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C H A P T E R 2
[A Tunic and a Telescope]
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Their house looked much the same as the other houses on Outset. There was little wealth on the island, but there were plenty of palm trees. People built their houses out of tree logs and wove roofs and mats out of tree leaves. Each house had a verandah, each house had wide storm shutters for the hurricane season, each roof was peaked—and if it weren't for the distinct smell that always hit him upon entering the door, Link figured he wouldn't be able to tell his own home from his neighbors'.
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The scent was on the account of Gran's cooking and oh, what a cook she was! Always there was something simmering over the fireplace, and if it wasn't her famous soup, it was lobster or salted fish. Today it was most defiantly soup and Link took in a great whiff of it as he came in.
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The other islanders often joked that she should set up a restaurant at Windfall and make a fortune. She'd respond, " I would've went if you had put it passed me years ago, but it's too late now. This ol' Kargarok isn't budging from her nest." Gran was as stubborn as anybody one from Outset was—too stubborn to give up on the old ways of fishing and move to the bigger, more prosperous islands.
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"Smells good, Gran!" hollered Link over the hissing of the boiling pot. Gran was a bit deaf, so one had to yell a little to get her attention. "Gran?"
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Still, Gran did not seem to have heard him come in, for she continued to chop a turnip with her back to him. Link moved into the kitchen, took a seat, and since it appeared that Gran was still oblivious to him, he helped himself to a few, forbidden berries. However, just as Link was about to pop them into his mouth, Gran suddenly barked, "Link Raintree! Eat those and you can forget supper! I'm using them to make a pie."
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How she managed to do that always eluded Link. Gran was the sharpest person Link knew and it seemed she could sense a rule being broken a mile away. What she lacked in youth was made up for by her shrewd strictness.
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"Well come here and give your Gran a hug, then," she said with half-feigned impatience.
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He had found himself of late handling his grandmother gingerly as if he held her too hard he'd crack her like a china saucer. Link patted her softly on the back while she gave him a short squeeze. Link felt her age more than she did.
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"Let me have a look at you," she said, holding him at arms length.
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Link had to stoop to meet her eye to eye. Gran was a short woman with a kindly round face that betrayed her authority. She was getting on in her years. Never had she been young in Link's recollection and she was even slower in her ways lately. Her gray hair was pulled into a bun and creases from countless smiles and frowns lined her face.
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"Sixteen! Oh Goddesses! Wear does the time go? If only your Father was in port today…you're the exact spit of him when he came of age."
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Gran must have seen Link's face fall, for she hastily cleared her throat. "And I have a present that I believe belongs to you."
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This was it. A year of desperate longing and fevered anticipation came down to the moment. Gran emerged from the backroom holding a package wrapped in brown paper. Link attempted to suck in several, steadying breaths.
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She placed the package in his hands.
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Please be a sail! Please be a sail! Please be a sail! It has to be a sail!
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Link wasted no time wrangling the twine off the package then he tore open the paper. Gran watched Link, smiling at his excitement.
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Please, please, please, be a sail!
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Neatly folded in half was a rich green fabric, the wrinkles ironed smooth.
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It is!
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Link hugged his present close to his chest and from the heavy cloth spread euphoric warmth, starting from the hands that clutched it, then all through his body. A sail, he thought. A beautiful green sail! He held his ticket out of Outset in his very hands.
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"I thought you'd like it but I never expected this. You'd think you've never gotten a birthday present in your life the way you're getting on," laughed Gran.
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"Gran…" Link searched for words that would not come. "It's amazing. Thanks!" He bent down and gave her a peck on the cheek.
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"I though the color would bring out your eyes," she said. "Try it on!"
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"The color in my eyes? I don't know about that, Gran, but it will sure match the color I painted the trim of my boat. I'll take it down to the docks right now and try it on for size!"
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"To the docks? Whatever for?"
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Link shook his head incredulously, with a grin still plastered across his face. " To put my new sail on my boat!"
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"What sail?"
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He gave an odd, disbelieving, half-laugh, thinking for sure his Gran must be just teasing him. "This one!" Link said and he held the folded green cloth up as if to convince Gran as to what her own gift was.
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A sleeve dropped limply out from the rest of the material.
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Link's mouth fell open.
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"It's not a sail, is it," he said slowly, feeling as though something had turned his insides to lead.
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He unfolded the green bundle and saw exactly what his birthday gift was. It was a heavy, cloth tunic and a ridiculous matching cap. Rolled up in one of the sleeves was a pair of white leggings.
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"No, silly," Gran smiled. 'What else would you get on you sixteenth birthday beside from a set of hero's clothes? Don't you like them?"
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"Oh…oh, oh yes, of course I do, Gran. They're excellent," he lied, trying valiantly to swallow bitter taste of disappointment out of his mouth.
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"Well, put it on!"
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Link stumbled numbly behind the dressing screen. Of course—Hero Clothes. How could have he forgotten? He berated himself bitterly as he pulled the ugly, heavy tunic over his head.
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Outset Island had a rather peculiar tradition of dressing boys in elfin costumes, much like the ones the Hero of Time was said to have worn. It was a rite of passage to don the foolish outfit that consisted of a tunic, leggings, and a pointed hat. Link barely remembered the last boy to wear such garbs, for there was nobody near his age on Outset. He did know, however, that he was about to become the butt of many jokes and the center of the time-honored tradition of teasing the new "Hero".
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Link's knowledge of the Hero of Time was mainly limited to his odd wardrobe and a few lines of the epic poem that had been passed down through the ages orally, since it was rare to come by someone who could understand written words. There were many variations, as each sailor liked to add his own spin, and little by little the legend had turned into something of a joke. Every detail had been twisted and skewed into sheer nonsense.
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But the legend always began the same way, and it was on that point only did the storytellers agree.
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There had once been a great kingdom. It have never been quite clear to Link as to what exactly a Kingdom was, for nothing of the sort existed now. Gran said it was a sort of an order where one man ruled a land as large as the Great Seas. Link could hardly comprehend such a thing, because each scattered island kept to their selves, but nevertheless, there had once been a kingdom, in a time before the Great Seas.
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The Old Kingdom came under siege and it seemed a dark end was near. But then, out of nowhere, came the Hero, galloping atop his valiant steed (again, Link wasn't sure what a steed was, but given the context, he assumed it to be a type of boat) and vanquished the great evil. How he accomplished such a feat was beyond Link, for everybody had composed his own adventure for the Hero over the years.
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So the Hero went down in history as the Hero of Time and disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. His tale became legend, but when the evil returned to resume its dark designs the Hero did not turn up to save the day. The people of the Old Kingdom appealed to the Gods in their hopelessness, but a reply came in ruin and nothing of the Old Kingdom survived but the legend.
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Link had always found the legend quite discouraging and thought it odd people still worshiped this Hero who turned his back on the Kingdom. The Hero also had quite a questionable taste in his apparel.
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"Well hurry up, Link! I haven't all day!" called Gran from the other side of the dressing screen.
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"Just a minute," Link shouted back, buckling the belt Gran had handed him.
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"Come out and let's have a look."
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Reluctantly, Link shuffled out from behind the screen. Gran clasped her hands together and beamed at Link as though she were holding back tears of pride. "Oh, you look so handsome, Link. I bet even the Hero didn't look as dashing in those clothes as you do," she breathed, dabbing the corner of her eyes with a tissue.
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Link seriously doubted that.
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"Have a glance at yourself—and don't you dare take that hat off Link Raintree!" Gran said as Link went to remove the cap.
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"Aww, Gran," moaned Link, as she gave him a light shove in the direction of the full-length mirror in the backroom.
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Gran must have been losing her eyes in her old age; dashing and handsome would certainly not be words used to describe his reflection. Comical and green was more like it. He scowled darkly at his image and pulled at the tunic that was much too loose for him. The leggings felt too short for his gangly legs. Link still bore the skinny awkwardness of a boy younger than he, though the last year he had sprouted several inches. As for being the spit of his father, well, Link would wager even his father-- a sturdy man with commanding presence--would contest to that.
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Gran had quickly gotten over her wonderment of Link and returned to her usual briskness. "Now, will you shoo? I've got a stew to make and you're in my way."
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~.~.~.~.~
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"Happy Birthday to me," Link muttered under his breath.
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He had decided to sulk by the docks. The tide was out and most of the fishing trawlers had left. The docks were quiet except for a few gulls pecking about. Link sat hunched by his own boat—a boat that would never leave the harbor. It was stuck, tiered to the docks of Outset, forever bobbing and straining against its ropes with each tug from the receding waves.
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Link felt around for a rock. Finding a rounded, flat one, Link stood to throw it. Link was Outset's champion at skipping rocks and once he had gotten all the way up to thirteen skips before the rock sank. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the rock sailing over the water but he only managed to skip it once before it sank with a plop.
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"I give up!" Link cried in frustration, throwing up his hands.
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"Something wrong, Big Brother?" asked Aryll, who had sneaked up from behind. She snickered at his new clothes.
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"Aww, Aryll! Just get lost!"
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"How you gonna make me?" She grinned, stepping past him. Aryll climbed into his boat. She teased him like this all the time, but it was only today that it getting under his skin.
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"Aryll, get out of my boat!"
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"No!"
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Link jumped into the boat too, rocking it violently. " I said 'GET OUT'!"
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"Catch me if you—oomph!"
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Aryll's taunt was cut of, as while she was dancing out of Link's reach, she tripped over one of the seats. In an instant, Aryll grabbed onto the front of Link's shirt in a hopeless attempt to regain her balance. Link was hauled into to the water as well and the boat tipped over in their wake.
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Sputtering, Link kicked himself to the surface. "Sweet Goddesses, Aryll! What did you do that for?"
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Aryll's little face poked out of the water. Panting, she said, " Don't get mad at me. You're the one who's got his brand new clothes soaked!"
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"Oh, no!" exclaimed Link. "Gran's gonna fry me!" Link felt the top of his head for his cap, touching only wet hair. "Where did my hat go?"
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Aryll giggled. She held up his soaking hat.
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"Give it here…I mean it, Aryll!"
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But she was already swimming to shore. Link dog paddled after her. Breathlessly, she stumbled up onto the east shore, Link not far behind. Aryll clutched his hat tightly, sprinting up the path. She tried to lose Link by climbing over a garden fence and make a run through Mr. Whidbey's over-grown garden.
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"HEY YOU KIDS! GET OUTTA MY GARDEN!" shouted Mr. Whidbey from his porch.
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They paid no heed and Link chased Aryll around the shed. She doubled back to throw him off, but Link heard her and caught her just as she rounded the corner of Whidbey's shed. Aryll squirmed out of Link's hold and she was off like a shot.
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Link caught up with her some minutes later, for she had stopped unexplainably at the edge of the slate cliffs. She stared off a sea, eyes wide.
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Thoroughly winded, Link said, "You didn't drop it off the cliff, did you?"
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But she still held the hat at her side. There sounded a distant rumble like the boom of a thunderstorm far out to sea. The sunny day had turned to into a bleak, gray one in a matter of minutes. Link had only noticed the weather turn now and he felt the air grow heavy and hot against his skin. The winds gusting from the north suddenly died down, eerily silencing the rustle of the palm trees.
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"Aryll, what is it?"
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"There's a pirate ship out there," she answered.
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"That's impossible. No pirates venture this far south; there's nothing to steal out here." There came the same, far off rumble. "It's just a storm. You're seeing things, Aryll."
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But when Link stepped beside her, he saw that there was indeed a pirate ship just outside the sleepy harbor. It was a huge, mighty galleon with countless sails and a lofty crow's nest. There came another blast for the ship's cannons that shook the island.
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"Is it shooting at us?" cried Aryll.
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"No…it's firing at something in the sky…but…" Link quickly scanned the gray skies. "…I can't see a thing. The clouds are real low. Aryll…give me your telescope!"
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"No. Last time I lent it to you, you cracked the lens."
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Boom. Boom.
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"Aryll, this is serious!" Link shouted over the cannon blasts. Over the thundering, Link heard a shrill shriek that scared Aryll so badly that she afforded to hand Link her telescope.
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Link hurriedly extended the telescope pointed it skyward. Something appeared out of the gathering, dark clouds, but it was too fuzzy to make out. Another shriek and an another blast sounded, and with trembling fingers, he focused the telescope. Still he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing…it looked like a bird's plumage.
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"Link, you don't need the telescope! Just look!"
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Disclaimer: It's only two chapters in, and I'm already sick of doing this. I do not own Zelda.