A Link to the Heart Chapter 8

The storm had been bad, very bad. Thunder had shaken the shutters on the windows and ripped tiles off the roofs of barns and farmhouses. It had drenched the ground with torrential rainwater, turning it into sucking quagmires of wet muck. Howling winds had torn open gates and toppled fences, ripping open poultry sheds and toppling hay bales. It had shaken Lon Lon Ranch badly and in the clear morning light the damage was evident.

Under a clear morning sun ranch hands worked to repair the damage. They nailed new tiles to the roofs and righted toppled fences, they herded the cattle out of their barns and shovelled piles of manure from the interior. Broken barrels were sadly broken up and haybales rolled back into place. The smithy in the corner glowed as coals were stoked, readying for the countless minor items that would need to be repaired.

Link however was engaged in a different activity, involving chasing errant Cuccos through a field of wet mud. The flightless birds had escaped in the storm and now were running everywhere, flapping inanely and squawking as he tried to round them up. The adventurer had meant to set off at first light, but the Knight's horses still required new shoes and the ranch needed every hand it could get, so they had elected to stay another day. Jortan and Tarren had been smugly agreeable to the idea of hot meals, a warm bed and free cider.

The morning sun was bright in his eyes and the smell of wet ground was all-pervasive. He could smell damp rising from the ground, not in an unpleasant fashion but with crisp savour of the day to come. The temperature was rising and the sky clear of clouds, promising a glorious afternoon once the sun had dried out the ground. It was going to get hot soon, which was why Link was determined to complete his task before the noon bell rang and drew the workers for their midday repast.

Link saw a white ball of feathers bounding towards him and tried to grab it, but it jerked sideways and bounced away, taunting him with the ease it crossed the sucking quagmire. Link grimaced and gave chase, pulling his tatty boots through the mud with fraught efforts. Across the field Malon was striding back with a Cucco under each arm, her iron-shod boots cutting through the mire like it was nothing.

She deposited the birds in a pen and called merrily, "You'd go faster if you weren't lugging a sword and shield on your back."

Link feinted left only to see the Cucco go right and he muttered, "You don't live through what I have if you tend to leave your weapons out of easy reach."

Malon strode back into the field as she quipped, "Maybe, but you haven't spent your life on a ranch. Trust me they're only slowing you down."

Link redoubled his efforts to catch the Cucco as he replied, "Perhaps, but I don't go anywhere without my sword and bow."

Malon grinned teasingly, "What happened to that fancy boomerang you used to have?"

"It broke," Link grumbled as he made another swipe, only to miss the blasted bird and see it hop away with a squawk that sounded suspiciously like taunting.

Link gritted his teeth and pushed on, chasing the errant Cucco through the sucking mud. He had to struggle to pull his feet up with every step and each time he did so it was with a slurping noise. He wouldn't give up though, after all his adventures he refused to be beaten by a stupid Cucco. He forced his right leg upwards but suddenly he felt something give under his heel, a loose sensation jerking at his foot as his boot gave way. Unexpectedly off balance he stumbled face-first into the muck and hit the ground with a spray of moist earth.

Link groaned in exasperation as he forced his head up and felt clumps of mud falling from his face. He wiped the worst off with his hand and saw the Cucco disappear, flapping its wings as if mocking him. Then he heard a slurping noise and knew Malon had walked over. He resigned himself to the teasing to come and forced himself to his knees, sweeping as much mud off his front as he could before he looked up.

Sure enough Malon was looming over him, but for once she wasn't laughing. She looked concerned as she asked, "Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing," Link answered as he tried to stand up but his right boot flopped about wildly and he was forced to grab onto Malon to keep from falling.

Malon took his weight like someone used to lugging hay bales and grabbed his right leg. She lifted it and proclaimed, "Your heel has gone, it's pulled right out."

Link scowled, "Rats, that's gonna take ages to fix."

Malon was turning his ankle to and fro as she muttered, "Where did you get this cheap rubbish? No, don't tell me. Come with me, they need replacing."

She started dragging him through the mud and Link had to hop as he leaned on her and protested, "It's nothing, I always fix them up when they break."

"And it shows," Malon grumbled, "Don't be a bigger idiot than usual. I've got some spare boots a ranch hand left when he died, they're barely worn and he was about your height."

Link had no recourse but to hop along to the edge of the field where she left him clinging to the fence. As she strode off to the farmhouse Link pulled himself into a sitting position on the fence and began knocking off the remnants of wet mud from his tunic. The sun was warm and in a few minutes he'd cleaned the worse off, the mud growing easier to dislodge as it dried. Once he'd done all he could he sat and cast his gaze over the ranch, seeing the workers labouring to make good the storm damage.

It reminded him of many of the lands he had visited on his travels, the wonders and horrors he had seen and the people he had met. He had done incredible things, but knew nobody would believe half of it. How could they, he had been alone throughout his adventures. Completely alone… without his oldest friend. The thought of that caused a great swell of sorrow to bubble up within him, an old wound that had never completely healed. The emotional scar was buried deep but it was always there, a wound that had spelt the end of his childhood innocence. He lowered his gaze and stared at his feet as melancholy stole over him and bitter loss churned in his gut.

After a few minutes Malon returned, a pair of knee-high boots in her grasp. She strode straight up to him and without asking yanked off his old boots and forced his feet into the new ones. Link didn't say a word as she heaved them on, then he hopped down and tried a step. To his surprise they fit well, far more securely than his tatty old boots and he nodded shallowly as he said, "My thanks."

Malon placed her hands on her hips and snorted, "You don't look very happy."

Link deflected uneasily, "It's… its nothing."

Malon cocked her head and retorted, "Oh no, you aren't pushing me away. Come on fairy boy, out with it."

That statement made Link wince, "I don't…"

Malon's face filled with worry as she pressed, "Link, what's wrong? Tell me."

Link couldn't tell her, the ache was too great to address directly. Yet he wanted to tell her, to unburden himself to someone after all these years of stewing on it. He couldn't just say what he wanted, so instead approached it indirectly. He placed his hands on the fence and looked into the distance as he asked, "It's to do with the nature of magical creatures. Tell me, what do you know of magic?"

Malon looked confused but humoured him, "Magic? Not much, I know it's a force people use to cast spells, but other than that I don't understand it."

"Neither do I," Link admitted, "I don't think anybody really understands magic. We use it, but nobody truly knows what makes it work or how it does the things that it does."

Malon leaned her elbows on the fence and asked, "But it comes from somewhere?"

Link nodded slowly as he explained, "It flows into the world from Fountains and Temples, or maybe they were built over natural fonts of power, I'm not sure. It's like a river flowing downhill, covering the land. Living creatures absorb a bit of it. I've got some in me, you do too, everybody does. The rest spills across the world, causing all kinds of strange occurrences."

"Monsters?" Malon asked warily.

Link sighed, "Yes, monsters are animals that are changed by magic, becoming deformed and malevolent. Ghosts are the same, dead souls clinging to the world, using magic to become Stalfos, Poes, Djinns and other things. Sorcerers are living people who learn to draw upon the magic of the world, fuelling great spells and incantations. The Gods… the gods are at the pinnacle of that hierarchy, mighty immortal beings who have unimaginable power, though they can diminish and become mortal if they choose. But Fairies are the oddest of all."

Malon still looked confused but she enquired, "Fairies?"

They were getting to the heart of the matter and Link explained, "Fairies are a form of guardian spirit. They are different, they aren't physical beings who tap into magic; they are magic. It's what they're made of, like you and I are made of flesh and bone. Some adopt a physical aspect, like the Great Deku Tree or Lord Jabu Jabu, but that's just a shell for the real spirit. I think the Gods made them to serve a function, to protect a special region or a people. Great Spirits are bound to a location, they can't leave it without shattering, but they can make Lesser Fairies who roam free."

Malon glanced at him and probed, "The first time we met you had a fairy with you. I'll never forget the way she followed you around shouting 'Hey Listen!'"

Link's heart grew sad as he confessed, "Navi, she was my friend and companion. She was with me through the worst of times and the best of times."

Malon turned to face him as she pondered, "You lost her. I remember you set out on a quest to find her, to discover where she went and why. You were so hurt that she took off without you."

Link's gaze dropped as he whispered, "The last time I saw her she was flying out of the window of the Temple of Time, disappearing into a ray of light. I didn't know why, she didn't tell me, she just took off and I never saw her again."

"But you said you found an answer," Malon mused.

Link's voice grew heavy as he said, "Many years later I found a Sorcerer who explained it. Lesser Fairies are created for a single purpose, given just enough magic and intelligence to achieve their goal. They exist only to fulfil their task, then they die."

Malon's eyes went wide as she realised what he meant and exclaimed, "Navi was a Lesser Fairy?"

Link nodded, "I realised then the truth. Navi was created to help me save Hyrule; it was her reason for existing. I think when we first met she may only have been a few minutes old. She was made to help me and when that task was complete…"

Malon pressed her hand over her mouth in shock as she breathed, "When Navi left you she wasn't just going away somewhere, she knew she was about to die."

Link sighed forlornly, "I spent years wandering the world, looking for someone who was already dead and that's not the worse part."

"What could be worse than that?!" Malon yelped.

Link at last spilled out his secret as he confessed his deepest pain, "That she left me behind. After everything we'd been through and she didn't want to be with me at the end. She knew she had hours left, maybe only minutes, and she chose to fly away. She'd rather spend her last moments anywhere else than be with me. All we'd been through together, the sheer number of times we saved each other and she flew away without a word. I thought she was my friend but I was nothing to her. Her last act was one of contempt for me."

Malon stared at him for long moments then exclaimed, "Oh… you poor, witless idiot. Is that what you think happened?!"

Link scowled at her in bewilderment, "What do you mean?"

Malon drew in a breath and explained, "Navi knew her purpose was done and she would soon die. And she knew you'd have to watch her pass. You were too young to see something like that, too immature to understand what it meant. She didn't fly away because she despised you; she left to spare you the pain of having to watch her end."

Link was stunned by that idea and he stammered, "I… I never thought of it that way. But why would she do that?"

Malon placed a hand on his arm and told him, "Because she was your friend and wanted to spare you from pain. Her last act in life was one of kindness and mercy, for the only friend she ever had."

Link was stunned by her words and he was forced to re-examine his beliefs. Had he been getting it wrong all these years, had he been ascribing malice to an act of kindness, he wondered. All those bitter thoughts that had made him cynical had been born of ignorance and he realised then that Navi had never faltered or failed him, never hidden a sneer behind a false smile. That little ball of blue light had had only ever been his friend and meant him well.

Link looked out over the fields and whispered, "I kept away from Hryule for so long, thinking it was better not to be reminded of her, but I should have returned as soon as I had my answer. I've been alone for so long and it's my own damn fault."

Malon looped her arm through his and placed her head on his shoulder as she replied, "Fairy boy, it's alright to feel sad. You take as long as you need and I'll still be here."

Link could only stare into the distance as he sighed, "I miss my friend."