Hello! Another fairly long chapter with icky somewhat fight scene. I cannot write fight scenes to save my life, so please pardon its lacking in everything it needs. LoZ, its characters, and its places are not belonging to me. Dura and Joulee do.
I never imagined that Joulee could ever hurt another living thing. Sure, once when I first met her those four years ago, but that was because of her heritage and my youthful ignorance. The years I have been her friend and companion lead me to think that my friend was too gentle for that kind of thing. After what happened with the small Zora child, I would never guess that she had that kind of spirit in her to lift a weapon. That opinion changed drastically within mere minutes.
I saw her on the bridge that was just above Lake Hylia. I was on my way back home from a visit with Link and Ilia when I saw her just sitting on one of the many crates that were used by visitors to look over the bridge's sides. I assumed that she was waiting for me and a smile came to my lips at the thought. Just as I was about to call out her name and wave, I noticed her distant form stiffen. Confused, I looked to where her gaze now rested and saw them- two of those horrible Bulblins on their large pig mount.
They are ruthless creatures, killing any passersby they saw. Even after all these years, they still rode across the paths and Hyrule Field. A pang of fear came to my chest. These creatures lit the carriage on fire, the carriage that was taking Ilia, Telma, and I to Kakariko Village for care. If it was not for Link, our fates would have been with the fire.
One of my guards shook my shoulder, waking me from my horrible memory. He pointed back to Joulee and my eyes strayed over to her now standing form.
There she was, standing her ground in front of that charging boar. A Bulblin lit one arrow ablaze and I gasped. She didn't move, even as the creature took aim at her and the pig was about to trample her. My hand was about to signal my personal archer to shoot it down, when something shocking happened. The arrow was easily dodged by Joulee and with a fierce kick to a crate she tripped the boar and sent its riders flying. One flew over the edge of the bridge and I knew that it would be dead as soon as it hit the water. The other –the archer- had fallen face first onto the stone bridge. Before it could get up, Joulee was on its back. She grabbed one of its arrows and, with a quick motion, rammed the point into the skull of the beast. A cry of death escaped it before it went limp on the cold stone. Joulee flipped off just before the creature exploded in a ball of black dust.
My feet moved me then, making me run toward her. My guards called out to me, trying to make me show restrain, but at that moment I had to make sure she was alright. To see if what happened really did happen. I slowed my pace and then completely stopped, watching her. She had yet to see me and her gaze was to the tips of her fingers. From my distance, I could barely make out the fact that there was blood on them. It was the dark red black blood of the evil beasts, left over from the now dead creature. On the ground where the creature had disappeared into smoke was one red rupee.
It seemed, though, that she didn't see it. She was engrossed with her blood tinged hands, her golden eyes a mask over her emotions. A veil that I would always see when an emotion she didn't want tried to show itself.
A long, exasperated sigh escaped her and both her hands quickly ran through her hair. They stopped at the top and the fingers clutched at the roots of those short crimson locks, her eyes squeezed shut.
I couldn't stop looking at her. I wanted to speak; I wanted to move and embrace her; even a small part inside of me wanted to run.
After a few long, silent moments of her breathing, Joulee finally opened her eyes. Removing only one hand from her scalp, the twelve year old reached down and grabbed the rupee. She pocketed it and then turned in my direction as if she was going to leave. A shocked expression came to her features when she saw me watching her. Her metal eyes scanned my own shocked and confused expression.
A sigh escaped her.
"Don't look like that Ralis. They have no soul." She said bluntly, now removing the other hand from her tangled mess of hair. I could tell that she was holding back a bad case of the shakes and she tried to smile. "That one is the fifth I've killed." Looking to her pocket which now held the red rupee, her eyes held a bit of sadness. "They always leave the best things."
I couldn't say anything. My mouth was open, ready to speak, but the words were caught in my throat. Looking to me, she chuckled gently… sadly.
"Don't worry. I'm fine." She walked up to me then, standing shoulder to shoulder. Her hand rose as if to pat me on the shoulder, but she stopped herself when she again seemed to notice the blood once more. A small, shuddering inhale came to her and she quickly dropped her hand. "I'll see you at the domain…"She murmured before she quickly ran from me, pushing through the few guards that had accompanied me.
I didn't move for a long while, just staring wide mouthed to the spot where she had slain a beast before my very eyes. Joulee, the sweet girl that I knew, just killed a beast.
And for some reason, I was furious.
When the guards and I had returned to the throne room, I saw Joulee sitting on the rim of the small lake that fed the falls. Her legs were knee deep in water and a laugh could be heard coming from her lips. The small Zora child that Dura tried to make hate Joulee was giggling, splashing water at her.
Joulee had changed her clothes. I couldn't remember what she was wearing when she attacked the creatures, but I knew for a fact that her shirt wasn't blue and her pants were not black as they were now. Did blood get on them?
"Prince Ralis! How was your trip?" A throne guard approached me with a kind bow, unwittingly calling to attention my appearance.
Joulee looked up to me, eyes a mask. It was like she was trying to sort out which emotion would keep me from asking questions and she suddenly picked happiness, one that might have worked if it was any other topic that was on my mind.
"It was good, thank-you. Would you please excuse me?" I murmured to the guard, leaving before he could answer. I walked over to her, Joulee now back to playing with the small Zora. I crossed my arms and looked down to her as she pretended I wasn't there. "We need to talk." My voice was stern.
She didn't say anything right away, just looked to the crystal clear waters.
"About what?" When she finally spoke, she faked innocence. Her feet kicked gently in the water and her eyes never looked up.
I had to refrain from scowling.
"You know what." I whispered, not wanting to alarm the child.
"There is nothing to talk about on that subject." Her eyes looked up to me and I was shocked to see their own stern air to them. "Alright?"
I wasn't about to drop it so easily.
"No. It is not alright!" Gripping her arm, I pulled her to her feet gently but with enough force to get my point across. "We will talk about this now, in the meeting room."
The meeting room was the only place I knew we could talk in confidence. It was completely sound proof and two guards were stationed outside the door to make sure no one tried to get in.
She glared at me, ripping her arm from my grasp.
"Fine." She growled. She quickly walked to the meeting room's door and opened it. With the dramatics that came with that age, she slammed it shut. One of the guards that were positioned next to it jumped slightly, but remained at his post.
I looked at the door, not moving from my spot for a few minutes. This was the angriest I have seen Joulee, her normal demeanor a mix of silliness and joy. I slowly started to dread the talk and my limbs seemed to get heavier as they took me to the meeting room entrance.
"No one is to enter unless it is an emergency." I told the guard, who nodded. I opened the door and, without the drama Joulee used, closed it behind me.
She sat at the far end of the table, her arms crossed tightly against her chest and her chin held high. The years have definitely changed the both of us drastically, in mere appearance alone. Both of us had aged into either an adult or very close to it. I secretly wondered if anything else had changed between us through the years.
I strolled over to the table and sat two chairs down from her. Her defiant chin stuck out more as she kept her eyes on the somehow very interesting wall.
"What happened?" I murmured, looking intently to my young friend.
"Nothing."
"Now Joulee…"
"I said nothing happened!" She yelled, her eyes now whipping over to look at me. "Nothing Ralis! I killed a beast, a mere beast, before it could kill me." Her eyes were ablaze with emotion and her hands were balled up into fists.
I glared to her.
"From what I saw, it looked like you were waiting for it to come to that bridge." I retorted.
She didn't look to me then, her eyes turning back to the walls.
"So what if I was?" She murmured, her eyes flickering over to my face before looking back to the wall. "You're not the boss of me."
My mind snapped then. My limbs were no longer numb and I couldn't hold back the anger. I stood suddenly and walked up to her chair. With a quickly motion of my foot, I pulled the chair from the table and tightly grabbed the arms of the chair. I leaned forward, close enough so that our noses almost touched. Her expression remained the same.
"Not your boss?" I growled. "When did it matter if I was your boss to care about you?" I watched her, waiting for an answer. When I got none, I continued. "I'll tell you when- never. And your attempt to kill yourself today was not a good way to keep the people that care about you happy!" I stood up straight then, throwing my hands in the air. "I mean, Goddess Bless! You stood right in front of that boar!"
"So what? It is my life!" She yelled back, standing up from her chair. "I can do as I please, when I please!" Joulee gritted her teeth.
"You are a woman! Your life should be saved; you should be training to be some man's wife…" My words trailed off as soon as I spoke them. I mentally slapped myself as I saw her expression change from anger to saddened rage. I had always thought that one day she would marry a man that I would approve of, yet I knew that is was a thought that couldn't be. "Joulee, I didn't mean-"
"Some man's wife?" She repeated, her words coming out shaky from anger. "That is a good one, Prince." A mocking laugh escaped her. "A very good one." The laughing stopped and she glared at me. "Who would marry me Ralis? Hmm? Who?" Her whole body began to tremble with rage. "A good, noble man? No. I'm just a Gerudo peasant." A hand went to her chin in mock contemplation. "A good, soldier? No. I'm just a Gerudo citizen." Her hand slipped from her chin and landed at her side. "A horrible drunk, poor and homeless? No! I'm a Goddess Damned Gerudo!" She yelled. I was shocked to hear her curse.
"No one would marry me, Ralis." She continued, noticing my stunned expression. "I'm just some illegitimate Gerudo child of a Hylian woman…" A hand quickly went to one of her eyes in an attempt to hold back the tears. She fell back into the chair, the tears flowing freely from her golden eyes.
I stood stunned for a few more moments, piecing together her words. It slowly dawned on me what she had just told me…
"Hylian woman? But that would mean…" My words trailed off and I took a deep inhale of breath. Joulee looked up to me, hands loose in her lap now.
With tears still rolling down her cheeks, she gave me the meekest smile I have ever seen from her.
"Yeah. You pieced together something that took me twelve years to figure out on my own…" She murmured, her gaze falling to look at her hands. "And what is worse is that I felt pleasure when I killed that creature with my bare hands." She took in a shuddering breath. "I'm becoming him." She whispered, her tears now flowing even heavier. "You must hate me."
My heart was ripping in half just watching her in this state. Without a second thought, I fell to my knees before her and quickly took her hands in my own.
"No. I could never hate you." I spoke sternly, looking into those tear soaked gold coins of her eyes. "And you are not becoming him. You are the daughter of Auru… and Shad and Telma and Rusl and Ashei. You are a child of the Resistance, someone that could never be evil." Removing one hand from hers, I used my thumb to wipe away some of her tears. "You'll never be him."
She looked at me, the mask that was usually there in her eyes gone and I could clearly see that she wanted to believe me. But something inside my heart told me that she would always doubt it, always think that she could never leave his hatred.
With a small sniffle, Joulee squeezed my hand and looked me in the eyes.
"Can you read me a book, just like we used to do when we were younger?" A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Only if you want to."
A smile came to my features. I gently had her stand up, still holding onto her hand.
"Of course." I murmured, leading her to the library.
It was still the same, in every way, from the first day we read together. The same chair and the same book sat just under the stain glass window. I sat in the chair and soon she sat in my lap. She grabbed the book from the side table and flipped it to the chapter she wanted. As I began to read, she curled up closer to me and cried some more, quietly. I didn't stop reading and I didn't slow either.
I wanted her to know that I'll always be there to read her a story or hold her hand. I wanted to be the shoulder she could cry on whenever she felt like it.
As I read the chapter that must have been read many times, the library still stayed the same. The books, the smell, the memories, all of it didn't change. For those moments we sat and I read, time stopped; it even reversed back to the time of our first meeting in this library and how the only thing that really changed was the space in my heart for her…
It grew.
Yep, some of you might have seen it coming, others most likely didn't. I even didn't for a while, until I thought it would add a 'nice' twist. For her conception to be even possible, I edited the timeline of TP a bit to make it work. Nothing drastic, just changed how long Ganon was wandering the Twilight Realm. Is it just me or is this chapter a bit awkward? Critique/Review is always welcome! Tips on how to make my fighting scenes better is much loved!