Chapter 23: Shattered Ice
Rebecca blocked Trevor's view of the sky. She looked down on him in a way that made her face look as if it were upside down. Her face was full of fear and confusion, but it didn't stop her from grabbing Trevor's wrists and yanking on his arms as hard as she could.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Rebecca asked. "No one told you about the river of sand?! Oh my God, not like this…"
Rebecca gritted her teeth as she tried to pry Trevor from the sand river. Trevor thought it was too late for his friend to make a difference, but she caused him to stay still, giving him hope. Soon, he wasn't thinking about how much he would miss everyone. Thoughts of returning to his friends flooded back into his mind, causing Trevor to resist the opposite hold.
"Rebecca," Trevor said, realizing the quicksand had started suffocating him a little. "Hurry up...ach...he has a hold of me…"
"Who?" Rebecca kept pulling on Trevor, trying to free him from the sand river. Trevor tried to help by lifting himself up, or at least imagining he could do it with a mere thought. His Shadow's grip crawled up his legs and stabbed into his torso. The touches seemed frantic, as if the hands touched something hot and couldn't handle the heat.
Soon, the Shadow's face emerged from the quicksand, bewildered and enraged. He looked at Trevor, who was able to breathe again after his chest rose above the river's surface. Trevor allowed the desert air to fill his lungs. He glared at his Shadow, who returned the same furious glower.
No...she won't save you. NO ONE WILL! YOU'RE MINE–MINE!
The Shadow tried to grab Trevor again. It wrapped its arms around him trying to make its pull strong. For a moment, the Shadow seemed to get the advantage back. Trevor sank and he resisted the haul, urging Rebecca to help him fight back. He glanced back at his friend, who looked wildly shocked at the Shadow's presence. Her guffaw almost cost them, but she persisted in her own pull, squeezing her eyes shut as if to focus on the boy whose life she literally held onto with her own two hands.
When Trevor thought he was about to be lost for good, a green glow emerged around him. Trevor looked around and saw little flames of emerald light soaring toward his Shadow. The Shadow noticed as well. Its head darted around, glancing at the mounds of green that suddenly brushed against its skin before clinging onto the black. Suddenly, the flames became an all consuming fire, engulfing the Shadow in their essence. The Shadow was released and carried over the river of sand. It seemed to break down, disintegrating into many pieces before the flames dwindled not too long after.
The Shadow was gone and so were the flames.
With a final heave, Trevor felt his body get freed from the quicksand. Globs of it covered his pants. His feet looked like they'd stay dirty forever. Rebecca dragged Trevor away from the sand river's shore for good measure. When they were a safe distance away from the molasses-like flow, Rebecca collapsed, gasping for breath after the difficult task.
"That was a workout," Rebecca said. Her chest rose as she took another deep breath.
Trevor processed his survival before sitting up. He couldn't look at Rebecca. The guilt rushed into him faster than he could comprehend it, but he knew what had to be done. If there was ever a time to make everything right, now was the moment. It was meant to be.
"I'm...I'm sorry." Trevor wanted Rebecca to rise from the sand so she could see that he meant it and needed to talk about it.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow as she pulled herself up into a seated position of her own. "For what?" she asked. "Letting me save you? That's a weird way of saying 'thank you,' unless it's about the moment at the well. What's up with that, dude?"
"No," Trevor said, ignoring Rebecca's talk of the well. "I...I meant Lake Mulder. I'm sorry about almost drowning you. It was me who did it. I made the water do all that to you...I...I almost killed you."
Trevor covered his face with his hands and wept. The images of his nightmares lingered, even with the Shadow destroyed. He couldn't stop thinking about Rebecca's body floating in the water. He couldn't forget the rise of the lake's tide, a tide that was never there before but came to be because of his anger. Trevor felt the weight in his chest and to have it lifted...well, it should have healed. It hurt all the more bringing it up to the person hurt the most by it.
"It's OK." Rebecca crawled over to Trevor and placed both hands on his shoulders. She lifted his face and wiped away his tears. Trevor felt like a child, but didn't let his embarrassment stop this moment.
"I knew," Rebecca admitted. "I knew it was you at that moment. Nothing made sense, but...I had a feeling in me. It was like you were in the water, but sometimes, you weren't. You were in and out, putting yourself in the lake before leaving it. All of it was magical...and I felt like...you didn't know what to do."
"I didn't...but I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know that, too."
Rebecca placed her hand over Trevor's heart. It drummed against her touch. Rebecca wanted to think her heart was doing the same way.
"Trevor...did you see that fire around that...evil version of you?"
Trevor nodded. "What was that?"
"It was me. I...I have powers too, Trevor. You wouldn't believe it, but I have them too."
Trevor really looked at Rebecca this time. Her voice held disbelief.
"When we fought Ganondorf," said Rebecca. "I had a ghost come out of me. No one could explain how, not even me. It scared him and the witches who froze the well. They ran away because of the light that came out of me. And when your Shadow or whatever tried to hurt you...this fire came from me. This is what Ishtar talked to me about. She wanted to tell me about how my spirits keep evil from hurting others. Especially...people I care about."
The two of them suddenly held hands. They were equally shocked, equally amazed at how different they were and for the first time, both of them saw eye to eye on things. Trevor and Rebecca helped each other to their feet. Their mutual holds loosened after they stood.
"I'm scared," Trevor said. "All of this scares me. That Shadow attacked me at Lake Hylia. It told me I wasn't good enough to be anything or anyone."
"Do you believe it?"
"...Sometimes, yeah."
"Trevor...I'm told that a lot, too. And the Gerudos...they told me I was a demon because of what I did."
Trevor looked up at Rebecca, shocked at what he heard. His eyes widened at the thought of Rebecca being in prison as she explained how she was shackled and treated like something less than human. Pain entered her eyes as she told the story, but she kept a strong face through the entire ordeal.
"My powers did good things," Rebecca said. "And your powers can too. That's why I brought you to the well. You can do a lot to help people with your powers. They don't have to be bad. They can make a difference. All of us can…do you know Sheila has powers?"
"She can see the future," Trevor said. "You blabbed about it once."
"Oh." Rebecca giggled, remembering the moment. "I didn't think you'd believe me."
"I didn't. None of it sounded real...do you know Jerome can control fire?"
Rebecca's eyes widened. "What? Really?"
Trevor nodded excitedly. "Yeah, it's so amazing. He can do just about anything he puts his mind to. It's so insane. We all have these abilities. It's so crazy what we're able to do...but I don't know how it happens."
"So," Rebecca said. "We're all weirdos. I'm a tall tomboy with a million ghosts to control."
"You're not weird," Trevor said. "You're pretty awesome. I'm glad we won our football game with you."
"We had a good leader."
"Yeah," Trevor said, "He's smart, clever, athletic and super handsome too!" Trevor chuckled but noticed Rebecca wasn't laughing. He put a hand over his mouth as if he swore. "Uh...sorry."
"No." Rebecca brushed aside a strand of her wayward frizzy red hair. "I agree."
Trevor blinked as he wondered whether or not he heard Rebecca correctly. "...You do?"
Rebecca nodded. "Yep...um…" Rebecca looked away from Trevor. She had no idea what she was thinking. Why did she open her big dumb mouth like that?
Trevor tried to think of something to break the silence. "Your hair looks really nice. Like that. When it's down." Real smooth, he thought to himself.
Rebecca looked in Trevor's direction and grabbed her left arm with the other hand. "Thank you."
The two held a quiet stare. Then, Trevor took a step forward and stood on the tips of his toes. He leveled his face with Rebecca's and leaned forward with puckered lips. When his mouth connected with hers, the world stopped.
Rebecca gently cupped his face in her hands as they kissed. When the fingers brushed off his blushing skin, the kiss stopped and the two stepped away from each other. They didn't look each other in the eye. They mirrored one another's glee with matching grins.
"...OK," Trevor finally said after the desert wind's whistling drove him crazy. He heard Rebecca giggle and it didn't stop for a minute or two. Trevor looked around and turned his back to Rebecca, looking out at the landscape. The storm seemed to settle down.
"The desert," Trevor said. "It looks nice in the sun."
"Yep." Rebecca walked up beside Trevor. "I'm gonna hold your hand."
"...If you want, I guess—" Trevor quickly realized how eager Rebecca was to hold his hand. Her fingers squirmed between his own before she held on for dear life. Though his hand felt throttled, Trevor felt something nice in the touch, something that made this connection more perfect than he could have ever imagined.
The two of them looked out at the desert together, sharing the moments with delight.
"There's a special place on the other side of the desert," Rebecca said. "It's where the Gerudos go to pray."
Trevor raised his eyebrows, interested in the story behind the fact. "They pray to God there?"
Rebecca shook her head. "A goddess. That's God if he was a she."
"Cool! What does she do?"
"She helped make the world. She had two or three other sisters with her...I keep on forgetting. Anyway, the people of the desert were her people a really long time ago. Like, after the world was made. But then she went away."
Trevor turned to Rebecca, becoming used to her hand being joined with his. "Why?" he asked.
Rebecca's face seemed to have the same question. "Ishtar told me the Gerudos forgot who they were," she said. "They changed and became bad for a time. I don't really know what that means, though."
"I might." Trevor heard his father's voice echoing in his head, making him miss the man more and more. "My dad told me that when you forget who you are, you stop doing all the right things...you stop caring about what's right and think you want to be wrong. I...guess I don't really get it either."
"We're both learning. That's all that matters." Rebecca squeezed Trevor's hand even more, as if she thought he would fly away if she let go. "Am I hurting you?"
"No," Trevor lied. Warmth rippled across his face. "I...like this a lot."
"Me too. And I like you a lot. In case you didn't know."
"Same…do you want to go back to the village?"
"Sure…do you? For real?"
"I'm sorry I left. I want to make it right."
"I'll be by your side when you do that."
The two of them walked hand in hand to the Gerudo Village. When they arrived, the Gerudos were back together in a cluster, surrounding the village well. Many of them watched as the guards oversaw the attempt to break the ice at the well's bottom. Spikes were driven on the well's lip. Ropes were wrapped around the tall nails, shivering every time a Gerudo worker moved within the well's darkness.
Rebecca pointed Nabooru out toward the onlookers. She was fully focused on observing the task her sisters embarked on. When Rebecca called out to Nabooru, her voice shook the lieutenant out of her trance. Her expression brightened to an intrigued state as she separated herself from the others. Mira followed, silently instructing other Gerudos to stay behind and watch over the activities in her stead.
When the two women approached, Rebecca pointed at the well. "I think we can handle it this time," she said. "Trevor and I talked."
Mira and Nabooru both smirked. Then, Mira broke down into laughter, pointing at the two children.
"Maybe we're a bad influence," said Mira. "They're only ten, Nabooru! What have we done to them?"
Nabooru rolled her eyes. "We're being too humorous given the circumstances. I'm glad you two...worked things out."
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Nabooru pointed to the joining of Rebecca and Trevor's hands. "Oh. Uh...well, he…do you want him to help you or not?"
Nabooru clapped her hand against her mouth to stop her laughter before turning back toward the well. She called out to the women to pull their sisters up, a command that was quickly followed. When the workers emerged from the well, the crowd backed away to make room for Trevor and Rebecca. Even though he didn't want to let go of Rebecca's hand, Trevor knew this endeavor was one he had to do for himself. He stepped out alone, sliding his hand away from Rebecca's.
Trevor had to pretend that he was the only person in the desert. The well was paces away from him, standing still in its permanent perch, rooted deep into the desert floor. Trevor had to feel for the ice in the well's depths. His senses would reach out to it from a distance, wandering until they touched the frozen surface, settling onto the frigid sheet.
When Trevor found the ice, he shivered. There was a strange trait about this ice. Whoever the witches were, they had a great amount of power. Trevor heard Rebecca say that only one of the witches had power over ice. Was she too powerful for him to overcome? Trevor didn't know, but he had to try and fight back against it.
The curse's tremor crawled on his skin. It lingered far worse than Trevor's Shadow, who dwindled into a memory after getting exposed to the light of Rebecca's spirit powers. Trevor almost fell to his knees, the way the curse reacted to him. Then, before he buckled beneath the curse's pressure, he took a deep breath. Thoughts came to his mind.
They were of his mother and father in the town square. They were so happy back then. He remembered standing between them, clinging to each of their hands as they walked contently through the space. Together, they took in the sunlight and the crowd of people they knew and cherished. Oak Shire was a wondrous space.
Trevor thought of Oak Shire Elementary. Miss Bowen's class was a wonderful, safe area for him to be part of. He had friends there, friends he could talk to and joke with. On the playground, they could throw a ball and talk about the last Bears game. They talked about everything and there was a reason for that.
He cared about them. Trevor missed Jerome already, wanting to tell him about the latest adventure he had. Sheila might see him from a mile away, coming back to Lake Hylia to finish a job he had to start. Trevor would apologize to Claudius for being disrespectful and far too afraid to take on anything. Then, they would do everything they had to in order to save the world.
Link would get the final spiritual stone. He would be able to go back home to the Kokiri Forest and not be so lonely anymore. Even Navi was someone Trevor missed, as often as they butted heads. If it weren't for Navi, there would have been many times when Link wouldn't have been able to lead the group to victory. There were times when Trevor honestly owed Navi his life. Link needed Trevor to help him be the hero he was destined to be. Trevor would help him in whatever way he could.
He would help the Gerudos as well. The curse of ice had to go away. Its hold had already started dying, with the way its surface cracked like a mirror's glass. There was a small blemish somewhere in the depths, one Trevor felt in the faintest way. Then, the crack spread until the surface was shards. Trevor lifted a hand toward the well and the curse's pain lifted. At the same time, a rush whirred from down below.
The world shuddered. A gasp emerged from the Gerudos. Then, after one more rumble, a geyser of water sprung from well, flying toward the sky. When the rush came down, most of the downpour fell back into the well, but some of the water misted onto the Gerudo. What followed was a widespread cheer and much applause.
The first thing Trevor felt after breaking the curse was Rebecca's embrace. She squealed in delight, lifting Trevor off his feet. He was embarrassed at being thrown around by a girl despite Rebecca's height. She was obviously meant to be strong, to be tougher than the average female. Trevor would get used to the strength and be fine with it all.
When Rebecca put Trevor down, she planted a kiss on his cheek before stuffing his face between her hands.
"I knew it!" she said. "It took you a moment but I knew you could do it!"
"Yeah," said Trevor. "...Thanks."
Rebecca blushed and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "You...you and me have something else we got to do, don't we?"
Trevor nodded while pulling Rebecca's hands away from his face. He held them both while looking into Rebecca's eyes.
"I do at least," he said. "You want to help me out with it? I don't want to leave our friends hanging. And Sheila really misses you. I think she needs you."
"I know."
Rebecca looked back at Nabooru and Mira, who both hugged each other before going to the other Gerudos. When Nabooru looked in Trevor and Rebecca's direction, she acknowledged the girl, nodding at her. Then, her face showed a great amount of sadness. Both woman and child seemed to know where their journey was headed.
"It's just…" Rebecca looked back at Trevor, unable to hide her bittersweet feelings. "I have a lot to take care of first. It won't take too long. Let's leave tomorrow. That way, I'll be more ready."
Trevor nodded, as if he really understood. "To fight and go home?"
"No," Rebecca said. "To say goodbye to Gerudo."
