had not been nice to her. Not nice at all, a sudden very sharp undertone cut through her thoughts, as she reached behind her to feel the back of her neck where the large birthmark started.
Maybe, she thought, it wouldn't hurt, not at all, to just go up and sort of ask, just edgewise, if she could have a cookie, or a little bit of one. Link was a nice fellow, after all. He knew about her allergies, but even he couldn't withstand if she gave him puppy dog eyes and whimpered a little. For someone with such a sharp tongue, she played the innocent act very well. An innocent act impossible to resist. So she could have a cookie. Or a little piece of one. Just a little. Just enough to satisfy her craving. Though, truth be told, their probably wouldn't be enough peanut butter cookie with chocolate frosting in the whole world to do that.
"Posie, I'm going to go and beg some. PB and CF at ten 'o clock. Catch you in a sec."
"I thought I smelled their distinctive smell. Do it quiet, OK? And remember, your daddy's right there."
"I know, I know." Ducking her head down to the floor, Elaine tried to be inconspicuous as she scuttled over to Link's side.
What happened at that moment was a blur for the most part, and for those farthest from the action; parents and their children sitting off to the sides, as far as possible from the checker board, it seemed to simply jump from peaceful tranquility to utmost chaos. But if one was right there, part of the inner ring of the tightly pressing crowd of spectators, there was a definite transition. It all happened so very fast, one could hardly remember what happened, especially after the mind-numbing conclusion reached after the case fell. But, for those on the scene, most particularly Posie herself, a general agreement can be reached that it happened somewhat like this:
The cookie-craving Elaine, hungry for a taste of the tabooed sweat bread, snuck up in an unsuspecting way on the deeply concentrating Link. Maybe Elaine was too sneaky or Link too deep in thought, but Link had not noticed her approach, and Elaine had not noticed that he did not notice. And with his thoroughly burnt nerves, one tap on the shoulder was enough to send him screeching. His hands flung up, completely disrupting the game and giving him a sweep of reverse momentum. He was upended from his chair as he fell back, his legs flailing and kicking the light, wooden table. Now, though at times they may seem twiggy, Link's legs are actually quite powerful, and one might even goes as far as to say they are muscle- bound. If Link had a weapon other than his fabled sword and quick bow, it might as well have been his mighty kick. An ample amount of force was transferred from that unexpected kick to that table, and went flying. The immense bulk that was Randy was forced to duck, and there was a great commotion as the small table shattered into a million splinters as it rammed the bookcase at a great velocity.
The bookcase began to wobble.
All those in the general area were quite suddenly in immediate danger. Men and women ushered their dawdling children away from the now violently rocking shelves, praying to each of the Goddesses for the safety of the little ones. Some even dared to mumble a curse or two under their breaths, though, because they did take care not to poison the precious minds of their sons and daughters, many of those curses were in the ancient Hylian language. Tony's dark-haired mother, normally large eyes now positively dilated with fright, uttered a little cry of "Oh!" as she gave Tony a small shove from the backside out of the way. Instinctively, back where the table had once been, Randy reached over and put his arms tightly around Elaine, not letting herself squirm free and into the potentially hazardous zone again.
The radius around the toppling case was bleak, with the exception of one, miniscule, fifteen inch girl with golden hair, sapphire eyes, and a green tunic. She was all alone, and paralyzed with fear. There was no doubt her tiny body would be thoroughly crushed by the toppling mass of the chest, severely injuring and quite possibly killing her. Elaine watched, blind-eyed, as the only friend whom she had ever had, in all of her short, infant life, stood before impending doom. The ever strong Randy seemed now a fragile man of glass, and both seemed to be both fixed upon Link. His jaw hung slack; he was lost in a maelstrom of his own mind. He had to act. Despite the great amounts of weight that case could still press upon his body, he, unlike the child, could withstand it. He knew what he had to do. There was no arguing out of it.
Link made a great lunge forward, with his arms tight against his torso as if he were breaking free of the grasp of some fatal vines that had started creeping around his chair and that had been holding him down. He then spread those arms wide as he both fell and dove as the bookcase finally found its way out of its base of support and was collapsing altogether. Perhaps it was somewhat over-dramatic; but that was Link, always having to put up a good show for it. Like a giant clamp sweeping out of the heavens, he swiftly grabbed the child and pressed her up close to his chest as away the two of them tumbled. The carpet did not prove very good to slide upon, but nevertheless it was in the blink of an eye that they were safely out of harm's way and onto a bare patch of carpeting. The bookcase fell with an almighty crash that could very well have sent a small quake through all of Kakariko, and the pair clad in green simultaneously released their breaths into heavy, ragged gasps. Link was bent over the carpet, down on his knees, looking fearfully down at the small, trembling bundle he had scooped into his limbs.
Posie could not state, in a million words, how very comforting it was to be back in those noble, and yet familiar, arms one more. Even since her first day on earth, something was embedded within her to tell her that nothing could come close to her in the depths of that grip. She closed her eyes, wishing with all her might that she could simply break down and cry, a relief-ridden stream that away with it flowed every trouble from that day. She buried her face in the deep green folds of the tunic, inhaling great breaths of the familiar air of her sweet forest with the spicy undercurrent of Hyrule's majestic landscape. With her elfin ear, flattened up against the smooth, warm cloth, she could both hear and feel his heart beating. And it was not the ravaging, steady throb of a great warrior; it was the same as any man's who was terrified for the sake of someone he loved dearly, loud and quick. Loud and quick. So very misperceived, this marshmallow of a man was.
She lifted her head. All around, drops of bulging eyes peered and prodded, inquiring silently, "is she alive?" Her bejeweled watch returned, "alive, but terrified." Not that some could care. Although, most curiously, even Tony seemed even a mote worried as he looked from behind his mother's legs at the girl most suddenly and miraculously rescued by the greatest hero ever known to their world. Perhaps a small bit of jealousy smoldered within his soul. Perhaps he did genuinely care, and all of his banter was merely a ruse. Or maybe it was only basic human inquisition, the need to know everything and everything. Whatever was the case, he still sat emotionless as her little blue eyes skipped to the deep abyss of Elaine's.
Wakened from the bored haze at her desk, Miss Claire was now stumbling over the numerous underfoot kindergartners and strewn objects to make her way over to the hunched-over Link, clutching a Posie who was just waking from the trance of her horror. She had intended to wait until she had reached the odd-looking duo before she began her inquisition, but the words were racing from her lips as quickly as the bookcase had fallen. "Are you OK? Are you hurt? You aren't too scared, are you? That was amazing, Link, we don't know how we can ever repay you."
"I've 'repaid' myself enough as is, Miss Claire, but thank you just the same. You are a kind woman, I can clearly see."
"Well, that's nice of you, but at the moment I'd like a word with Posie. she that little girl you just now rescued."
"I know." Most people assumed, naturally, that he meant that he knew that Miss Claire wished to speak with Posie. In truth, this was only partially right. But, right or half-right or not right at all, Link nodded and set the child down on the ground. Not seeming even the slightest bit fazed now, she toddled over to the young teacher, and said, most politely and as if nothing had just happened, "Yes, Miss Claire?"
"Well. you seem to be alright now. so I guess we can skip that part of the conversation. but there is still a very serious matter at hand which we must discuss."
"Yes?" Posie gazed up into Miss Claire's eyes as innocent as an angel, and it almost hurt her in the heart to talk to the little girl as seriously as she must. "Well. you know. it's been over an hour since Parent's day started, and. well. do you realize that your father hasn't yet showed up?"
Posie made a strange face. "But what do you mean, Miss Claire? He's been here all this time. A long time."
It was Miss Claire's turn to purse her lips in thought. "What do you mean, Posie? I haven't seen him. There's been no one in this school or schoolyard who even remotely seems to have been him."
"But surely, you musta noticed him. Mommy says he and I look so ezactly alike, that if we were the same size you couldn't tell us apart. We've both got blue eyes and blonde hair, and out clothes."
"No, Posie, I haven't seen another person with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a forest green-"
Her jay instantly stopped moving, hanging down and open with shock. Her eyes no longer focused, they gazed almost through the child standing before her, at her rescuer behind. The one called Link, golden- haired, cobalt-eyed, and with that green tunic and hat they all knew so well. The Link. The famous Link. The Savior-of-Hyrule, Hero-of-Time Link.
The family resemblance was unmistakable.