Link and I stood on the first floor of the building the Zora boy had been moved to, waiting patiently while Renado looked after him. Renado had asked for space except from Nameless and Telma who were giving him information about how they found the boy. Meanwhile, I thanked Link once again for saving me. Silence settled around us and I found myself thinking of something.
"Hey Link...who is that girl upstairs? You said you knew her, right?" I ask and he awkwardly stares at the floor. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed of the answer or if he just didn't want to talk about it. Either way, he barely stuttered out an answer.
"I know her...she uh..um..she's from Ordon." I scrunched up my face in thought. Why is he acting like that?
"Is she your girlfriend?" I ask. Link's face turned several different shades of red and pink after that. He immediately began shaking his head, holding his hands up in a surrender-like position.
"No no no no. No. She's not my girlfriend! N-not that there's anything wrong with her, she's just...not" He says and I can't help but smile a little. Now it was Link's turn to look at me confused.
"Why are you smiling?" he asks, dropping his hands back down to his sides and returning a ghost of a smile as he looked at me. I shrugged, smiling some more.
"I don't know. Your reaction to my question was just kind of...cute, I guess." I say, purposely ignoring the way he smiled at me afterwards.
"So your not-girlfriend. Does she have a name? Hobbies? Giant pet goat?" I ask, taking a seat on a nearby table. Link sat in one of the chairs around the table I was sitting on and sighed.
"Her name is Ilia. She was a good friend of mine back in Ordon and...no. No giant pet goat." He says, letting a small smile slip at the last part. I jokingly gasped, placing a hand over my chest. Link raised an eyebrow at the sudden gesture.
"How dare you smile about such a topic as a giant pet goat? That is a serious matter!" I say sarcastically, trying not to laugh as Link did only to fail immediately. Just then, a small familiar face walked into the building, interrupting our laughter.
Colin came in and found a place standing in front of Link and I. He seemed a bit reluctant to interrupt our conversation, but at the same time, eager to see what was going on in here. Link smiled at the younger boy, politely saying hello. Colin waved in response.
"So, how are they?" The young blonde asks. I glance up the stairs to the doorway of the room the Zora boy and Ilia were being kept in.
"We don't know yet." Link replies to his question. Colin moves his gaze to the floor and I stand from my seat on the table to stand beside him.
"Why don't we all go check on them, hm? I think Renado should be about done by now." I say and Colin immediately perks up at my proposal. He nods enthusiastically, letting out a 'yeah' and I look at Link. Link stands from his chair and shrugs.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt" He says and the three of us head up the stairs, Colin taking the lead while Link stayed back to walk beside me. When we got to the top, we stood patiently waiting for Renado to come fill us in as soon as he finished talking with Telma. Their conversation promptly ended and Renado approached our little group of three.
"... He has passed through the worst of it. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time. Do you know the fate of his mother? Her wellbeing consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly.." Renado asks. I look at Link and find him with a somber expression, no doubt revealing that whatever had happened to the boy's mother, it wasn't good. He muttered out a brief "She's gone." Renado continued.
"...I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory." Colin smiled despite the grave news, putting on a face of determination.
"I'll stay with him until he gets better. No matter how long it takes." He says, earning a smile from all of us. Renado crouched down to his height and placed a hand on the young blonde's shoulder.
"Is that so? Thank you, Colin." Renado says. I looked up from the two and into the room that the Zora boy was in to see Ilia sitting next to him, just as she did in Telma's bar. I don't understand how a girl who can't even remember her own name can feel so concerned for a total stranger. Then again, I guess that's the same logic that persuaded Uli and Rusl to help me when they found me by that river. It's the same logic that made Link feel the need to keep me safe on our journey.
I guess that's just something I never learned in Castle Town. Caring.
We all headed back down the stairs, Link and I heading outside, followed by Colin.
"Hey...Link. About Ilia. Is it true what they said about her?" Colin asks. Link hesitated to respond, only for Renado, who had come out after Colin, to answer for him.
"Yes, she has lost her memory, Colin, and regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be alright, child. If we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again. So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in the village until then. It is our turn to show the courage you have already displayed." Renado tells the young boy, earning a bright smile in response. Colin quickly ran back into the building, most likely going to help out with Ilia and the Zora boy.
Renado bowed briefly to Link and I before leaving us to stand with Telma, who had been standing by the entire time. She hummed lowly to gain our attention before speaking.
"Nice to see there's still hope here. And it's always good to see happy results repay your efforts. Those skills of yours...any chance you're of the mind to put them to use of Hyrule?" Telma asks, directing her question more towards Link. She told Link that what little hope left in our kingdom was dying and about the group she was in that was trying to save it.
Telma has told me about them before -- her group that is -- and I've even intruded on one or two of their meetings in her bar. After all, I did sleep there often enough to know. She told me once that if not for so many people in Town suspecting me of being of evil descent, I might have been able to join. Not that I cared. No one in that town except for Telma ever did anything for me, so why should I try to help them?
Now though, it's different. I'm helping Link because it's not just the people whose lives are at stake -- it's my home.
"I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia and...Well, never mind about the rest." Telma says, glancing over to where Renado was walking. Link and I both looked that way and found her gazing resting on the man's retreating form.
When I looked back at Telma, I found her leaning close into Link's face, making him stare back at her, a surprised expression on his face with his mouth gaping slightly. He still wasn't used to Telma's up-close nature.
"Link, I want to see you again at my bar, you hear me?" She states, giving a side glance my way to make sure I was listening too. Telma stood up straight, out of Link's personal space to continue.
"The bar is actually a kind of safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there, as well." Telma did a small run towards Renado, but stopped and turned back to say one last thing before she left us.
"If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you, honey! And do me a favor on your journey, will you? Keep that one on the right path and out of trouble!" And with that, she left, catching up with Renado and starting a conversation with him.
I heard Link let out a small chuckle beside me, and I raised an eyebrow expectingly. He caught my gaze almost immediately and grinned slightly.
"As if you would actually listen to me.." He says, making me smile.
"I don't know..." I trailed off, stepping closer to the green clad hero, "I do like you more than most people.."
Link turned away from me and stepped towards the door to the building, all the while attempting to hide what looked like a deep red blush that spread through his cheeks and the tips of his ears. I was going to follow him, when I heard something behind me.
I turned around and looked up slightly to see a translucent figure of a Zora woman floating elegantly above the ground. Link must have heard her too because suddenly he was standing beside me again as we both gazed at the glowing woman. She moved to the side, away from us, but didn't go too far.
"This way.." She says and we begin a short chase after her through town and into the graveyard. She lead us to the very back of the graveyard, to a stone that then disappeared as she did. Behind the stone was a small crawl space that Link and I both went through, one at a time of course, to the other end of the short tunnel.
On the other side was a beautiful spring with green grass on the small bit of land we were standing on, surrounded by warm, clear water that flowed into the spring through two waterfalls. Directly in front of us, across the pool of clear water and hovering above another section of land was the Zora woman. Her faint glow was complimented by the reflection from the water all around us.
I took off my bow and loose quiver of arrows and set them down on the ground where we stood. Everything else would be fine. Link simply tightened down his things before we both jumped into the water and swam across to the Zora woman. We climbed onto the small section of land and looked up to the floating Zora. She was beside a grave, the headstone being decorated with patterns unique to the Zora people.
"I am deeply grateful to the both of you for aiding my son in his time of need. You were right to bring him here. Kakariko village is a sacred place for the Zora people. It is where we take our eternal rest. My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here. It is no coincidence my son found his salvation in this place." She says. So the Zora boy was her son? And she was the queen? Which meant...I just helped save the prince?
Weird.
"That which I have promised you, boy, is within this grave. As well as something for you, girl. During his lifetime, my husband created garments, specifically for the chosen hero and his companion, garments that house the abilities of the Zora." The spirit queen stated, the headstone of the grave sliding out of the way to reveal a hidden place underneath.
In the small hole under the gravestone, two sets of zora armor were hidden away neatly. One was a dark blue and obviously meant for Link while the other was a deep purple shade and decorated lightly with traditional Zora ornaments.
Link lifted both sets of armor out of the hole and handed me the purple set. The fabric was different from what I was used to. Unlike the scratchy material I wore daily in Castle Town, this was smooth and well insulated to maintain body heat in deep water. That and it was actually decent clothing (Thank the spirits for my new clothes).
"Now, at last, I can join the king in his slumber. And yet...my son...He still knows nothing of my death. If you see him again, please pass on this message...Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him she wanted him to be brave and live on as the King of our people. And...tell him his mother loves him without end. Tell him.." And with that, the late Zora queen faded away. I looked over the Zora armor in my hands one last time before putting it away in Link's bag with his own.
A small chime came from seemingly nowhere and I turned to see the shadowed, floating imp from the Goron mountains. She spared me a bored glance before talking mainly to Link.
"Well, it's a good thing you found all your friends and picked up that nifty Zora armor. But aren't you forgetting something kind of important? The last fused shadow. Remember what Faron the light spirit said...He said you would need the Fused Shadows to defeat the dark overlord Zant and save the world.." She says, but I interrupt her.
"I'm sorry, what? What's a fused shadow? Who is Zant?" I question the floating girl, who just rolls her eyes. Link clears his throat and starts to explain.
"Well, first off, Midna, meet Rheikah, our new friend. Rheikah, meet Midna, the one who has been helping me all this time." Link introduces. I simply nodded her way causing her to groan boredly.
"Anyway...a fused shadow is just what it sounds like. Pieces of twilight fused together. It's... not good, and Zant is the one behind the twilight covering everything. He lead an attack on the castle that day." I nodded glumly and Midna took that as her cue to continue.
"..So... even if you go back now with all the people you saved...The whole tragedy would just repeat itself. So let's get to it. We need to get to the temple on the Lakebed of Lake Hylia." She states then sticks her tongue out at me before disappearing into Link's shadow.
"I don't think she likes me very much..." I mutter. Link chuckled at that.
"She doesn't like most people very much. She'll learn to love you eventually." He says, stepping over to the pool of water that separated us from our exit.
"How can you be so sure?" I ask quietly, mostly to myself, but he heard it anyway. Link shrugged.
"It didn't take much to make me like you." Then he jumped into the water.
Ok so this was supposed to be updated a LONG time ago but then wifi issues, laziness, and lack of writing time kind of messed up my schedule completely.
So thanks to anyone who is still taking the time to read this after such a long wait. I love you!!
See you all next update!!
P.S.: I absolutely love the feedback from you guys! It makes me try to work on this more often.