Legends of the Waker: Remnants of Old
Chapter XXXI: The Graveyard
-Link
I fell for an eternity. I began to wonder if I'd done the right thing, or something totally insane. My previous assurances had abandoned me. After a time an odd feeling suddenly washed over me. I'd gotten used to falling, but now I felt the dizzy, draining rush of one about to hit the ground.
Hit the ground!
I began to fly just in time, a boot hitting earth as I went up. I looped through the air and landed on the ground. As much as I'd gotten used to being in the air, it still felt good to feel soil beneath me feet. Darkness had been my companion throughout the trip down, and it stayed with me still. I couldn't see a thing. For all I knew, the area around me could go for miles, or end within an inch of my outstretched hand.
For some reason a small thought of Zelda passed through my mind as I stood there. I still couldn't keep my thoughts from wondering towards her, and hoped she was okay. I wished I could see her. A little glimpse of her face would have eased my heart instantly.
I shook my head. Focus.
I took quick stock of my things. Hat, tunic, boots, swords, boomerang, bow and quiver with no arrows, and a bottle of soup. Nothing to start a fire, or any kind of light.
Except. . .
In the darkness, bring the light.
I'd left out the Triforce. A very slight glow was coming from the pattern on my hand. I had to make it bigger. I concentrated on making the tiny shreds of light grow. I pictured a glow filling the entire area. With stunning speed, brightness covered every corner of the massive cavern.
Stone pillars stretched from floor to ceiling, growing from top to bottom and meeting. I could just barely make out the hole I'd sunk from. To the right the cavern kept going, twisting and rising here and there until it narrowed into a tunnel, and to the left I could see what looked like the ruins of a city crowned by a windmill. No lava. That I couldn't figure out. Wasn't I at the base of a volcano? Perhaps the changes I'd caused had rearranged more than I thought. Or the Gorons were a great deal more advanced than I thought.
Ahead was a wall that curved towards the ruins and the tunnel. I turned, wondering where to begin my search. My question was soon answered.
A door as high as Zelda's ship, mast included, greeted me. The surface was covered with pictures and runes carved from ancient rock. It looked as if it hadn't been moved in centuries.
Curious, I began to move forward, when a scuffling noise met my ears. I turned, and saw something moving in the wrecked city. Shadows flitted here and there, sometimes stopping to stare, all seemingly afraid of the sudden light. Again my curiosity took hold, but this time I moved towards the buildings. The light was dimming fast, making it difficult to see.
As I reached the outskirts of the ruined village, I heard a loud rustling coming from a nearby pile of rubble and a creature leapt from behind it with a wordless cry. I struck the unyielding ground before I could draw a sword and was instantly struggling against an invisible presence. I took off flying into the air, taking him with me, soaring high and spinning in loops. He fell off and landed far below with a sickening crunch.
I landed and inspected the body. Skin as pale as milk, a young boy of about ten had attacked me. He was obviously Hylian, but his too-wide eyes and colorless flesh established him as very different.
And I'd killed him.
For all the battling I'd done, for all I'd been through, I'd never killed another Hylian before. I'd acted rashly, without thinking, and now he'd paid the price. The fact that I'd been attacked was no excuse. I could have done things differently. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I knelt and pulled his eyes closed.
"I'm sorry."
That was it for the unknown casualty of my error. I couldn't dwell on anything for too long, much less this.
I looked deeper into the city and saw more shadows. The darkness was growing. I had to strain to see the great door. The Gorons had to be past it. I once again began to walk towards it.
Before I knew it, I was bound and being carried towards the windmill. I was tied to a stick by my hands and feet and being carried by two men who looked like the one I'd killed, and surrounded by dozens more. Each man took a sword. Everything else I still had but the freedom to use them was gone.
By now the light had faded entirely, the only light coming from the occasional torch as we passed by the ruinous buildings. Gleaming eyes and hateful glances met me every few windows. No mercy would be received here.
Eventually we reached the windmill and I was carried straight through a door into a large chamber of simple stone with a rotting wood floor. Only the two men came in. The rest waited outside. I was dumped without ceremony before an oddly dressed man of about thirty. He carried an ancient, rust pitted metal box like the grinder that lived on Roc's Island carried, but this man's looked as if it were centuries old, ready to fall apart at the slightest provocation.
"Who's this you've brought me, Griman? Lalalalala?" He said that at the end of every sentence. I'm pretty sure he was insane. I also figured he had to be the one in charge.
"A murderer. He killed Rost," the man in front, Griman responded with vehemence.
"What say you, swordsman? Lalalalala?" his musical voice seemed trusting, kind.
"I didn't mean too! He attacked me! I'm sorry!"
"Liar!" The man behind me shouted. "I saw it all. As soon as he laid eyes on Rost, he began to hack at him for no good reason!"
"But. . . Trisyrt. Lalalalala." the leader seemed to be weighing everyone's words.
"You must punish him!" Griman cried.
The leader crumbled visibly. A terrible look of sadness crossed his face. "Very well," he said quietly. "Take him to the graveyard. Lalalalala"
With that, Griman and Trisyrt lifted me into the air and carried me out the door and back to the waiting crowd.
"To the graveyard!" Griman cried out. The entire mob burst into cheers, and we soon stood before a massive, wrought iron gate.
The rust reddened gate squeaked open and I was carried through rows of tombstones. Some of them bore ancient insignia of the Triforce, and looked as if a talented stonecutter had designed them. But these were very old, with crumbling stones and forgotten, unreadable names. The rest were simple blocks of rough-hewn rock, with a Triforce and names scratched in.
At the back, towards an edge of the seemingly depthless cavern, an open hole awaited. Perfectly square, and with an unmarked tombstone, there could be no mistaking what they intended for. A coffin was brought out, and with great show, I was forced inside. As soon as they began to close the premature tomb, I started screaming. Wordless objections and pleas passed my lips, ending with one coherent word.
-"Zelda!"-
Three minutes later, I was six feet under. Dirt began to bang the lid. It grew quieter and quieter as time passed. Eventually my throat grew hoarse, too much so to scream. Not that anyone could here me.
I'd been buried alive.
Chapter XXXII: The Dream Begins
-Fado
Everything was strange, unfamiliar. I walked with eight others in a spread out crowd. I could see a forest in Autumnal death behind us, and the gates of a walled city just ahead. The eight were of mixed races, Three I picked out instantly. Forest folk. A Kokiri girl with long green hair, a short Deku Scrub with a few red leaves, and a Skull Kid with two fairies. Now that I looked I saw that there were five of them in the party. Including one that seemed to be mine, though I didn't see how that was possible.
I felt wrong, different somehow in a way I couldn't explain. I held up a hand and stared at it. It wasn't my hand. What was going on? Where was the scar I'd gotten on my palm stick fighting with Mako three summers ago? To that, where were Mako and Holly? I'd gone to sleep on that tiny island, huddled with my three friends for warmth.
When a breeze sent a lock of brown hair fluttering over my eyes, I reached for my sword and was surprised to see it in the familiar place. Gazing into it, Mido's face stared back. A little younger, a little more proud, a little less scared, less worried, but this was Mido's body. I knew very well the stories, how he'd accompanied Link and twelve others into the Sacred Realm to claim Ganondorf's Triforce of Power and purge a different evil from Hyrule, and realized that for some reason I was living out part of that quest.
"You're not going to get any less ugly if you keep staring at yourself," the Skull Kid quipped, bringing me back to reality and to the realization I'd slowed to almost stopping. In a strange world, on a strange quest, surrounded by strangers whose names I wouldn't be able to use, I decided to observe as much as possible until this bizarre dream was over.
It didn't feel like a dream. The path we walked on, the overcast gray sky, cloud shielded sun, the waving green grass, and the trees that reminded me of home and sent terrible pangs of homesickness through me. No faded edges, no sense of being imaginary, I could smell bread being baked somewhere in the city we were now very close too.
I looked back at the trees and stopped. Home. I missed it so badly my breath caught. I longed for the merry days spent in the forest working and playing with my friends.
But they were gone. I wasn't going home again. Somehow I knew that. Remembering Mido's sharp, ever aware personality, I realized I needed to keep up before the others thought I was Deku Nut.
We reached the opening to the simple wooden walls, high enough to give it a fortress like quality. A few buildings and a very large tower stretched high into the air. A wooden sign stretched in an arc over the open doors. The city's name was painted over with thick black lettering. Without thinking, I read the words aloud.
"Once the jewel of the Realm, now the saturnine city. May all who pass these gates suffer."
"Nice." One of the men muttered, and I realized I'd forgotten to study the rest of the group, which included two Hylian men, one woman, a Goron, and a Zora. It was then that I realized one of the men, the one that hadn't spoken, was Link Hero of Time. The remainder of the group were fairies. Five, I eventually counted, including one of my own.
Suddenly a voice whispered in my ear. "What have you done with Mido?" I realized it was she, my fairy. The round, silver-green being was hovering so close I could make out her face. "What've you done?" she repeated. "I know you're not him."
"I'm. . ." I thought for a moment. What could I say? "A friend."
"Whatever. So long as he's coming back," she muttered, and never spoke to me again. Within the city, it seemed as though everyone were staring at us. Guards stood on the high walls and glared down. Mothers' penetrating gaze followed us through windows. Where was happiness? Not one show of joy, other than my own amused smile, was ever shown.
After walking down dusty, high-walled streets, we reached a small, grassy clearing and everyone sat to rest. Except Link and the other Hylian man. They both walked off as soon as we got there. While the others set up an impromptu camp, I wondered into the street, gazing at the tall brick buildings and rotting wooden houses. Why was I here? I knew this kind of thing would only happen to a sage for a reason.
I walked past a narrow alleyway and heard clanking and rustling pulsing through the unsettling quiet of the city. A swift dash around the corner brought me face to face with a little girl. She was about my height, which meant she was still young by Hylian standards. A child.
"Do'unt 'urt me, man. Do'unt tella Ganonderf I'ma bad ked, oki?" I grinned broadly at the dark haired girl and asked her where she lived. She pointed to the alley behind us. Righta 'ere, nice weirdy boy."
"Would you like to come with me, and get some food?" She agreed and we began to walk back, playing and laughing the whole way. We took turns leaping around corners at people we met on the way back, but when a scowling man drew a knife on us and made Alley (what I called her as she had no name to speak of) cry, I decided we should stop. I knew the scowler would agree wholeheartedly when he came to.
But we would never reach the camp. As night fell, I heard the heavy sound of marching footsteps growing closer and closer.
"Mobli's." Alley ducked fearfully behind me and I caught sight of a Moblin for the first time. Massive walls of flesh topped by piggish faces, each carried a spear and a torch that cast hundreds of hellish shadows. "Wha'll we do, Faydo?"
Alley and I ducked into an abandoned store just in time. Crouching and peering through the shattered glass of a window long broken, we watched the Moblins stomp into the city. This was what Ganondorf's rule meant. Pain, suffering, death. I gave Alley an assuring smile but it felt weak even to me. This was the kind of thing she had to live with constantly. My quest had to continue. Whatever sorrow I'd felt, no matter how strong my homesickness became, I had to keep going.
Everything began to fade and swirl together. The last thing I saw was a trio of Moblins bursting in as everything went dark. . .
A wonderful smell washed over me. I was being held by both arms, dragged through soft grass. The faded image of the dream was still with me, behind closed lids. I risked an open eye and was surprised but unspeakably joyous when I saw trees above me. Mako and Holly were on either side of me, dragging me along.
"Wha. . ." my voice came out in a thirsty croak and I stopped. My friends, relieved, stopped. "What has happened?" I demanded.
"You didn't wake up," Holly said wearily. "We couldn't go on without you." So it was unbelievable, but true.
We were back home.
Chapter XXXIII: The Army of Outset
-Laruto
Things were going better than I'd planned. After the shock of Nemos's verbal assault and hasty retreat, I'd called everyone to a safe point high on the mountain. I stood on the pillar of a bridge, one so recently constructed it still smelled of freshly cut wood. Medli stood on the other, wind whipping the timid girl's feathers. The Deku stood below us, between the columns. The villagers, all that had survived the first cannonade, spread before us.
"People of Outset!" I cried, raising my voice above the wind, refusing to let my words be swept to sea. "Your homes have been ravaged! Your lives have been threatened! In times of trouble, the sages have come to the people's aid. That time is now! Listen to me, and I will lead you against the enemy!"
The people seemed cowed into silence. No protest. Surprising that no political ambitions stirred. I'd been told Nemos had tried her hand at ruling, and with her defeated, they were without leadership.
"What will we do?" someone asked, then I realized it was the boy, Shiek.
"We will stand! The pirates will fall in three days if you do as I say, I promise you!"
After that, everything became a blur, as everyone marched down to the town and spread out, scouts collecting weapons and supplies, the rest creating barriers, trenches, and a central base of operations on the mountain, where I could view everything. I told the Deku to be ready to fight, but Gris insisted on two, Cufell and Knoll, remaining at my side. Burt wound up with the other children, on the far side of the bridge. Medli was assigned to do messenger work, and Fala to be ready with soup.
I sought out Medli as soon as possible. She looked agitated, nervous over the coming war. "Medli, about what I said. . ."
"What?" she said sharply, "About my weakness? We both know it's true, now don't we?"
"No, it's not. You've proven yourself over and over again. It doesn't matter that you fear. That's part of life. You faced it. You're not weak. You're all the braver for feeling so much fear, and facing it down when you need it. I. . .I'm glad you're with me. I know I'd have gotten nowhere without you."
"Th-Thank you. I. . ." she took a step back, then turned and ran.
I went back to planning. Something wasn't right. Where were the pirates? Why attack if not for loot? And why had the cannons stopped? It unsettled me, but I shook it off. I had to be prepared for anything. Finally when everything was prepared I stood on a rooftop to give the first orders.
The Army of Outset was ready for battle, but was I?
Chapter XXXI: The Graveyard
-Link
I fell for an eternity. I began to wonder if I'd done the right thing, or something totally insane. My previous assurances had abandoned me. After a time an odd feeling suddenly washed over me. I'd gotten used to falling, but now I felt the dizzy, draining rush of one about to hit the ground.
Hit the ground!
I began to fly just in time, a boot hitting earth as I went up. I looped through the air and landed on the ground. As much as I'd gotten used to being in the air, it still felt good to feel soil beneath me feet. Darkness had been my companion throughout the trip down, and it stayed with me still. I couldn't see a thing. For all I knew, the area around me could go for miles, or end within an inch of my outstretched hand.
For some reason a small thought of Zelda passed through my mind as I stood there. I still couldn't keep my thoughts from wondering towards her, and hoped she was okay. I wished I could see her. A little glimpse of her face would have eased my heart instantly.
I shook my head. Focus.
I took quick stock of my things. Hat, tunic, boots, swords, boomerang, bow and quiver with no arrows, and a bottle of soup. Nothing to start a fire, or any kind of light.
Except. . .
In the darkness, bring the light.
I'd left out the Triforce. A very slight glow was coming from the pattern on my hand. I had to make it bigger. I concentrated on making the tiny shreds of light grow. I pictured a glow filling the entire area. With stunning speed, brightness covered every corner of the massive cavern.
Stone pillars stretched from floor to ceiling, growing from top to bottom and meeting. I could just barely make out the hole I'd sunk from. To the right the cavern kept going, twisting and rising here and there until it narrowed into a tunnel, and to the left I could see what looked like the ruins of a city crowned by a windmill. No lava. That I couldn't figure out. Wasn't I at the base of a volcano? Perhaps the changes I'd caused had rearranged more than I thought. Or the Gorons were a great deal more advanced than I thought.
Ahead was a wall that curved towards the ruins and the tunnel. I turned, wondering where to begin my search. My question was soon answered.
A door as high as Zelda's ship, mast included, greeted me. The surface was covered with pictures and runes carved from ancient rock. It looked as if it hadn't been moved in centuries.
Curious, I began to move forward, when a scuffling noise met my ears. I turned, and saw something moving in the wrecked city. Shadows flitted here and there, sometimes stopping to stare, all seemingly afraid of the sudden light. Again my curiosity took hold, but this time I moved towards the buildings. The light was dimming fast, making it difficult to see.
As I reached the outskirts of the ruined village, I heard a loud rustling coming from a nearby pile of rubble and a creature leapt from behind it with a wordless cry. I struck the unyielding ground before I could draw a sword and was instantly struggling against an invisible presence. I took off flying into the air, taking him with me, soaring high and spinning in loops. He fell off and landed far below with a sickening crunch.
I landed and inspected the body. Skin as pale as milk, a young boy of about ten had attacked me. He was obviously Hylian, but his too-wide eyes and colorless flesh established him as very different.
And I'd killed him.
For all the battling I'd done, for all I'd been through, I'd never killed another Hylian before. I'd acted rashly, without thinking, and now he'd paid the price. The fact that I'd been attacked was no excuse. I could have done things differently. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I knelt and pulled his eyes closed.
"I'm sorry."
That was it for the unknown casualty of my error. I couldn't dwell on anything for too long, much less this.
I looked deeper into the city and saw more shadows. The darkness was growing. I had to strain to see the great door. The Gorons had to be past it. I once again began to walk towards it.
Before I knew it, I was bound and being carried towards the windmill. I was tied to a stick by my hands and feet and being carried by two men who looked like the one I'd killed, and surrounded by dozens more. Each man took a sword. Everything else I still had but the freedom to use them was gone.
By now the light had faded entirely, the only light coming from the occasional torch as we passed by the ruinous buildings. Gleaming eyes and hateful glances met me every few windows. No mercy would be received here.
Eventually we reached the windmill and I was carried straight through a door into a large chamber of simple stone with a rotting wood floor. Only the two men came in. The rest waited outside. I was dumped without ceremony before an oddly dressed man of about thirty. He carried an ancient, rust pitted metal box like the grinder that lived on Roc's Island carried, but this man's looked as if it were centuries old, ready to fall apart at the slightest provocation.
"Who's this you've brought me, Griman? Lalalalala?" He said that at the end of every sentence. I'm pretty sure he was insane. I also figured he had to be the one in charge.
"A murderer. He killed Rost," the man in front, Griman responded with vehemence.
"What say you, swordsman? Lalalalala?" his musical voice seemed trusting, kind.
"I didn't mean too! He attacked me! I'm sorry!"
"Liar!" The man behind me shouted. "I saw it all. As soon as he laid eyes on Rost, he began to hack at him for no good reason!"
"But. . . Trisyrt. Lalalalala." the leader seemed to be weighing everyone's words.
"You must punish him!" Griman cried.
The leader crumbled visibly. A terrible look of sadness crossed his face. "Very well," he said quietly. "Take him to the graveyard. Lalalalala"
With that, Griman and Trisyrt lifted me into the air and carried me out the door and back to the waiting crowd.
"To the graveyard!" Griman cried out. The entire mob burst into cheers, and we soon stood before a massive, wrought iron gate.
The rust reddened gate squeaked open and I was carried through rows of tombstones. Some of them bore ancient insignia of the Triforce, and looked as if a talented stonecutter had designed them. But these were very old, with crumbling stones and forgotten, unreadable names. The rest were simple blocks of rough-hewn rock, with a Triforce and names scratched in.
At the back, towards an edge of the seemingly depthless cavern, an open hole awaited. Perfectly square, and with an unmarked tombstone, there could be no mistaking what they intended for. A coffin was brought out, and with great show, I was forced inside. As soon as they began to close the premature tomb, I started screaming. Wordless objections and pleas passed my lips, ending with one coherent word.
-"Zelda!"-
Three minutes later, I was six feet under. Dirt began to bang the lid. It grew quieter and quieter as time passed. Eventually my throat grew hoarse, too much so to scream. Not that anyone could here me.
I'd been buried alive.
Chapter XXXII: The Dream Begins
-Fado
Everything was strange, unfamiliar. I walked with eight others in a spread out crowd. I could see a forest in Autumnal death behind us, and the gates of a walled city just ahead. The eight were of mixed races, Three I picked out instantly. Forest folk. A Kokiri girl with long green hair, a short Deku Scrub with a few red leaves, and a Skull Kid with two fairies. Now that I looked I saw that there were five of them in the party. Including one that seemed to be mine, though I didn't see how that was possible.
I felt wrong, different somehow in a way I couldn't explain. I held up a hand and stared at it. It wasn't my hand. What was going on? Where was the scar I'd gotten on my palm stick fighting with Mako three summers ago? To that, where were Mako and Holly? I'd gone to sleep on that tiny island, huddled with my three friends for warmth.
When a breeze sent a lock of brown hair fluttering over my eyes, I reached for my sword and was surprised to see it in the familiar place. Gazing into it, Mido's face stared back. A little younger, a little more proud, a little less scared, less worried, but this was Mido's body. I knew very well the stories, how he'd accompanied Link and twelve others into the Sacred Realm to claim Ganondorf's Triforce of Power and purge a different evil from Hyrule, and realized that for some reason I was living out part of that quest.
"You're not going to get any less ugly if you keep staring at yourself," the Skull Kid quipped, bringing me back to reality and to the realization I'd slowed to almost stopping. In a strange world, on a strange quest, surrounded by strangers whose names I wouldn't be able to use, I decided to observe as much as possible until this bizarre dream was over.
It didn't feel like a dream. The path we walked on, the overcast gray sky, cloud shielded sun, the waving green grass, and the trees that reminded me of home and sent terrible pangs of homesickness through me. No faded edges, no sense of being imaginary, I could smell bread being baked somewhere in the city we were now very close too.
I looked back at the trees and stopped. Home. I missed it so badly my breath caught. I longed for the merry days spent in the forest working and playing with my friends.
But they were gone. I wasn't going home again. Somehow I knew that. Remembering Mido's sharp, ever aware personality, I realized I needed to keep up before the others thought I was Deku Nut.
We reached the opening to the simple wooden walls, high enough to give it a fortress like quality. A few buildings and a very large tower stretched high into the air. A wooden sign stretched in an arc over the open doors. The city's name was painted over with thick black lettering. Without thinking, I read the words aloud.
"Once the jewel of the Realm, now the saturnine city. May all who pass these gates suffer."
"Nice." One of the men muttered, and I realized I'd forgotten to study the rest of the group, which included two Hylian men, one woman, a Goron, and a Zora. It was then that I realized one of the men, the one that hadn't spoken, was Link Hero of Time. The remainder of the group were fairies. Five, I eventually counted, including one of my own.
Suddenly a voice whispered in my ear. "What have you done with Mido?" I realized it was she, my fairy. The round, silver-green being was hovering so close I could make out her face. "What've you done?" she repeated. "I know you're not him."
"I'm. . ." I thought for a moment. What could I say? "A friend."
"Whatever. So long as he's coming back," she muttered, and never spoke to me again. Within the city, it seemed as though everyone were staring at us. Guards stood on the high walls and glared down. Mothers' penetrating gaze followed us through windows. Where was happiness? Not one show of joy, other than my own amused smile, was ever shown.
After walking down dusty, high-walled streets, we reached a small, grassy clearing and everyone sat to rest. Except Link and the other Hylian man. They both walked off as soon as we got there. While the others set up an impromptu camp, I wondered into the street, gazing at the tall brick buildings and rotting wooden houses. Why was I here? I knew this kind of thing would only happen to a sage for a reason.
I walked past a narrow alleyway and heard clanking and rustling pulsing through the unsettling quiet of the city. A swift dash around the corner brought me face to face with a little girl. She was about my height, which meant she was still young by Hylian standards. A child.
"Do'unt 'urt me, man. Do'unt tella Ganonderf I'ma bad ked, oki?" I grinned broadly at the dark haired girl and asked her where she lived. She pointed to the alley behind us. Righta 'ere, nice weirdy boy."
"Would you like to come with me, and get some food?" She agreed and we began to walk back, playing and laughing the whole way. We took turns leaping around corners at people we met on the way back, but when a scowling man drew a knife on us and made Alley (what I called her as she had no name to speak of) cry, I decided we should stop. I knew the scowler would agree wholeheartedly when he came to.
But we would never reach the camp. As night fell, I heard the heavy sound of marching footsteps growing closer and closer.
"Mobli's." Alley ducked fearfully behind me and I caught sight of a Moblin for the first time. Massive walls of flesh topped by piggish faces, each carried a spear and a torch that cast hundreds of hellish shadows. "Wha'll we do, Faydo?"
Alley and I ducked into an abandoned store just in time. Crouching and peering through the shattered glass of a window long broken, we watched the Moblins stomp into the city. This was what Ganondorf's rule meant. Pain, suffering, death. I gave Alley an assuring smile but it felt weak even to me. This was the kind of thing she had to live with constantly. My quest had to continue. Whatever sorrow I'd felt, no matter how strong my homesickness became, I had to keep going.
Everything began to fade and swirl together. The last thing I saw was a trio of Moblins bursting in as everything went dark. . .
A wonderful smell washed over me. I was being held by both arms, dragged through soft grass. The faded image of the dream was still with me, behind closed lids. I risked an open eye and was surprised but unspeakably joyous when I saw trees above me. Mako and Holly were on either side of me, dragging me along.
"Wha. . ." my voice came out in a thirsty croak and I stopped. My friends, relieved, stopped. "What has happened?" I demanded.
"You didn't wake up," Holly said wearily. "We couldn't go on without you." So it was unbelievable, but true.
We were back home.
Chapter XXXIII: The Army of Outset
-Laruto
Things were going better than I'd planned. After the shock of Nemos's verbal assault and hasty retreat, I'd called everyone to a safe point high on the mountain. I stood on the pillar of a bridge, one so recently constructed it still smelled of freshly cut wood. Medli stood on the other, wind whipping the timid girl's feathers. The Deku stood below us, between the columns. The villagers, all that had survived the first cannonade, spread before us.
"People of Outset!" I cried, raising my voice above the wind, refusing to let my words be swept to sea. "Your homes have been ravaged! Your lives have been threatened! In times of trouble, the sages have come to the people's aid. That time is now! Listen to me, and I will lead you against the enemy!"
The people seemed cowed into silence. No protest. Surprising that no political ambitions stirred. I'd been told Nemos had tried her hand at ruling, and with her defeated, they were without leadership.
"What will we do?" someone asked, then I realized it was the boy, Shiek.
"We will stand! The pirates will fall in three days if you do as I say, I promise you!"
After that, everything became a blur, as everyone marched down to the town and spread out, scouts collecting weapons and supplies, the rest creating barriers, trenches, and a central base of operations on the mountain, where I could view everything. I told the Deku to be ready to fight, but Gris insisted on two, Cufell and Knoll, remaining at my side. Burt wound up with the other children, on the far side of the bridge. Medli was assigned to do messenger work, and Fala to be ready with soup.
I sought out Medli as soon as possible. She looked agitated, nervous over the coming war. "Medli, about what I said. . ."
"What?" she said sharply, "About my weakness? We both know it's true, now don't we?"
"No, it's not. You've proven yourself over and over again. It doesn't matter that you fear. That's part of life. You faced it. You're not weak. You're all the braver for feeling so much fear, and facing it down when you need it. I. . .I'm glad you're with me. I know I'd have gotten nowhere without you."
"Th-Thank you. I. . ." she took a step back, then turned and ran.
I went back to planning. Something wasn't right. Where were the pirates? Why attack if not for loot? And why had the cannons stopped? It unsettled me, but I shook it off. I had to be prepared for anything. Finally when everything was prepared I stood on a rooftop to give the first orders.
The Army of Outset was ready for battle, but was I?