Kyou's War – Part 4
-Fae Grove, Western Qin-
Zelda sat on the edge of the earth at the top of the Fae city. She let her feet drift into the water. The water was warm to the touch, and seeped into her body, unwinding her muscles and relaxing her bones. She found herself becoming so relaxed, so comforted here, that she had to make a conscious effort to stay cautious. She had to fight to stay awake at some points and not curl up and sleep on the grass under the sun.
She was always thinking, always considering, always observing, but here she found entire hours went by without so much as a thought. Despite the drug-like state the place put her in, she knew deep in her gut something was wrong. Impa should have been there by now. Impa was punctual. Impa was late. Impa had failed. Why?
A daunting thought. One that horrified Zelda deep down, like a snake curling in her gut that wrapped itself around her heart.
Whether Impa was dead, captured, or just late, she had failed in her mission to be here before Zelda in the case that Prince Kyou makes a move on the capital and kills her body double. It hurt Zelda to think she couldn't rely on Impa as much in the future as she had hoped, but she did trust in Impa's loyalty, so she held no grudge.
Zelda was at an impasse.
Zelda, not wanting to be isolated at this moment with the idea of her potentially dead ally lingering in the back of her mind, rose and walked to the other side of the miniature island where the others were. The Fae were no longer fearful of Link wanting to kidnap them. Instead, the atmosphere seemed to have put him back a few years in maturity. His bottomless energy drew the forest children out, and they played in the water.
It was a sight that offered her a glimpse into another life. Was this what it was like to be innocent? To be free of burden, of responsibility, of power, of the countless lives weighing on her every word and action? Was this what it was like to be simple? No. Zelda had been unburdened from a country once. She had been simple. It was nothing like this, and so she had thrown it aside for the life she had now- that she was losing now.
Shaking herself of her negative thoughts, Zelda watched as Link got tackled by several children, and his response was to laugh. It was fascinating how alien it was to her.
The way it happened was Link and the children were talking about their respective homes. Link's story of village life fascinated them, and he stood and said proudly, "I'm the son of a great general! And one day with the blade I will become one as well!"
"Oooohhhh!" The children breathed in wide-eyed enraptured awe. They asked, "What's a general?"
"Uh..." Link stopped. "You don't know?" The children shook their head 'no'. Link smiled proudly and declared, "It's the biggest man on the hill who can lead entire armies to glory, and can fight everyone and win!"
"Like you?" One of them asked.
"Yeah! Like m-"
"GET THE GENERAL!" The kids yelled. They tackled him together.
"Care to join them, daughter of Nayru?" A rickety voice said by her. Zelda looked to see the Fae had claimed the wooden flesh again.
She shook her head, "I would never participate in such unsightly behavior. I am content here."
"It is the nature of young ones to need and want. A king most of all, as their desires is the desire of a nation. A content king is a waxing kingdom. Besides, even King Shorlin played."
Zelda doubted it and allowed her disbelief to show.
"He did." The Fae stressed. "He loved it here, because it represented the world he desired against the one he had to live in, and gave a clear separation between innocence and guilt, peace and war, love and hate."
"I would know nothing of those things."
"Then is it not imperative you, above all, embrace it?" Seeing he was beginning to agitate her. He put his hands up. "I say this out of consideration for you. Consider this place a retreat from the world when you feel the need."
Zelda nodded. She could keep it in mind for the future at the very least. "You say it as though you are outside the world, one you very much live in."
"We are. We have no need for vast land like you, we live for hundreds of years, and our engagements with Hyleans tend to end in kidnapping and torture; but do not mistake us for pacifistic. We have fought in the past with great results. There are many Fae out there among the nations. Like yours, the other races saw us as good."
"So there are other Fae?"
"Yes."
"Your spring is the only one with the faintest rumor. Only the Sheikah know of you."
His composure darkened, and Elder growled to himself. "We are the only one in Qin. The others were kidnapped and murdered for our healing power. My cousin was torn in pieces because of this superstition."
Zelda nodded. The elder had a heart of anger buried in him at the prejudice against them. It was an anger she knew well. The myths she had used to find them said that to rip off a Fae's wings and shake their dust would cure any wound. Well, Fae had no wings, and even if they did it was mutilation at least and murder at most, but that reality meant little to poachers, as their 'reality' was in rupees. So long as there was a market for Fae wings, Zora scales, and Goron hide then they would supply it by any means necessary.
"You have my sympathy."
Elder nodded in acknowledgment to her sympathy, though it ultimately might mean little. It was still a respectful moment. Zelda wanted to pry and ask about their 'healing power', but felt it was a touchy subject.
"There is a matter I wanted to talk to you about," Zelda said. Elder gave her his attention. She removed her gloves and presented her hands. "My hands have this mark on them. I brought it up with our priests, but they said it didn't matter. Yet I have found it means something. A year ago, some form of 'power' came from my hands, and since then I have learned to use it to defend myself."
"And you think I would know something of it?"
"It is of a magical or divine nature, so yes."
Elder took her hands gently and examined them. At first, there was nothing special about them beyond a few scars hidden in the beautiful fingers, but he briefly stilled as he turned the hands over and saw the backsides of them. He ran a vine over the scar and both Zelda and he shivered. The former did not like being touched, and the latter felt what lied beneath. He released her hands.
"I haven't seen this in a long time, a very long time." He murmured. "It is right for you to show this to me. I can help you understand it, but it would not be overnight. It will take years for you to come to master the blessing given to you by the Triple Goddess."
"That is well with me, provided I can survive. What is this?"
"In a way, it is nothing more than a mark." Elder explained cryptically, "But what it represents is so much more. It is a mark given to one who has been blessed with great power. Similar to a crown represents a king, this mark represents one on whom the Goddesses have given a great destiny."
"Sounds like the same thing," Zelda said.
"Yes, expect this mark is greater than any crown, princess. Curious, though, that there are only two-thirds of it," Elder mused. "Did it appear as two triangles, to begin with?"
"No, only one. The second triangle seared itself into my skin recently. After 'his' identical symbols appeared on his hand." She pointed to Link.
Elder looked at Link in thought for a time. His wooden face lacked expression, so Zelda could not tell what the Fae within was thinking as it watched Link. Link, at this time, was lounging in the sun.
"I sense a great deal of pain and anger coming from him." He said.
"He recently lost a close friend."
"I see. That is why he tries so hard."
With them watching him, Link noticed the extra attention. "What?!"
Ignoring him, Elder looked back to Zelda. "What do you plan to do? Your friends have not arrived, and you seem to think they will not."
"Are my thoughts that transparent?"
"Your sudden mood of defeat, yes."
"Then I must learn to guard my thoughts more. What do I plan to do? I don't know, Elder. My goal is to stop Kyou and retake the throne... but how to accomplish that? I do not know. I had no plan past escaping and waiting here for my ally to rendezvous with me. My ally would know the political environment better, and bring information on how we could adapt to Kyou's moves."
"And your ally did not come as you expected." Elder stated. He hummed gently inside the bark. "Your choice is up to you. If you choose to stay, the forest welcomes you but I also caution you towards that choice. Time loses its meaning here, and if you do not leave soon, you may find more time is lost than you are prepared to lose. Also, the mark on your hand shows you have a great destiny, and staying here would waste the power granted to you. If you want to stop your brother, then you must adapt."
Zelda knew he was right. But what could she do? She was powerless. All she had were a dozen men to her name. She had no information to work with on the layout of the political or strategic land. There could be soldiers coming for her and she wouldn't know it. What of her ambition? Her vision of Qin's future? Was she to fail it?
Seeing the princess was deep in thought, the Fae left her alone and returned to beneath the surface.
The princess thought about it, but inevitably all she could draw were blanks. She was right back where she started in Kanyou. She had no assets, no power, no information... and ultimately no courage. She was not afraid, but nor was she not afraid.
She returned into the hut to think. She meditated and pondered into the night. The soldiers set up a fine meal on the table. Zelda had always stressed that Link would never do the cooking, as she had a brief exposure to his skills while pretending to be Midna, but this night she said not a word. The soldiers laughed and joked as men do, and Matsubi was on them about their behavior in the presence of royalty, and Link showed off his lack of table manners befitting a slave, and Zelda noticed not a bit of it. She ate in silence. All of her thoughts were on what she could do.
Yet for all her thoughts, she always hit the same inevitable conclusion: nothing.
The next day followed in much the same way, but with an anxious tone. The soldiers were growing restless, unsure whether they would be staying or going, and this anxiety extended to Link, who no longer found the playful innocence of the forest children to be able to stave off his need for vengeance. That night he approached Zelda.
"How much longer before we stop Kyou?" He asked.
"Not much longer," Zelda replied. She hoped so at least. She kept her back to him.
"Great. Are we waiting for your friends to come?"
"No. I no longer expect them. They are much too late."
"Then?" Link pressed. He walked around and bent at the waist to look her in the face. Zelda felt a blood vessel pulsing in her forehead. Did he have no tact or sense of privacy?
"I don't know."
"'Not much longer'. 'I don't know'. You're a wealth of information today." Link rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"I don't usually come up with the plans! It's not as easy as it looks!" Zelda snapped.
"So come up with one!"
"What do you think I have been doing?! I've been thinking!"
"Really? Because it sounds like you haven't decided on a single thing!" Link paused, realization coming to him. "You're afraid..." Zelda's composure broke for a brief moment. Snarling, she jumped to her feet and shoved him. He fell into the water. When he came out of the water, she looked down on him coldly.
"I am the high heir and princess of Qin. You will speak to me with respect."
Link came up spitting water and climbed back up. He growled, but still avoided her lethal gaze. It made him feel a bit guilty, and he despised her power to do it to him. It was all because she wore the face of her childhood friend, but that didn't mean he wasn't right.
"You think I give a shit, princess?" He demanded. "Princess, noble, whatever you are. I don't care if you are some kind of saint. You made a promise to let me avenge Midna properly, and you're failing. As the princess, you made a promise to everyone to protect them, and you're failing! Midna died for you and you're letting it go to waste! You claimed to honor her, you claimed to respect her because she chose it, but all of the words you have said up till today are falling dead! All because you are afraid!"
"So what if I am afraid!" Zelda barked. "I have no power to change our situation!"
"You aren't even trying! Princess, I may be a simple slave, but even I know that what made Midna as powerful as you claim is that she put her life on the line! Now you are sitting here cowering and waiting for something that isn't going to come because you have to make it happen!" Link pointed his finger at her. "You! No one else! You have to make it happen! You have to step up and do something! You have to be the one to put your life on the line for once! You probably want an army to put themselves against the sword for you, you want people to speak for you, to do whatever the Realms you damn well need, but guess what, they aren't here! There is only you and a few idiots willing to recognize some blood in your veins that you don't seem to be earning! Do you want power? Then have enough balls to get some!"
Link breathed heavily after his rant, having yelled so loud. The soldiers ran out to see what the screaming was about. The Fae ascended from the water, creating eerie lighting around them. Zelda clenched her fists, her gaze was murderous.
It took every bit of self-control she possessed not to kill him where he stood with her power. She didn't partially because she felt the power was distancing itself from her, as if refusing to help, but most of all because some voice in her head told her he was right, and while she wasn't above killing she still held pride in that she had only killed in self-defense.
Seeing her fury, Link beat his chest. "Come on! Hit me! Go ahead! At least do something! You are still doing nothing!"
Zelda turned away from him and stomped away. She wouldn't hit him, as to do that would only give him what he wanted. The men did not follow her, and Link wisely did not either. She didn't know what she would have done had anyone followed her.
Zelda walked to the other side of the island and burned a hole into the water with her eyes. She was frustrated and angry. Angry with Link, naturally, but also angry and frustrated with herself; because for all of her fury against him, his resolve was worth respecting.
Zelda raised a hand and saw it shake. "He's just a slave... and yet he had this much impact over a royal princess?" She whispered. "Anyone else in my position would have had him executed on the spot. He risked his life daring to speak to me like this, and here I am the one on the defensive because of it."
Now that she thought about it, a lot of people had done that for her.
Impa risked her life infiltrating an entire country.
The black marketers risked their lives getting her out, and they paid for it. Yet they still succeeded.
Midna risked her life as a decoy to give Zelda an escape.
Link risked his life to do what? To yell at her? To be angry? No.
Zelda clenched her fist and felt it still. He was a simple person, and not the most intelligent, but simple people still have simple reasons. He yelled at her to motivate her, to get action out of her beyond sitting on her butt.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elder rouse. The Fae entered his wooden husk and come to her. "You are agitated. My people tell me the son of Farore raised his voice against you. Is everything well, princess?" Zelda looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I have seen you are hesitant. I hope my words have not put you in a difficult position. I only offered what guidance I can, as you are the lineage of King Shorlin, whom I respected."
She did not blame him. His guidance was the same as Links without being as brash. Everyone here was pressing her for her sake. While her half-brother might be strung up on things like offenses, she was not so easily pushed to lashing out in anger.
They were right. She needed to put her own life on the line. She needed to move and move now. She needed to take charge personally and make a plan. The plan didn't need to be perfect; it just needed to take advantage of the pieces set on the playing field.
Prince Kyou believed he had won, and that belief would make him vulnerable. She had a brief window of opportunity, but an opportunity none of the less. It would become all but impossible after Ketsu and Kyou solidify their position unless Chancellor Ryo moves early. She needed to know Ryo's movements. That required scouts and spies, neither of which she had.
She would have to go with the most likely possibility that Ryo and Ketsu would bring their rivalry to the peak, and Ryo would use this as an opportunity to go for the throne. He would be Kyou's next target as the only real threat.
Next, she needed men. She had a dozen, but it wouldn't be enough. Zelda looked to Elder and regarded him. He looked back at her patiently. King Shorlin held a great deal of loyalty from the Fae and had earned the loyalty of the Sheikah as well. That loyalty in the Sheikah extended to her. What if-?
-Flashback from several months ago-
"Princess." Abhdan lectured her. "Care to guess what a king and merchant have in common?"
Zelda looked up from her writing. She considered the question a time before answering, "They both have money."
"That is part of it, certainly." The old man smirked, "But do you think it is money alone that got Ryo to where he is now? He started as a simple merchant, if you may recall. He got this far because of his abilities as a merchant rival that of a king in certain ways. Not so much scope, naturally, but in nature."
Zelda considered the question more, but could not come to a satisfying conclusion.
"Oh-ho! Stumped are we? Very well. The strengths of the king and merchant are the same in that they both possess what the people want. To gain strength, have what the people want. To gain loyalty, give the people what they want. But to gain their undying love..." He chuckled. "Give them what they NEED."
Zelda looked at him confused, "But I don't have anything. The land is in the possession of my ministers. My income goes towards too many pockets for it to be mine. My army answers to generals who answer to the Chancellor of the Left, Chancellor of the Right, and Chancellor of State. Everyone is supposed to answer to me, but no one does yet. That's why I am here being taught."
"Oh-ho! You have much to learn, Princess." The man whispered cryptically. Zelda raised an eyebrow, completely missing the undertone. She concluded, once again, he was just a weird old man.
-Present-
A plan started to form in Zelda's mind. It was possibly stupid, but with what she had at her disposal. It was possibly the only hand she had left.
"Elder, I wish to discuss collaboration."
The Elder looked at her a moment, before nodding in consent and motioning to the hut. The two entered the hut, and Zelda ordered the soldiers who had returned to leave. The table had been placed aside for the blankets, but without any effort, the Fae placed it back on its place with a chair for her. Zelda took the seat. The Fae placed himself on the other side and 'sat' on the air. Wood extended from his back to create two more legs, making his form that of a centaur. He placed his hands together on the table and leaned forward ever so slightly. His glowing eyes fell on her.
"What do you wish to collaborate with?" He asked.
"Whether by design or fate, the Fae are little more than a myth," Zelda started. "You have said so yourself: you do not need land. Yet I find this untrue. I have not seen you eat or drink as mortals do, so it cannot be farming land you require. Your forms are naked and are unaffected by the plights of nature, so land for silk, cotton, minerals, and other materials are also unnecessary, however, what I have seen is a need for individual privacy and identity in separate abodes, and for your statement of denying the need for land you are still protective of what you hold. Perhaps there truly is Fae out there as free as birds, with no tie to any space or land, but you are not among those Fae. Even further, you seem to have lost touch with other Fae because of your tie to this forest and self-isolation. It may be all well and good. Your forest is considered haunted and people fear it to enter it."
"A reasonable theory." The Fae mused.
"But this isolation cannot last, and your people are doomed for conflict," Zelda continued. "A forest expands, myths give away to the truth, and one day your people will be known. Your forest will become targeted by a lumber camp, your forest will be laid to the ground, and you will either flee to leave behind your adoptive children or fight. A conflict would be inevitable either in my lifetime or in a near generation."
"In your theory, we will be at war, you and I?" The Fae wondered. He did not seem threatened by it, angered, or put off in any way; but Zelda could not tell. There were moments he allowed understandable emotions to appear on the wooden face, but otherwise, he was always stone-faced. He was the perfect politician. He showed only what he wanted, and nothing more.
"It is a possibility among all kings, is it not?" Zelda returned with her question. "I do not desire it. You have treated me with respect as an honored guest. You have given me words of guidance. You have spoken of a future between you and me as a teacher to a student on personal matters. In one's perspective, you have proven yourself more to me in two days than any of my own family. Were it up to me, we would be as one people. With your land and power as being smaller than Qin, I would have you be a part of Qin as a protected land within Qin."
"Ah. So this is your plan, is it?" The Fae leaned back. "To gain the Fae into your army as King Shorlin did? I do not doubt your promise to set us as a protected vessel of yours, as I would ensure it. If you fail in your promise, our retribution is that of the heavens itself; but then what of the alternative?"
The Fae turned his head to the side curiously, raised a finger, and allowed a single appendage to extend toward her face like a knife. Zelda did not flinch as it neared her nose by inches across the table.
"What is to keep me from taking your head and giving it to your half-brother? What if I let you live, yet we are still at war in the future? What if you fail against Kyou and it is Kyou who brings war to my forest? We are as the earth you stand on, the water you drink, the air you breathe, the fire in your hearts. Without one, you creatures die."
"War with you would bring untold death to my people," Zelda answered.
"I wouldn't weep for one of them."
"I believe you."
The Fae retracted the wooden finger until his hand appeared as before. His wooden lips formed a smile. "So then what shall I do? Go to war with your people? Depart and leave the dear children behind? Join you and gain protections? What could you possibly offer that would be worth joining with you?"
"I have a vision or perhaps ambition that would make it all worth it."
"Which is?" The Fae pried.
Zelda smiled, "You will know soon. You are not the only one I want to meet. Before I stop Kyou, there is one more I wish to talk with. Once I meet this person, then both of you will know of my vision."
"I see." The Fae leaned back and placed his wooden hands together. "Who is it you wish to meet?"
"Is this your way of saying you are with me?" The Fae merely smiled. Zelda said, "The Majora. I wish to meet with the Majora's leader, and I suspect you know where they are."
As she said this, she flinched slightly. At the same time, she heard a yelp from outside. The back of her hand burned, and glowed slightly. She looked down to see a third triangle had formed on her hand. The Fae's eyes were also on it.
"It seems the Goddesses give their consent." The Fae murmured. He bowed himself before her at the hip. "Let us depart, your highness."
-Meanwhile in the mountains-
Ganondorf Dragmire stood on the back of his kill and gazed at the moon. There was always something soothing about it against the fire that burned in his heart. Something that kept the darker side of himself in check.
But not today.
Ganondorf descended from the path towards where the battle was. Numerically it was not in his favor. The Qin forces numbered two hundred while he and his bodyguards numbered twenty. He had killed a few scouts, but most of them had gathered beneath his mountain. Ganon arrived in time to see his men kill the band they had caught, and stop to see the main force gathering.
Ganon stepped in front of his men to face the captain of the Qin forces. The Qin looked at them from his horse furiously. "Who are you people!?" The Qin demanded. "How dare you fight the Prince? You are nothing but barbarians and will die as such!"
Ganon raised an eyebrow as the Qin captain lowered his spear towards him and started to charge. Ganondorf pulled his large blades off his back. He had two blades, one in each hand. Both swords were broadswords and too heavy for most to carry one-handed, but he was by no means a normal man. Ganon lowered his stance as the horse approached, his hands burned with Din's fury, his swords ignited in flame, his fire-like hair lifted in the breeze, his blood-red eyes flashed, and in a single stride, Ganon stepped forward and swung as the spear came at him.
The horse fell forward, its head cut clean off at the shoulder. The captain was thrown backward, his upper half removed from his bottom. His spear pierced the ground, barely missing the large black man. The fire spread from Ganon's slash and engulfed the ground around him.
"I know nothing of this prince of yours, but you trespassed, and that bears the penalty of death," Ganon told the dead man. "Take that message to the Realms."
The Qin forces stepped back in fear and shock that he had so effortlessly killed their leader. "Demon! Witchcraft! Blasphemy! Heretic! Uncouth barbarian!" They called him.
Ganon didn't know why he was called a barbarian. He led a simple village that refused to cower or sell itself to anyone. It was true there were witches, his mothers were, but what he did, and what the Majora did, was by no means magical. His power was divine. Majora's power was different.
Ganon chuckled and raised himself. "Show them the 'witchcraft' of Majora!" He ordered with a thrust of his hand.
Trembling in excitement, his bodyguards raised masks to their faces. The effect took hold almost immediately, as with a blood curling roar they leaped on the Qin and tore them apart. Accompanying them were great wolves that gnashed and clawed at their foes.
Seeing his berserkers make short work of the Qin forces, Ganon watched in amusement for a short time, fully taking in the sight of flying blood and dancing flesh. He smirked the smile of a predator, soaking in the screams and death. It was an art form in its own right.
When the battle was concluded, Ganon sheathed his blades. His men panted in exhaustion, but also fury. They looked for more to kill, more to bring the wrath of Majora upon, but there was no one for them to sate their hatred and anger upon. Ganon approached the first and removed the mask from his face. The man blinked and looked up at him as if coming from a deep sleep. One by one he removed the masks from them, having to physically restrain them at times when they lashed back at him. The wolves laid down and licked their wounds.
"Take their belongings." He ordered. "Take the horses for meat, and throw the soldier's bodies to the wolves. Take their heads and plant them on spikes," He narrowed his red eyes. "So others will know to fear."
Ganon turned back to leave and return to his village, but something stopped him. Ganon felt his hands burn. He lifted them into the moonlight to see, and against the full moon, he saw two triangles burn themselves like fire into his hand, touching upon the first triangle he already wore.
(edited 2/29/2020)
