Chapter 22: Branch Line
The air was still in Aboda, filled with only the echoes of seagulls, the yells of children and the crashing of waves along the beach. Zelda let the feeling roll over her, pushing the tense weight from her body.
It was quaint, in her opinion. Zelda had noticed that the first time they'd visited actually, though she considered the feeling significantly different when you actually had a body to experience it with. Now she could actually embrace the warm sun she lay in, feel the grass tickling her ankles, let the breeze wash over her; just enjoy a lazy afternoon.
And that was exactly what she did, staring into the blue sky as birds, no larger than dots from where she was, swooped and spun overhead.
"What do you think flying's like?" She asked, gaze staying up, only hearing Link stir nearby.
"Don't you know?" he mumbled, voice starting muffled but becoming clearer with every word, "you flew everywhere as a spirit."
"I don't really count it, that was more…more like when you first wake up," she held a hand above her, sunlight peeking through her fingers, "I knew I was there, but everything was kind of happening around me, I couldn't feel any of it – that's what I mean."
Silence hung in the air as Link considered his answer.
"I guess it's like falling then," grass rustled above her head, followed by a soft thump as he presumably flipped over, "not having any control or anything, it's just forwards instead of down."
"I think it's like a train," she rolled her head back, allowing Link to appear upside down. He was lying on his belly, chin now resting on his crossed arms as their eyes met, "I mean if you're going fast the wind would be the same, you're just higher up right?"
Link rapped his fingers on his elbow, pouting in thought, "depends how you do it, Beedle's shop doesn't travel very quick so I don't think that would be similar," he paused, scrunching up his face, "actually I'm not sure how it moves at all, is he just pushed around by the wind?"
Now that he brought it up, how did that place move? Beedle couldn't have an engine up there, and while the idea of him using a fan to blow himself along brought a smile to her face, it didn't seem likely.
"I think I'd like to try it someday."
"Really? It sounds terrifying," he shuddered, biting his lip, "I wouldn't trust the wind – not if I can't control it."
"Well what if you could," her mind flew to a silver baton, locked away and hidden in her office, "say if you had wings or something?"
Link's face threatened to twist in on itself as he scrunched it up, as if he was trying to push something with his mind, "Nah, I'd rather control a machine that does it for me," he tilted his head, pressing his lips together as he slowly spoke, "although we could do something similar-ish if you wanted?"
She cocked an eyebrow as he stood, "depends what you have in mind, you're not going to push me off something are you?"
He stuck his tongue out, offering her a hand, "oh please, I'm not as cruel as you. C'mon, its back at mine."
"I'm back Niko!" Link shouted as they entered the cool shade of his house, words rattling the walls despite his soft voice.
Her chest lightened as soon as she entered, as if every worry she'd carried had been trapped outside as she walked through the door. A soft smile curled onto her face as she looked around the room. Countless memorabilia lined the walls; one carried what looked to be a ship propeller – colours faded in age but still well polished, besides that a stylish telescope – a crack along the lens showing its wear. However, the grandest piece was a picture, almost large enough to get its own wall, depicting a young buck-toothed boy, maybe a little older than they were, standing proudly on the deck of a ship.
"That was quick, I thought you'd be with the Princess all day," a wheezy yet energetic voice said from the corner besides them.
Its owner sat nestled between the walls, focused on the rainbow of paper sheets littering the table before him. He made even teacher look young and couldn't have been any taller than the two of them, bearing the spitting image of the boy in the picture. All his movements were slow – though careful – as he shifted through the pages, gently placing them around the table.
"Technically that isn't incorrect," she said, hiding a small laugh behind a smile as Niko practically leapt into the ceiling.
"Princess! Hello," Niko said, eyes glancing from her to the sheets as he swept them into a pile, though she didn't miss the quick glare he shot Link, "I didn't realize you'd be visiting today, I'd have tidied."
Should she tell him how many times she'd visited before? Albeit bodiless. No, that would turn into a complex web of explaining everything that had happened to her and Link.
To his credit, Link attempted to look sheepish, "It's fine Niko, Zelda's hardly prim and proper anyway."
She narrowed her eyes at him, matching his cheeky grin, "excuse you, I'm the height of sophistication and majesty, you're the one who's always covered in soot."
Link scoffed, heading towards the beds in the far corner, "I'll be sure to remember that the next time you're stuffing mud down my top." He yanked out a large wooden box, rifling through its contents. "I could've sworn it was here – Niko, you didn't move my stuff did you?"
Niko fell from the chair to his feet, grabbing a nearby walking stick from its place leaning against the wall as he did. "Haven't touched 'em, you haven't used it in something you were making?"
"Oh…maybe?" Link quizzed, "hang on I'll check," the words fading as he ran out the room,
…and left the door flapping in the mid-afternoon heat.
"He's excited about this, whatever he has planned," Zelda said, embracing the breeze coming through the doorway as she pushed the door to behind Link.
"He's rude, who brings a guest home and just leaves them with only an old man for company," Niko said, hobbling over to the large fireplace with a tall kettle on top, "I can offer you tea at least, feel free to take a seat Princess."
She hummed her affirmation, hopping onto one of the cushioned chairs pulled up to the table. She hadn't even landed before her eyes skimmed the sheets. It was certainly a…unique style of art. The silhouettes were simple, lacking detail and being more a collage of vague shapes than anything else – a far cry from the ornate paintings and stain glass that lined the castle. Then again she was still able to clearly make out what appeared to be the Tower of Spirits looming over a forest of trees, and what looked to be a small group of people staring up at it.
"You can ignore that Princess; it's bad omens to see an artist's work before its complete," Niko said, gently placing a cup that – while not quite fancy enough to stand out if it was at the castle – was covered in fine etching of golden leaves and, based on how clean it was, appeared to be in use for the first time, by her side. She felt her eye twitch as drips ran down the cup, puddling against the coaster-less table, and forced down the words of protest screaming in her stomach.
"I shan't pry then, though I must say it's very charming," she said, carefully picking up the cup, the heat tingling her fingers, as Niko sat opposite her, "Link mentioned you made picture stories, although I can't quite place what it's supposed to be?"
"Oh it's just about when we first landed here; 't'll be grand once it's finished, but I've been stuck on it for a while now."
Niko continued to speak but she didn't really hear him. 'We first landed here'. As in when the kingdom was discovered? In itself that wasn't really too surprising; if anyone in the Kingdom was still around from then, it'd be Niko. It was more that, when taken with what he'd said before and the memorabilia scattered around, her mind finally clicked her thoughts together.
"Are you alright Princess?" Niko asked, bringing her back to his half smile, head tilted down to meet her gaze, his arm half reaching across the table to her.
"I'm fine, thank you," she said, gripping the warm cup so hard she was sure it would shatter, "sorry, I just didn't realize you knew my Grandparents."
Bemusement was plastered on Niko's face, his brow so furrowed it looked like it would pop off his head, "know them? I sailed with them!"
Her mind froze. On her Grandmother's ship itself? Someone like that was so close by and she never even knew?
"Sorry if that's a shock, I didn't realize you didn't know."
She took a sip of the tea – its slightly minty sting clearing her head before she spoke, "I should apologize, I must have heard countless tales of your travels together – It's my fault for not realizing sooner."
Niko chuckled, rocking back into his chair and throwing his head back, "wow, you sound just like your Grandfather – I swear he's said that nearly word for word before."
"My Grandfather?" She ran a finger around the rim of the cup, "I don't really think so – everyone always says I'm like my Grandmother."
"Who told you that?" Niko laughed hard, rocking his chair nearly to the point of falling off, "In looks I can see it – well she was a little more tanned but that's beside the point – but how you walk and talk? That's definitely your Grandfather."
Her chest lightened, as if a vice clamped around it had been loosened just a little.
"Honestly that's actually quite nice to hear," she couldn't look at Niko, instead focusing on the large wooden steering wheel mounted on the wall behind him. She swallowed the massless force attempting to block her throat, "I…worry sometimes, that everyone forgets my Grandfather. No one ever seems to talk about him really - compared to my Grandmother anyway."
Niko's laugh fell to a chuckle, "are you kidding? Could never forget me swabbie – second best only to me he was."
Her attention was back on Niko's warm face, and she found herself leaning towards him, gripped by his words, "what's a swabbie?"
Niko's face fell, bemusement morphing into concern, "you don't know…no I suppose not, why would you?" He began shifting through the sheets on the table, spinning one in particular to face her.
Again it was somewhat simple, though a great deal more complete than the previous. It showed the deck of a ship, filled with a crew of varying shapes and sizes. The clearest was her Grandmother, her swirly bun of hair sticking out even among the crew. Besides her was a giant of a man, not too dissimilar from Alfonzo in size, grip on the ships wheel. The two were raised high above the main deck, looking over it like guards lining the castle's walls.
"That's me and your Grandfather scrubbing the deck," Niko said, shaky finger pointing towards two smaller figures on the lower section. One dressed in a red striped shirt, Niko she presumed based on the wall mounted picture, the other in a familiar green uniform.
"I'm sorry, my Grandfather was a cleaner?" That was certainly something he'd always left out of his stories.
"Kind of? We were the youngest on the ship – any jobs no one else wanted to do were given to us," Niko said, giving a soft tch to the side, "though I still always seemed to get the worst of it - the captain always was soft on him."
She couldn't hold back a giggle, "I never realized the two of you were so close."
"I taught him everything he knew," he gazed off to the memorabilia laden shelves, eyes lost as he took them in, "well maybe not everything, he was already pretty nimble even before
joining us – and the Captain took him off herself often enough – but I still did a lot!"
Her stomach swelled – he hadn't been forgotten, not totally anyway.
"Thank you, for telling me all of this. He often told me of how they met – he said Grandmother always left out the important parts when she did," a chuckle caught in her throat as her eyes focused on her reflection in the tea, "and about their – your – adventures before you found here, but it's been so long I worry I forget the details."
Ripples in her tea shook her from the path her mind was beginning to tumble down, bringing her back to Niko as he stood and began ambling over to the shelves shoved neatly against the back wall, "come look at this, Princess."
She followed, easily hovering over the shorter man's shoulder as he rammed his walking stick into the lower shelf, twisting and yanking until a small box popped out.
It was littered with small paper slips, no larger than her hand and faded with age, but all still holding coloured images of familiar faces.
Niko plunged his hand in, the paper like a puddle as he gently ran it through them, gathering a stack and passing them to her. Each was stiffer then she'd thought but still seeming like they'd crumble if she used too much force.
They held countless images; one showed Niko and some other men hauling crates taller than her onto the ship, another had her spitting image – her Grandmother she assumed – clambering up the ship's wind jostled rigging straight towards the taker. But it was the final one that brought her to pause. The image was simple; just the ship's crew - jaws slack as they looked over the wooden railing. It was there, in the distance, that a body of land lay - so long it nearly covered the horizon. That wasn't what got her though, that went to what she could only guess was a much younger version of her Grandfather's head poking up from the corner, a giant grin on his face as he pointed to the land. She ran a finger gently across his face.
"I've never seen him so young before," she turned the paper towards Niko, pointing to the land, "is that here?"
He studied it, bringing his face so close to the image he was nearly pressed against it.
"Looks it, first time any of us'd seen that much land before," Niko said, pulling back and leaning on his stick once again, "your Grandfather was most excited though, didn't even wait for us to drop anchor before jumping overboard and swimming ashore!" He chuckled, and a warm smile snuck onto her face.
"Your Grandfather took them using this thing," Niko picked a small red and yellow cube with a large glass lens from the container, handing it to her, "can't remember what it's called, but he used it a lot. I was never any good with it myself though, always came out blurry, so it's just been sitting here since he gave it to me."
She twisted the box, inspecting every edge. It was clearly wooden, every grain obvious even under the deep red paint, but light, almost oddly so, as if it'd float in the air if she wasn't there to hold it.
"Anyway, it's not doing anyone any good to have this stuff collecting dust, seems best for you to have it now."
Her smile fell away, "I can't take all this Niko, these are yours not mine - plus my Grandfather wanted you to have it and-"
But she fell silent under Niko's chortles, the older man nearly collapsing as they shook him. He had to take a deep breath once stopped, placing both hands on his stick to right himself before saying, "Exactly, so I can do what I want with them, and now I want you to have 'em."
The heat in her face almost hid the feeling of tears welling in her eyes.
"Thank you Niko, so much. I-"
The door thumped open, Link's shadow cutting between the two in front of the afternoon sun. He panted like a dog with a new ball, quick but with a huge grin on his face.
"I found it!" He shouted – well as loud as Link could shout anyway – and held up a broad, deep green leaf. It was somewhat tattered, a few holes scattered across the thick epidermis, but was as long as he was tall, and overall something he seemed far too proud of – judging by the grin threatening to cut his face in two.
She ran a hand over her eyes, brushing the small drops of water away, "It took you all that time to pick a leaf from a tree?" She asked flatly, standing from the box as she shot him a wink.
"No – its special, right Niko?" Link asked, holding the leaf above his head as he walked towards them, "you use it when you jump off something, it makes you fall slower."
"That I've got to see, you really think a leaf – especially that one – can do that?" She asked. He couldn't be serious, right? Then again, Link didn't tend to exaggerate or lie did he? Rather it seemed that, even with everything they'd seen and all the ideas she'd had for what he'd gone to fetch, he still managed to surprise her.
"Sure, I mean not for very long, but it works. C'mon I'll show you." He held out a hand for her, chest puffed out and head cocked to the side.
"Fine, but when you fall I shan't help," She placed her hand in his, turning to Niko as Link began leading her out the door, "thank you Niko, may I come back and see you later?"
Niko waved for them to go, "of course, Princess, just make sure you both come back in one piece."
She flashed him a smile as the outside warmth flowed over them and the pair was outside once again.
"So you have to be careful," Link said as they passed under a tree's shadow, "you keep your arms kinda tensed, but it only works for a few seconds so be ready to land once it stops, oh but we won't be going very high and -"
Link continued to ramble as he led her through the village, barely stopping for breath, grip still tight on her hand, not painfully so but still clearly tense.
He was nervous, though that much wasn't difficult to figure out. Why though was another thing. Although, he'd mentioned they'd be jumping, or rather falling, off something hadn't he? So he was doing it again then, ignoring something he didn't like for her benefit.
"Hey come here a moment," she said, letting go of Link's hand and throwing said arm around his neck, squeezing their heads together.
"What are you-" Link began asking, before she held up the red and yellow box she still had in hand up high and clicked the button on top. A flash of light filled her vision for a second, before allowing the world to fade back in. She spun the box around, bringing an eye to the small window in the back. It was faint, but inside was a perfect reflection of her shining smile, alongside Link's cute wide eye shock.
"Wait, is that Niko's pictobox?" Link asked, his words pulling her from the image.
She could feel the spring in her step, "Is that what it's called? It's amazing, and so much quicker than paintings, although I suppose they're a little small to be displayed anywhere. He said I could keep it."
"No way, he never lets me near it – always thinks I'll break it or something – you've got to let me see how it works," he said, actually hopping besides her, as if he'd burst under the strain from staying still, arm reaching for the box.
"What? No!" She shouted, holding it at arm's length and throwing her body between him and it as his hand swiped around her, "you'll take it to pieces, do something weird, and it won't work anymore - that is breaking it."
He paused for a moment, face inches from her own, opening his mouth to retort, before closing it and, shooting a dirty look to the side, mumbled, "you don't know for sure it won't work."
"Hah," she laughed, holding her head high as she walked ahead of him, "so you admit it! I'm definitely not letting you see it now."
"What?!" he exclaimed behind her, "fine then, I won't let you use my leaf then!"
She probably would let him take a look at the box later, her weakness for the joy on his face when he got to tinker with it would undoubtedly win her over soon enough. Likewise, he would no doubt give in and let her use his leaf if she pouted and asked really nicely. But in the meantime they dragged out their playful bickering – shattering the once quaint atmosphere of Aboda village.