Chapter 6: New land
The crowd began to disperse as soon as the people got across the drawbridge outside of the walls. Beyond the river were fields of baby crops just beginning to work their way up from the dark earth. The people divided into groups hurrying along the smaller roads between the farms, heading into the vast grass fields beyond. Zelda noted that there was a lot of unused, wild land – the growing fields were all huddled close to the castle town, and she saw no farmsteads anywhere. All the workers had apparently found it much safer to live in the safest place in the land.
Still, beyond the worked fields she could also see several people hacking away at bushes, and more still driving horses with plows. There was still time to sow, and the peace finally allowed expansion. Before, the existing fields must have been the limit of what the army could protect from raiding monsters.
That was a nice thought, but it only touched her mind briefly as she had more pressing concerns.
"Do you think Link might take to the roads because he realizes everyone expects him not to do that?" Zelda said, motioning at the people hurrying towards the wilderness.
Qiral threw her gaze around, then shook her head.
"Doubt it," she said. "From what I know he's clever, but that would take more thinking than he makes time for." She cocked her head to the side, lips stretching as she studied Zelda. "Is that how they always are?"
The question was so sudden that Zelda was glad her mask hid her expression, though some of it must have shown in her eyes. Only the Queen had asked her so directly about the past, everyone else choosing to tactfully dance around it.
Maybe it was the surprise, maybe it was that amused smirk, but it struck a nerve that had been smarting since the moment she woke up.
"I don't know more than two, but my Hero broke out of a cell in Gerudo fortress and snuck his way through it," she said, more testily than she had intended. Clenching her hands on the reins, she forced herself to mellow.
That was uncalled for.
Qiral laughed, so loud that some nearby people looked around.
"Ooh, touchy," the Gerudo said. "But I give, that is a shame for my ancestors."
With a non-committal murmur, Zelda urged her horse into a quicker trot. That ended the conversation. Soon, the search parties began to thin, disappearing out of sight as the two travelers got further and further away from the Castle Town. The last few people that Zelda spotted were a distant group that disappeared into the forest east of the road. After a while she let Qiral take a slight lead, since the Gerudo knew the land better.
They hurried on down the road, following it northeast, then a shorter way straight east from a crossroads before it turned straight south. Not going by a gallop, both to save the horses and to not risk going past Link, in the faint hope that maybe they would spot him. Every now and again they met or passed a couple of wagons or group of travelers – always in groups, with safety in numbers – but nobody paid them much heed apart from mute, quick glances at the odd pairing of a Gerudo and Sheikah.
Even on horses, the trip took hours.
The long ride gave Zelda time to ponder whether she actually was Zelda, or Sheik now. Back then, when she hid and waited for her Link to return, she had always felt like Sheik was the fighter, the one she needed to be until the war ended. He was to be shed when the time was right – a time that had come, but not led to the victory she had dreamed of.
Yet, that war was over now – she had simply not been there for the end. Sheik should not be needed anymore, this should just be a disguise – but having to live that disguise for so long had made it into a second, comfortable skin, and she found that she did not mind being back in it.
Even with all the time to think about who she was, she did not reach any conclusion. In this world, she was already lost and confused about everything else. Her identity too being a mystery seemed like it fit just as well in her muddled existence.
That did not mean she felt at ease with it. Just that it was simply another thing that was so out of place that she could not grasp it.
The forest began to close in on both sides the further south they came. The journey had been so calm that when Qiral's horse began to flick its ears, Zelda did not notice until the animal nervously sidestepped.
"Whoa, girl!" Qiral said in a firm voice. She pulled the reins towards her thigh, forcing the horse's head around to focus on her. When that gave a breather from the anxiety, Qiral relaxed the reins again and swung down on the ground.
Zelda felt her own horse tense and saw the ears start to flick. She took the chance to get out of the saddle before it escalated, gripping the reins as she stroke the horse's neck and gently spoke to it. Both of the animals kept looking towards the forest to their left, however, their upper lips curled as they breathed, searching for something only they could smell.
Forcing herself to not tense up, as that would spook the horses even more, Zelda caught Qiral's eye. The Gerudo inclined her head towards the trees and reached out, taking Zelda's reins from her.
As Zelda stepped closer to the edge of the road, she drew out the Queen's bow and hooked two fingers on the string, ready to draw it. Squinting, she scanned the lines of trees, looking for the slightest movement. Some serious work had been put into clearing the undergrowth closest to the road, obviously to make it safer, as the forest did not thicken until a few yards beyond the first trees.
Whatever was scaring the horses was deeper in. Walking into the woods did not seem tempting, but if it was something watching them, it must be aware that it had lost the element of surprise. Zelda straightened up and drew the bow back, the light from the magic arrow playing along her arm and chest as she took one more step and left the road.
Something moved amongst the trees. Too far in to be seen properly, but she caught a faint sight of a creature on four legs bounding off deeper into the woods. She took another step and waited a moment before glancing around.
The horses were both visibly calmer.
"Gone?" Qiral asked, motioning at the horses.
"It ran away, whatever it was," Zelda said. She relaxed the bow, and the magic arrow dissipated. "Just an animal."
"Not a boar, I hope?" Qiral said, raising an eyebrow. "That wouldn't be a good sign."
Zelda shook her head as she put the bow back into her bag.
"Definitely not a boar, it was much more graceful. Maybe a wolf."
"Just one? Don't they hunt in groups?" Qiral shrugged, giving a chuckle. All the tension had run off her, as if nothing had happened. "I don't know, there aren't any wolves around Nabooru. Our dogs like to hunt together."
"Honestly, I'm not sure."
Zelda looked back towards the forest, while Qiral smacked her lips and made the horses step backwards and forwards a few times to soothe them completely.
The creature was gone, but it left behind a lingering feeling in Zelda's heart that it hadn't just been a coincidence. She tried to shake it off as they got back on the horses and continued the journey. Not everything had to be a sign, even if her paranoid side insisted that it had to be.
Not long after that strange encounter, rooftops became visible further down the road, beneath the soft roll of the southern mountains. The sun was already painting the sky in a pale yellow by the time the pair neared the wall surrounding Rauru. Just ahead down the road, a mountain pass marked the border of the new Hyrule heartland.
The wall showed signs of having been under siege, with cracks, burn marks, and large parts of it made up of differently colored rocks than the rest – obviously patched up in a panic. It was an uncanny juxtaposition to the peaceful ribbons of smoke rising from the chimneys of the town within.
As they approached, Zelda noted that the passage through the mountains was even more narrow at the ground, with several huge piles of broken rocks some ways from both sides of the road. Men and women were chipping away at the rubble, gathering pieces up in carts and wheelbarrows to move to the mounds. Judging by the heaps of rock outside of the passage, they had been at this for a long time. Still, there were a few travelers coming through from the south, so the road was obviously not blocked.
"He made such a mess, even when he cleaned up the worst," Qiral commented with a scoff.
"That's the landslide he cleared, then?" Zelda asked.
"Yes, this one and again down by the cemetery. Much neater there." She shrugged. "Though granted, that was a single boulder. Anyway…" She steered her horse towards the town gates. "It's another day's ride to Mido, so we may as well rest here."
Zelda had nothing to argue against that. Link was goddesses knew where, but she had no doubt that no matter what they did, he would have found his way down to the Dread Lands before them. They might as well rest properly while they still could.
She showed the Queen's letter to one of the guards by the gate, and the two of them were brought to the town's army administration building. It was the biggest house, at the back of the town square and adorned with Hyrule standards on either side of the entrance.
Rauru wasn't a big settlement, but sturdily built with only stone houses and not a flammable roof in sight. Everywhere there were some markings of the past war, whether burned tree stumps or patched up roads. Zelda noted a greater amount of soldiers than civilians moving about. At this time of the day activity was slowing for the latter group, and people were heading home for dinner and sleep. Only a few children and dogs playing on the streets showed any greater activity.
Leaving the horses with a stable boy, she and Qiral were brought inside the administrative building to see the local Captain in her office. She was older than his Castle Town counterpart, and good deal more scarred. Still, she politely greeted the visitors and read the Queen's letter.
"I'll give word to the inn for accommodations," the Captain said as she handed the letter back. A pause. "Any… word from the Castle?" She looked both hopeful and worried.
Zelda firmly shook her head.
"I'm sorry I have no news," she said.
Word of the runaway Hero had evidently not reached the town yet based on the general calm, and Zelda was eager to leave before that changed. She did not want to risk any delays by a frantic mob demanding answers. On the flipside, the Captain's question let Zelda know that there had been no news about Link being found. Disappointing, but not surprising.
She could have given the Captain some relief by assuring her that Rauru should get the rocks they needed from Ruto soon, but that would lead to question she did not want to answer.
Zelda and Qiral spent an uneventful evening and night at the inn, and went to get their horses to continue their journey just as dawn broke. The only people out on the streets at that point were the soldiers, looking alert despite the early hour. Doubtlessly, they had already been out patrolling for a while, in the middle of their shift.
Torches lit the way over the uneven patch through the pass, and as they got to the other side the sun illuminated the landscape ahead. It was a straight road leading south as far as the eye could see, cut off only to the east by a stretch of mountains, and to the west a distant, dark swath of land that seemed to creep out between the cliffs that framed it. A murky scent of rotting vegetation and still water blew in by the winds. Zelda recalled the maps she had seen, and could not keep from gazing towards the swamp for that first stretch of the journey.
Somewhere deep in that treacherous area laid one of the palaces that had held the key to her awakening. It was humbling to think about that Link had gone in there for her sake. For the Triforce too, of course, but that was only half the reason.
The journey yesterday had at least offered some variation, but until they neared the mountains in the south this day held nothing but a boring ride. Zelda struggled to keep her mind focused, remembering the encounter in the forest from yesterday. This was different though, because nothing could possibly lie in hide amongst the stretches of young grass lining the road. Keeping alert became difficult after an hour or two, even when she made herself look about regularly. Qiral silently kept her gaze ahead, seemingly trusting in her companion to keep watch.
As they came into the shadow of the mountains, the swamp crept closer and closer to the road. Fallen trees and rotting pieces of wood stuck out of the muck, looking uncannily like dark pieces of bone. The air grew heavy to breathe. Every now and again, a strange cry from some bird came out of the swamp, and frogs crawled onto the road. Zelda kept a close eye out for snakes.
Thankfully, on the other side of the road the land stubbornly remained more pleasant, with just young grass and the odd rock. The swamp never got close enough to threaten the road itself either.
Finally the travelers spotted a narrow pass between cliffs just ahead, and the swamplands began to draw back.
They stopped for a quick lunch, letting the horses rest and graze. A thin brook running down the mountains offered the animals a refreshing drink. After a little while, the journey continued.
Qiral led the way through the shadowy pass, and following the road down a turn she stopped her horse, looked back at Zelda and smirked while making a dramatic motion towards something just out of sight. Zelda rode up and looked. Then she tipped her head back, staring up and up.
The road split here, one going west and one going east. The latter one was far more narrow, closed in by two gigantic chunks of rock. And Zelda could see from the sand and pebbles on the ground, and the marks on either side of the rocks, that it had once been a single boulder – split by an incredible force.
"Link did that?" she said, her voice low from disbelief.
"Yes," Qiral said. "No respect for Ganon not wanting a clear path to the ocean."
At that, Zelda had to give a chuckle. She could get behind such reasoning.
"I can't imagine why," she commented, even grinning a little.
On the other side of the pass, the landscape rose and fell in rolling hills of sand. Zelda would have thought it a desert if the temperature hadn't been so pleasantly cool. Salty winds flowed from east, drawing up light wisps of sand every now and then. Not enough to be bothersome, however. Recalling the maps again, Zelda figured that it was really a stretched beach.
Leaving the stuffy pass behind was a relief, and Zelda let the horse trot as quick as it wanted. The rest and grass had renewed its energy and it happily followed the road.
"We'll go down there tomorrow," Qiral commented a few minutes after they had gotten into the open air, pointing southwards. There was a much smaller path there, faintly seen more as a thin stretch of flatter ground between the hills.
Zelda nodded, and started to look ahead again. But Qiral turned her head a little more, and froze in the saddle.
"Din!" she hissed.
Zelda twisted around, causing her horse to let out a squeal as it felt her alarm. Acting on pure training, she pulled the reins just enough to stop and refocus the horse – it was instinctual, because Zelda's attention was entirely on what Qiral too looked at.
It was distant, but still fully visible. On top of a hill back down the road a wolf sat, gazing towards the travelers. It did not move, still as a statue. The sun behind the animal cast its shadow far along the road, towards the two travelers.
The ocean winds must have kept the horses from noticing again – again, because Zelda was certain…
"That's it!" she said in a low voice, as if the wolf could possibly hear and understand them. "That's what was in the forest earlier."
"Hm." Qiral's eyes thinned as she stared at the unmoving animal. Then she shook her head. "Well, I don't want to deal with a weird wolf and whatever might come from the cemetery at the same time. We better go quick."
The reminder that the clock was ticking pulled Zelda out of her hypnotized stare at the wolf. She turned back towards the eastward road and urged the horse to follow Qiral's. However, she could not keep from glancing back again and again.
For as long as she could still see it, the wolf did not move.
This time, nothing could convince her that it wasn't a sign. But of what, she had no clue.