"Once upon a time," he began, "before the war between the Gerudos and the Hylians started, a man and a woman left Hyrule Castle and made their way toward the forest. The women headed for the north, seeking refuge with the Kokiri. The man headed to the more forgiving southern Hylian colonies with his one year old daughter. The Hyrulian woman, who had headed to the Kokiri, died right after she gave birth and her son was raised by the elves as one of them. The man, however, lived a long life before becoming caught up in the war. He died and his daughter was left alone."
Told ya he was crazy smirked my brain. I sent it a mental slap. His story was of me. Why?
" The boy who was raised by the Kokiri, left the forest, eventually becoming caught himself in a larger plot," the man waved an arm in the air. "Well, to speed things up, the boy killed Ganondorf and saved the world. Many times. Very many times. The problem was that Ganondorf kept escaping. Again and again." The boy laughed. "Kicking someone's butt for the umpteenth time is not as fun as it sounds. There was something missing that would close Ganondorf into his prison forever."
"You have seen the triforce depicted right?" I nodded dumbly. "Well, it is made up of three triangles, one for each of the goddesses. Well, that's not exactly true." He stopped, using a stick to draw the triforce in the dirt.
"The triforce is made up of three triangles that intersect at their tips, forming a larger triangle. However, there is also a triangle in the middle, which represents a goddess that many have forgotten. Narssa, the goddess of fate." He sighed suddenly. "It is all rather silly, is it not? To forget the thing that pains us so. Fate."
He sat up and pushed back the sleeve of his green tunic. On the tan skin of his palm, a faint triangle scar was revealed.
"It was only a dream," I said faintly. The man smiled, using a finger to trace the shiny skin of my own scar.
"No. No it was not," he said gently. "I saw you there. At the battle I mean. I was the one who dragged you away from your father." He glanced at me, reading my thoughts. "You should be thankful. Ganondorf would have killed you if you were there when he found the triforce. Your father died protecting it, which Ganondorf did not expect. And it backfired."
"Ganondorf…" I echoed.
"Mm. When he touched the triforce, it broke apart in his hands, finding a place to settle in the people who most represented the individual pieces. Ganondorf got power of course, I…I mean Link got courage, and Zelda received wisdom," he chuckled," though I cannot fathom why."
"Why did you come and tell me this?"
"I feel you deserve a right to know what you carry. You hold the piece of fate. It was fate which made your hand trail into the Lake of Spirits, fate which brought you to the battle, fate which is killing you as we speak." He looked into my eyes for the second time that day. "I will heal you, but I need you to come with me afterwards. If Ganondorf gets a hold of you, he will take your triforce piece and dispose of your body, but not before torturing you first." His eyes revealed a memory for only a moment, but it was enough for me to guess. He had been tortured with the memory of his mother, as I was with my father. I shuddered involuntarily.
"You remind me of myself when I first learned I had a piece of the triforce." He tilted his head back until it lay against the edge of the log. "Out of all the people on this earth, why me? I should have lived... happily, but I can never go back to that." I turned to look at him. He had his eyes closed, and he looked so forlorn that I would have died, right there, if it would have stopped the ache in my heart. I lay my head against his shoulder.
"I will do whatever I can," I said softly. He laughed gently, taking my hand from behind my tunic and tracing the outline of my scar again.
"How can we fight fate?" he sighed. Somehow, that was sadly funny.
The man seemed smaller inside my house, but he seemed to be holding off the apparitions, for which I was thankful. My head was still reeling from his story. I was there… at the final battle.
"The Lake of Spirits is more dangerous then people know," said the man as he rummaged through his pack. A hookshot, a dozen arrows, two bombchus, and a jeweled boomerang joined the strange mélange of items accumulating on the table. His pack seemed bottomless.
"You would think that a millennia of warnings would be enough to stop simple villagers," he said, shaking his head, "but people tend to forget things easier then they remember them. Ah!" He set down a stone of agony on the growing pile and pulled out a glass diamond, a blue stone glowing from within.
"Nayru's Love?" I said incredulously, "there is only one in all of Hyrule!"
"Thank the goddesses then that it is mine," he smiled, balancing the diamond over my head. "Now, I won't be able to heal your dreams; it is not my place. But I can halt the ghosts you seem to be seeing. Is that all right?" I nodded meekly. Who was I to question one who was so in favor with the goddesses?
"This may feel unusual…" I could hear nothing else as blue light engulfed my body. It felt like a waterfall had conjured over my head, but the water felt as though it was clean. It poured through my eyes, nose and mouth, washing my blood clean. The man seemed to be murmuring something over my head that I could not hear over the roar of water. Involuntarily, my hand rose, fingers spread."Gwanno ereb nin!" I could faintly hear. Something black dripped out of my hand, becoming diluted in the water. And then there was silence.
"Breathe!" the man insisted, shaking my shoulders. I tried to remember what breathing was and I coughed up water on my first attempts. The man sighed with relief, slumping against the kitchen counter.
"That was… harder then I expected," the man panted. I looked down at myself, realizing I was dry. The man smiled.
"Thank you," I gasped around my breath.
"I didn't tell you my name, did I?" said the man. I shook my head.
"Ah, well anyway, I'm Link." He offered a hand, which I shook baffledly. Link was a common character in the gossip my chatty neighbors told, each of the aging elves sighing airily as they daydreamed about him and his allegedly cute butt.
He was told to have made friends with the Gorons, the Zorans, the Gerudo people, the Hylian people, and was practically so in favor of the goddesses, he could have taken over all of Hyrule with a feather. And he was sitting here? In my kitchen! When did I last wash the floor? As this was whirling around in my head, I gave him my name back, though I could barely remember it.
"Helen." He nodded solemnly.
"Although I had planned on leaving today, I think the healing took more out of both of us then is good for traveling," he said. I blinked at this. It was not that I did not want to leave, rather that I had never left. I was nineteen years old and had never left my father's house. How pathetic does that sound? Pretty pathetic, agreed my brain. But then again, there is nothing for you here, said my heart. I simply nodded in agreement.
"Right. Until tomorrow then." Link slid off the table and slipped out the door, leaving all of his things on the table. He would be back then. I flopped onto a bed in the next room, exhausted.
"At least there are no ghosts to tuck me in," I said as sleep overtook me.
The dream was just as vivid as ever. I awoke with a start; a drop of cold sweat trickled down my back. My scar felt warm when I rubbed it, but I shook myself mentally. The dream was real the first time, reasoned my heart. It could happen again.
I certainly hope not, I answered. It was silent. I suddenly became aware that Link's breathing had changed. I turned my head to find him staring at me.
"You were right," I said, my words trumpeting in the silence. Link got out of his bed and padded over to mine.
"Dreams are not the worst thing to be plagued with all your life," he sighed, weaving my bedsheets through his fingers, "You could be harassed by… fan girls. Or guys in your case." I laughed.
"It must be hard, to have your fame shadow you always," I said. Link was silent. "You cannot be cured of it."
"Sometimes, it is," he said quietly, "But I can't turn back. I am what I am, regardless of what I feel about it."
"You have more courage then I do," I said.
"That is why I was chosen," he smiled, "Ah fate, my fickle friend. Where does the circle start? Was I chosen because I most embodied courage? Or was it simply fate that brought me near the battle? Even the sages cannot agree." Link yawned loudly, blinking away the sleep that hovered close to his consciousness.
"We had better get to sleep while the night is still young," he said, padding back over to his bed and covering his head with the blankets.
"Where are we headed?" I asked, but there was no answer. Link's breath came in the slow sighs of sleep, but I knew better. I could feel his eyes on the wall. He isn't trustworthy! crowed my brain. Ah, leave him alone, I chastised, if he doesn't want to say, then it is probably for a good reason. Even so, I could feel a shadow of doubt slither into my mind.
The morning seemed to be pissed that we were up before it was, so it sent a large storm to announce the beginning of our journey. I sat on a stool watching the rain dripping from the eves of the roof. It mirrored my feelings in a way; I was sad for leaving the only home I had ever known. My father and I had built it ourselves, though I mostly cooed while playing with nails. Who knows what would happen to it while I was gone? Hopefully it would stay abandoned until I returned, but my mind played various heartbreaking scenarios for me as Link rummaged around the house.
My pack was by the door, filled with only necessities. Link, however, was putting everything he could find that might be useful into his seemingly bottomless bag. A gleam of silver caught my eye; Link's megaton hammer lay on the shelf beside a jar of homemade jam. I picked it up, not thinking. It immediately dropped to the floor with a thunk.
"What is this made of!" I exclaimed as I strained to pick it up. Link popped his head out from the bedroom door.
"Oh, I'll get that," he said. He picked up the hammer with one hand and pushed it into the bag. Oh goddesses help me! I thought, my face turning red. This was just ridiculous. Link didn't seem to notice me; he was rummaging through my cupboards.
"Well, I think that is that," he said finally. My house was picked clean of imperishable goods. He shouldered his bag and stepped out into the torrential rain, his hair immediately flattening into his eyes.
"Hurry before I drown!" he shouted. I slipped the bag around my shoulders, glancing around the room to memorize the way it was… just in case and I locked the door behind me with a nod. One part of my life was over. Another was just beginning. I stepped into the flood of water, becoming soaked through within seconds. Link grinned and walked down the road with me following like a waif. I don't think that smile was entirely appropriate, exclaimed my brain. I just smiled. The stories I had heard about his butt were true after all.
Hehe, I'm so bad... lol