CH. 3: Tensions
They made it to the castle and plunked Kitan down in the same bed that Jack had lain in when he was recovering. They agreed to tie him to the bed and each would take turns watching him until he awoke. While they waited, Jack tried to approach Coral who was on watch for the third hour. But he kept talking himself out of it and ducking back behind a corner. Coral watched this with some confusion, finally speaking up.
"You, boy! Yeah, the one hiding behind the corner over there. Is there something you wanted to say or are you trying to play hide and seek?"
"No, I just…well you see, I…" muttered Jack.
"Wanted to talk to me but don't want to sound stupid? Come over here. What's your name?"
"Jack. I was with Link and Zelda and Kitan when you showed up."
"Oh, were you the quiet one. I thought you were a servant or something. You know, this royalty stuff is confusing. I don't know what to do at all. I've never been a castle before. And the guards look all stuffy and…"
"Coral, you're going off in all directions. Slow down so I can get a word in."
"For someone who couldn't even approach me earlier, you seem pretty confident now."
"I usually don't talk to girls that often unless they're my girlfriend, so I wasn't sure what to talk about. But you seem full of conversation so I'll just try to keep up with your talking and point out what I can."
"How old are you kid? You don't look that old."
"I'm 18. Almost nineteen, I think. Haven't seen a calendar in months."
"Ha, and how old do you think I am?"
"Twenty, twenty two?"
"Not on your life! I'm way younger. I'm only sixteen."
"I'm amazed. You look a lot older than that, no offense."
"That's because I have to. In my town, you have to be at least twenty before you can join the militia. I never liked my home and I thought the army could solve my problems. It didn't, and then someone found out that I was only sixteen and kicked me out of the village. I was wandering Hyrule field when I saw you guys beset by those thugs."
"That's not what you told Zelda."
"She's a princess. She would kick me out if she ever knew."
"Oh boo hoo. Tell a softer heart, I'm sick of listening to this pathetic sob story stuff. If I wanted to hear that, I would have stayed with my Grandma in the forest." Said Kitan, struggling with his bonds.
"I am insulted. How dare you! And after I saved your life and all you can do is insult me! I should have left you to die!" Shouted Coral, storming out of the room.
"What's her problem? She blathers on and then you tell her to shut up and she just snaps." Grunted Kitan, still working the ropes.
"You're an insensitive bastard! What's your problem? You just hate people or are you so selfish you can't see that you're hurting others?" Yelled Jack.
"Oh goddess's! Thank you, Jackass! You've truly shown me the errors of my ways! I've been so cruel." Kitan said sarcastically.
"We're gonna have a lot of fun, aren't we? I may have agreed to stay in this place, but not to put up with this."
"Yeah yeah. I've heard it all before. You really want to know who I am, read the book. You should have just paid my damn fee. Now I have to get free and try to kill you. You're really not so bad for a ditz, an idiot, a naïf, and a sword happy fairy."
"I don't think you'll be getting out of those anytime soon. They're magically sealed."
"Right, so why am I free? Got any other little statements you'd like me to prove wrong?"
Just then, Zelda and Link arrived. They were shocked that Kitan had escaped his bonds again, but they weren't worried. The room was sealed by spells so that insane patients couldn't get out and terrorize the castle. Kitan sighed, realizing this as the door shimmered when the two entered. He sat down on the bed and politely waited for them to get on with the questions.
"Look, I'm not interested in who you are our why you attacked us. All I want to know is why did you send those horrible pictures and attempt to blackmail the princess?" Said Link, sitting down in a chair.
"What makes you so sure I did it? There are many unscrupulous people out there, any one of them could have doctored up a few photos and sent them to a sweet, sheltered little princess like Zelda."
"Because you've already admitted it. Now why did you do it?"
"What are you gonna' do if I don't tell you? Kill me, I doubt it. You don't have the collective guts to go through with it. Torture, again too nice. As I see it, you should just let me go; then, I might even just kill one of you and let the others go."
"Big words for a man locked in a room that he knows he can't escape. I saw your face fall when you saw the enchantment on the door, you're trapped and you know it." Said Zelda, folding her arms.
"Yeah princess, words are cheap. But, as you guys don't leave me any means of action, it's the best I can do."
Jack drew his sword suddenly and brought it up to Kitan's neck.
"That's it. Enough of your smartass comments! These guys may be too nice to torture you, but I can make your life a living hell. These are the only friends I've got in this friggin' world and I won't have you or anyone else messing with them. You got it, fly boy?"
Kitan attempted to throw a reversal on Jack, which is exactly what Jack had wanted. The sword went around, and for a moment it looked like Kitan might get it, but Jack rolled his wrist out of Kitan's grasp and swung the sword back in his favor, leveling it on Kitan again.
"If you like those where they are, I suggest you don't move." Said Jack, panting from the struggle.
"Whoa there boy. No need to get nasty now, you know. We can work something out. Please?"
"Not so brave when your cornered are you?"
Jack went to help Kitan up, put instead was pulled to the ground and pinned, the sword in his neck.
"How do you like that, huh? I'd like to see you get out of this one."
"Once again you've forgotten the second party, oh master thief. Now drop the sword or you're in for another nasty head knocking."
"This whole thing is pointless! Why are you even fighting? He knows it wouldn't have worked anyways and you two are no better. Acting like a bunch of little boys." Shouted Zelda, slapping Kitan across the face.
Jack clapped once before getting the same treatment.
"I'm especially disappointed in you, Jack. That kind of reckless behavior doesn't befit one in the position that you are in. Would you take your fate so lightly? Have we all taught you nothing?"
"I'm sorry." Was all Jack muttered before running from the room.
"Now, Kitan. I don't care for your manner, your blackmailing, or your damn foolish posturing. But I do care that you tried to save our lives when we were surrounded by those ruffians. For that, I invite you to join us on an important task."
"You think I was saving your lives? Ha, I only tried to keep you alive so that I could have the pleasure of killing you. I had no intention of letting them do it. As for your mission, to hell with it. I don't do righteous crap unless it pays good money. But as it seems to me that you guys aren't about to pay me, I'm out. Leave me here if you like, I'll only escape."
Zelda threw her hands up in disgust and went to look for Jack. Link, the only person left other than Kitan, sat down on the other bed.
"Well, I don't know what to say. I can't keep you up here, this isn't a prison. And I can't kill you, you haven't shown me any real reason to. But if I let you go, will you promise not to bother any of us again if we leave you to your own devices?"
"Sure thing. Why, I'll tell my children not to play with your children even. My entire family will avoid yours for the rest of eternity." Said Kitan, sarcastic but eager to go.
"Then go free. But don't forget what you've promised. Leave us alone. We will have no further quarrels with you."
Kitan left in a hurry, stopping only to pick up his daggers just outside the doorway. Link continued to stare out the window. He was wondering just exactly what would make a person so cavalier and sarcastic. His mind also drifted to other things, like what would happen if and when they faced Ganondorf yet again. He had only barely won the last time and he knew that he didn't have the same kind of pressing drive that he had had before. This wasn't about saving the world, at least not on his part. His part was getting a friend, however little that he knew him, back home. He realized that part of him was jealous that Jack was the one whom fate was dependent upon. The rest of him felt sympathy for the terrible burden he knew it to be.
Zelda went looking up and down the castle for Jack, but couldn't find a trace of him. Finally, she was forced to use her psychic powers to locate his mind. She was hit almost immediately, as was typical, by the thoughts of every person within Hyrule Town and the castle. She slowly filtered out each person's thoughts, until she finally arrived at the one she was looking for. Jack was up on the rooftops, looking out over the town as the sun set. She knew the spot well, as she'd often gone around there to do the same thing. Sure enough, Jack was sitting on the tiles, arms wrapped about his knees. Zelda put her hand on his shoulder. She could feel his wracking sobs though the material of his quaint jacket.
"Look Jack, I'm sorry if I was harsh back there. I know your intentions were good."
"Good intentions. Bad intentions. It doesn't matter. I screwed up, I let myself go. How can I expect to carry this burden if I can't even control myself?"
"The same way all of us have. You're not carrying it alone, we all carry it. Just at different times. Do you think it a coincidence that of all the people you could have encountered and befriended in all of Hyrule, that it was us? Link and I have both carried the burden of saving the world on our shoulders many times through countless dangers. And we too felt the strain. But we had something that carried us through. You have to find the thing that gives you hope, the thing that makes you go on when the odds are stacked against you."
"All of those things are so far away though. Where I can't reach them."
"Then find something here. But it's not for me to tell you what it is or how to find it. If I did, it wouldn't be for you, it would be for me."
"Thanks Zelda. That was really nice of you."
"It's the truth. It doesn't hurt all the time, just occasionally. I've got to go see about Link, I left him with Kitan, but I think he's alright."
Zelda came back to the room where they had been keeping Kitan and wasn't surprised to find him gone. She knew Link was far too kind to keep anyone locked up in a room, even if it was comfortable. Link was sitting with his head resting in his hands. His blonde bangs drooped over his hands, making him look like a comical puppet. She couldn't stifle the laugh before it came. Link jumped up but when he saw it was Zelda, he sat back down on the bed.
"I've been thinking Zelda. Why is it that Jack, who doesn't even live in this world, carries fate's burden? I'm not jealous, but why not one of us, like it's always been?"
"Maybe it's because he was pulled here against his will. And as such, he caused a problem that needs to be solved. Not one that started with Dark Link but before that. The origin of the problem."
"Ganondorf." Link spat.
"Exactly. That's why he couldn't leave when I tried to warp him home. And perhaps it was coincidence that it was Ganondorf that stopped him from leaving, but it seems that the arrow returns to Ganondorf once more."
"Will he never leave us in peace? I grow weary of his plots to kill us and rule this place. You'd think he would have gotten the hint when he took over Hyrule the first time."
"But you forget, that never happened. And even if it did, there's no stopping men such as he. They crave power as if it was a part of their lives. And in some way, it is. Would there be people like Ganondorf if there weren't a Hyrule to take over? If all the land disappeared, leaving only shards of its former self?"
Zelda hugged Link as he sat there, still thinking. Just when she was about to go, Link drew her back and into a very long kiss.
Jack continued to watch the sun set and thought about what Zelda had said. But what was there to hold on to in a world that, up to only a couple of weeks ago, he'd thought was entirely made up? This also led him to an odd thought. Did Miyamoto know about this place? Had he actually been here or was it created by the sheer presence of thought? What about other games or stories even? He got up and walked back to the window that he had come through. Jack decided that he'd leave everyone alone for a while and maybe go to sleep and apologize in the morning.
Corel, who had missed the entirety of the events, had been wandering around Hyrule castle. She was interested in all the rich things that she had never seen before. Her town was relatively poor, and the people were lucky to have 3 meals a day. A guard saw her wandering and asked what she was doing. The struck up a conversation, for the guard had been an eager volunteer in his youth. He too had come from a poor town and was more than happy to give Coral a tour of the castle.
King Harnikin slept on the throne as usual. It's good to be the king.
