The 15th Day of Winter
When Topah woke up from his horrible nightmare, the crisp, winter air felt a lot colder than the night before. His waking eyes first focused onto a hideous, orange skinned monster with a frightening underbite and a jagged tooth poking from underneath, who was holding a torch to fight back the ominous pitch black of the Lost Woods. Then he felt the scaly, dry skin wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and he felt his weight suspended between the two as they walked down a path surrounded by thick trees and darkness. There was a red monster just above him holding his wrists, and a green monster just below holding his ankles.
The nightmare has not ended yet. I feel awake, but if I were awake, I would be rising from my bed at home, reasoned the boy. He had to be dreaming. Nothing as catastrophic as the events from the night before could have ever happened to the Kokiri Village. The Great Deku Tree said that he would always keep his children safe.
A soft snarl from the dark petrified all four dead in their tracks. Topah's heart was pounding hard and fast. The fear in his body felt too real to be a dream. Everyone swiveled their head around in search for the source of the noise. Finally, Topah had a good chance to study their ugly faces, but as their appearance became more and more familiar, a growing ache began to dig into the back of his head.
They were Bokoblins. The green one carrying his ankles wore his weapon, a club with a metal, bladed tip attached to the top, on his back. Then the memory of the traumatic blow at that very location hurt like he had landed from a fall on his head. This was the moment he realized that he was awake. The nightmare was real. The fear swelled so much in his heart that he could no longer contain himself, and he unleashed himself.
"WAAAAAHH!" cried the little one as loudly as he could, "I WANNA GO HOME!" Tears and snot washed down his face, and pee flowed freely and trickled warmly into his winter trousers, and he began to fight the grips of the similar sized creatures holding him. "LET! ME! GO!" he screamed as his feet exclaimed his strong sentiment through his kicking.
The fuss brought everyone's attention back to him. The orange Blin carrying the torch blurted "Ix Kahn yumizh dier!" before lifting his tiny foot and kicking Topah's bruised rib. The pain made Topah gag, the gag made him quiet, and the quiet pleased the Bokoblin, until Topah threw up all over the ground. The torchbearer turned his head down the path and shouted out more gibberish in his native tongue, like he was calling out to someone. "Yuuks ke!" he softly ordered the two carrying Topah.
They walked more cautiously this time. Something threatening was very close. Hidden somewhere in the darkness, the invisible presence made itself known, however, through its heavy breathing and deep growling.
Topah coughed and spit out whatever was left in his mouth and promptly resumed crying, this time from the pain. "Please!" he tearfully begged the monsters, "Just let me go! Please!" He did not know what else he could say to persuade the barbaric creatures.
But the Bokoblins continued walking obliviously to his pleas. It was not long before Topah could see torchlight reflecting upon the trees farther down the windy path. Encouraged by this sign, the captors picked up their pace.
"AAHH!" Pitch black swamped the area. Everyone turned around towards the squeal, only to find the torch bearer, and therefore the light, being dragged deep into the forest, too late for rescue.
In the darkness, the captors were shouting a nonsensical combination of squeals and sharp punctuations to the group down the path.
A response call echoed in the distance, followed by the calls of many. And soon the first torches from the reinforcement team became visible. Topah could not decide which fate he would rather prefer, get taken by the Bokoblins or face the wrath of the Lost Woods wildlife. He did share a home with the Lost Woods' beasts, though, so he began to kick himself free, but the grips on his wrists were strong.
The Bokoblins hobbled along the path as quickly as their short legs could carry them. Another snarl from the thick black quickened their pace. Suddenly, Topah's right wrist shook free, and then he kicked his left ankle free. There was no way for the Blins to see and therefore catch his moving extremities. He then reached over to his other wrist and pulled it free, dropping his torso onto the ground.
All that was left was the grip on his right ankle, but time was quickly running short; the distant torches and Bokoblin faces were steadily closing in. Topah's free foot thrusted forth and landed on the fleshy gut of the Blin in front, who recoiled and released his grip.
Piercing shrieks and dark wings gradually filled the sky; although the night covered the forest in pitch black darkness, the numerous glowing, yellow eyes began to swell above their heads and light up the entire forest floor. With the sunlight gone, the ferocious Keese were beginning to gather for their next meal. Individually, their black wings, large, buggy eyes, flattened discolored noses, and small white fangs were nothing to be feared. So common were they that whenever one would occasionally fly into the Kokiri Village, the children would promptly chase it out and make sport of the activity.
In the dark night of the Lost Woods and in the company of thousands of others, the Keese were said to be able to tear flesh from mighty monsters alive down to their bones. Both Bokoblins and Topah attempted to cry for help above the deafening sound of the swarm of Keese shrieks. An unseen, sharp claw dug into Topah's flesh, and soon cries of pain were added into the cacophony. The Kokiri instantly dropped to the ground and covered his head in the fetal position.
The lacerating pain was unending. Topah could not see the blood escaping from the shallow cuts, but he could feel liquid traveling down his skin. No matter how much pain there was, though, he dared not uncover himself.
Suddenly, light began to bounce off his skin, lifting the onslaught. Bokoblin reinforcements had arrived. They waved their lit torches in the air, driving back the black winged swarm and stopping the flurry of cuts and scratches. Because the boy was too scared to run from the Keese, he was also too scared to resist the forceful grips against his arms that pulled him up onto his feet. As the dozens of Blins dragged Topah, he caught a glimpse of his original captors laying on their backs motionless with their clubs in their hands. Their cold, wide open eyes and bloodied, torn flesh told him they were anything but alive.
Capture was ultimately preferable to death. Topah obediently walked along the path, and he offered no resistance to the two escorts holding him tightly. There was not a part in his body that was willing to escape only to face the unknowns of the predatory Lost Woods. Instead, his feet placed themselves one in front of the other, and he kept his head hung to the floor.
A foot kicked the back of Topah's leg, causing him to tumble, followed by the annoying laughter of the perpetrators. But the escorts' patience ran thin after picking up Topah time after time, until finally they turned around and threatened to trade blows. The whole troop stopped, and the leader turned around with a very displeased look on her ugly face.
Even though a mean, maroon colored Blin wearing a spiky, metal helmet stood five Blins ahead of Topah, he could feel her commanding presence from so far back. And even though Topah's eyes were pointed towards the ground for most of the walk, the troop leader's tall, enhanced posture made her creed known to the boy: there was no escaping on her watch. She stomped through the dense crowd, using sheer muscle strength from her arms to wipe a clear path to the troublemakers.
She barked at the top of his lungs to her troop, "What's going on?" in the Deku language, and the would-be combatants instantly turned their attention to their gigantic leader. The Deku language, a language that Topah had learned after celebrating decades of seasonal festivals with his Deku friends, spoken from a Bokoblin's mouth almost struck him dumb.
The leader towered over the boy, and looked over his head to examine the situation. Then her eyes focused onto Topah, and then back to the escorts. "You two!" she pointed at the two Blins standing beside Topah, "Why aren't you holding him?"
The Blins in question looked at each other, clueless on how to respond. The taller leader shot her hands forth and wrapped her fingers around the skinny necks of the accused. Two Bokoblins fought for air as their leader lifted them off their feet, but no matter how hard they kicked their feet into the air or pulled on the constricting fingers, everyone except Topah knew this was the end for the two.
When they finally stopped struggling, Topah watched gape eyed as the leader dropped their corpses onto the ground while locking eyes with the Bokoblins that started the fight.
"Eek!" screamed Topah, who was still not used to seeing death so closely, so his scream quickly turned into more frightful crying.
Unphased, the leader pointed at two of the blue Blins, "You're now escorting the eemteebah! I shouldn't have to remind you what happens if you ever let go of him!" The new escorts nodded fearfully and promptly tied a rope around Topah's wrists while the boy sobbed. One grabbed Topah by his left arm, while the other held the end of the leash.
"Let's go!" There were no more interruptions after that incident.
Long after Topah's feet began to hurt upon stepping on the cold ground and his stomach began to fiercely growl like the hungry predators stalking in the woods, the sky finally began to brighten again. The faint light began to quiet the wildlife and bring a sense of relief to the troops.
And it was not long after that light from the camp torches, the first signs of civilization, were finally seen. Thick tree trunks held together by rope formed a wooden palisade that seemed to stretch endlessly into the forest. Several torches jutted above the poorly made ramparts, but they did well to light the area and warn the wildlife to keep away. Only two little Bokoblins watch the camp entrance, and patrols of archers dutifully and fearfully watched the foliage for the slightest bit of movement.
As the company of Blins approached the entrance, their pace began to slow down, and cheerful chatter began to return to their mouths. "We made it!" a dark blue colored Blin whispered in Deku to his elder compatriot and then shared those sentiments in his native tongue. The grunts' ugly smiles turned into laughter, and the closer they got, the laughter became cheers. And then their cheers became unison.
"Oostahl! Oostahl! Oostahl the great! Defend us from our wretched fate!" the crowd roared and raised their weapons and torches with every beat, "Oostahl! Oostahl! Oostahl the great! Lead us safely to our gate!"
At first, the Blins pressed themselves towards the middle of the path to fit through the opening. As Topah squeezed through the gates, the Blins around him dispersed and dashed in all directions to see friends and family waiting for them. And as Topah walked through the camp grounds, he saw bright smiles and excited embraces from those who were too happy to be alive, and he saw the lamentation in the Blins who had just received news that their loved one was not returning.
His escorts led him down the pathway of the campgrounds, which looked like a village of hundreds, maybe thousands even, of differently sized tents scattered throughout the grounds. A foul, sour smell hung in the air and Topah sulked as his captors led him past curious stares from Bokoblins of all colors, all shapes, and all sizes. Murmurs and whispers floated into the boy's ears, even though he could not understand any of it. He hung his head, kept his eyes pointed at the ground, and did his best to remain oblivious to the attention.
Exhaustion and hunger drained any alertness and self-awareness from Topah and turned him into an obedient captive. Even though each step on the ground shot aching pains from his soles into his body, he continued to walk forward one step at a time.
"Topah!" the familiar voice of a Kokiri picked his head up. The children squeezed within a small, wooden box with thick bars walling them in, but the first face he saw was the Protector's. Her face was cut up, her right cheek was red and puffy, her left eye was swollen shut, and her exposed torso was covered in red bruises and bloody cuts, but she was not the only one with injuries. Curry's blackened and purple head popped out from behind the crowd of captives, Harna and Harma, the Kokiri village's favorite brown haired, dancers, were hugging each other tightly, and Fado, the village's most famed violinist, sadly watched Topah helplessly follow the Bokoblins.
The guard of the cage opened the door without needing any orders, prompting some of the nearby guards to aim their primitive spear tips at the open entrance. The frightened children only naturally retreated as far away as they could and pressed their backs against the wooden bars and each other, except for the Protector.
Her hair, now stained with mud and blood, did not flow with the breeze like it used to, nor did her face, beaten beyond recognition, possess her famed beauty, but those did not change who she was inside. Whatever pain in Topah's feet and hunger in his belly succumbed to the Protector's motherly presence. She stood steadfastly in between the frightened Kokiri and the Blins' sharp, metal spear tips.
Topah was only too happy to rejoin his kin as he climbed into the cage. As the cage door closed shut and locked tightly behind him, the Kokiri captives rushed in to comfort the newcomer, who fell forward and collapsed into their arms and began to sob.
Was this nightmare over yet? If he could just fall asleep and wake up again, would he still be in this horrible place?
"It's okay," the Protector said as she warmly wrapped her arms around him, "I'm here for you." The hugs from his brothers and sisters, frightfully crying with Topah, made him realize that he was not the only one suffering from the nightmare, that others were feeling the exact same torrent of emotions. Every eye rose in the cage rose as the Protector proudly stood up, "I'm here for all of us. I'm just as scared as you, and I don't know what's going to happen to us," though no one could tell, for her once soft voice for teaching was replaced by the voice of a warrior, "But I swear that I shall protect all of you until my last, dying breath. We will find a way out of this!"
Her inspirational speech only lessened the children's crying and was met with sniffling, runny noses. It was going to take more than a speech to lift their spirits again, if it was even possible at this point. So the Protector walked around, comforting and consoling each brother and sister personally. Each visit made each frown a little less, frowny, and soon, some were comforted enough to fall asleep, with tears drying on their fragile faces.
"Irma, you are one of the bravest out of us all," the Protector was overheard saying to one of the village's shortest, baby-faced, sisters, "I know you bravely lead other harvesters deep into the forest just to feed our village, and now I need you to be brave for everyone else, okay?" As the Protector rubbed her back, the brown haired girl quietly nodded and wiped her nose and eyes in response and then buried her face back into her knees, unable to be consoled any further.
The Protector turned to girl's, freckled brother sitting next to her and placed her arm around him, "How are you feeling, Onolla?" The curly haired boy buried his face into the Protector's chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. Onolla was always an honest child, so there was no need for him to say what he was feeling. And as his shoulders shook up and down from crying, the Protector caressed the back of his head, "I always liked the pictures you carved into the tree stumps."
The boy lifted his head, "Really? You've seen them?"
"Of course!" the Protector replied, "My favorite picture is the one of you holding hands with the Hero and the Sage of the Forest."
"I always imagined being best friends with the Hero and Saria," said a smiling Onolla as he placed his head back onto the Protector's chest, "Protector, do you think the Hero will come save us?"
She sighed, "I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't," hearing the sniffling made the Protector realize that her natural honesty was perhaps not the best tactic at the moment, so she quickly switched to an upbeat attitude, "But, I don't see why you couldn't be the Hero!"
Onolla lifted his head once again, "Really? You think so?" Had Topah never seen the craven lad flee from a butterfly, he could very well have taken Onolla seriously. In response to Onolla's newfound enthusiasm, the Protector nodded and smiled.
The Protector continued making her way around the enclosure, and Topah stopped paying attention to her conversations, until a hand gently touched his shoulder, an arm wrapped him, and it was his turn for the Protector to comfort.
Topah instantly felt the blush run up to his face. "Hey," whispered the Protector as she laid her head on his shoulder, making the boy blush even harder, "I never got to thank you for saving me during the battle."
But the Protector's words brought disappointment in Topah, "I don't know what you're talking about." Memories of the battle flashed into his mind. His first sword strike was easily blocked. "I fought poorly. I couldn't," he hesitated in finishing his sentence because after the many days and the many seasons of training with the Protector, "I couldn't protect our home!" He began to sob after confessing his embarrassing combat erformance.
The Protector replaced her head with a hand on Topah's shoulder, "There were too many of them, there was nothing we could have done. The battle was lost before it was begun."
"I embarrassed myself, you, and the village," he scowled at himself.
"Your job was to prepare breakfast for the village, and you made some excellent pickled eggs every morning!" the compliment lifted Topah's frown, "Picking up a sword in defense of the village was more than what anyone could have expected from you!"
"Yeah," Topah protested, "but -"
"It was my job, MY responsibility, to keep you all safe. You made breakfast every day, foraged for food, made music and danced, while I practiced the sword for one purpose only, and I failed."
Topah was at a loss for words. The Protector had already given kind and uplifting words to many of the children, what could anyone say to uplift the Protector? Before, her role as guardian of the village was simply taken for granted. Now that every child trapped in the cage was facing his or her mortality, the Protector's role became more vital than ever.
The Kokiri were all fast asleep by this point. The sun was beginning to rise, providing a light coat of warmth against the winter air and most of the children were probably awake until recently. It was a shame though, for the sun's morning light truly brought subtle relief. The Blins seemed impervious to the climate conditions. The guards stubbornly patrolled the routes with exposed torsos and carried their lengthy spears dutifully. There was not a shiver in their bodies that implied they were aware of the cold.
Topah tried offering his words of comfort, "You got a lot of them though."
"I did, didn't I?" said the Protector, almost unbelievingly, as her head barely hung on her neck. A cold breeze chilled Topah down to his bone. "Did I do the right thing though? Spilling all that blood to protect my kin? If we were all going to be captured in the end, was it even worth taking all those lives?"
A silver glimmer fell through the air. Was she crying? "Protector?" he asked, unsure if her tough mindset was about to shatter.
"Sorry," she sat up and wiped her wet eyes on her arms and sniffled. Topah never thought he would live to see the day. "When I -" she stopped to let the crying subside and gather herself, "when I accepted the responsibility of the Protector, wielder of the Kokiri blade, Father made sure I valued all life like he did. And I followed every word of it."
He had to lighten the mood up a little, so he placed his hand on her shoulder tenderly and jokingly asked, "What did He say about defending against ugly Bokoblins?"
"Well, we never really talked about it. I think it's because Father wanted be in charge of protecting the village from outside threats, and He did not want us to even think about the possibility of him failing. He needed me to focus on protecting the village from yourselves."
"What do you mean?"
"If Father wanted us to defend ourselves, He would have given each of us enough real swords to use. Forbidding all but one sword was done to keep peace and order. It was meant to keep fights between boys from getting out of hand."
"So you weren't prepared to fight an army, just like none of us were. So you can't blame yourself for our situation!"
She looked up with tear streams reflecting off the morning sun and smiled almost as cheerfully as she used to, making Topah's chest flutter. "Thank you," she replied genuinely.
The future was uncertain, but one thing was not: Topah would do whatever it took to make sure the Protector could smile like that again. "Out of all of us here, you are the most important one. No one can make us feel safe like you can." His chest began to swell with emotions, and he needed to pour out everything he was feeling, "You are everybody's hero in the village. Every boy and girl wants to be like you. Now that Father isn't here to protect us anymore, everyone here is going to be looking to you to keep us safe, and you will need someone to look after you too. So if leading and protecting you ever becomes too much for you handle, you can always count on me to be there for you," Topah said as he reached out and grabbed her hand, "All I want to do is make sure you're okay. We're in this together."
The Protector leaned in, wrapped her arms around him, and suddenly planted her lips on Topah's cheeks, a move he definitely did not see coming. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, causing the boy to blush all over again, "Get some rest."
Topah leaned back and rested his head on the backs of the two boys sleeping behind him, and the Protector laid her head on top of his chest and snuggled up against him. The warmth, comfort, and safety radiating from her body was most overwhelming, almost uncomfortable. The two laid in silence for a moment, until Topah finally asked, "Aren't you going to make your way around to the rest of our brothers and sisters?"
"I saved you for last," the Protector answered.
Taken aback by the answer, he asked skeptically, "Why me?"
She adjusted her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Because you were always my favorite student."