Chap 10: Crossroads
(A/N) Hello everyone! Welcome back! Ready for another chapter of your favorite fanfic? I hope so! It's another first-person chapter, and it stars Link. He's back. Enjoy the chap!
Italics means thoughts or someone is speaking sharply, or it means someone has spoken Hylian. It can also mean a flashback. Bold means an author's note or some sort of text, which I will seldom use. Underlined text implies importance. I am unlikely to remember that. Have fun!
Oh, and I don't own any piece of The Legend of Zelda. I own, literally, more air than Zelda.
I'm so horribly alone. Dark isn't with me, willing to lay down his life just to protect me, Saria is missing and, painful as it is to admit, probably dead. Navi died a long time ago. And that demigoddess kept me in that horrible cell for so long. Was it a long time? Was it merely a day? Or was it a million-billion years? Who knows? Not me. All I know is that I'm almost back at the camp near Goron City.
"Link!" a distant voice shouts. I turn around, not fully prepared for what I'm about to see.
"Saria?!" I shout. She nods and we begin to sprint at each other. We connect a few seconds later, neither happier than the other. "Saria! I'm so glad you're okay. I-I-I thought you were…" I can't hold it in. I begin unleashing a tear-storm of epic proportions on Saria's shoulder.
"It's okay, Link," she says while I look up at her, "I felt the same way. But I never once thought you were dead. You're a hero, Link. You're my hero." I find I'm losing myself in her stare, her beautiful blue eyes piercing into my soul, seeing the things I allow her to see. I see into hers, as well. She's been through a lot since we were separated. "Come, Link. Let's go home."
"D-Dark is still waiting back at c-camp. I have to go get him." She gives me a dirty look, like what I said was so ridiculously crazy and stupid that she couldn't even fathom the words being thought up in my mind.
"Dark Link? Your Dark clone? You want to go back for your Dark clone, someone who is the avatar of your dark side? And you left him alone up there? How do you-"
"I don't give a fuck how he reacts! I don't care what he does, I'm not leaving him!" I scream, curious as to how I got so angry so quickly. Saria's eyes begin to tear up and she turns and begins to walk away. "Saria…"
"Why don't you just go back to your boyfriend up there, huh?! Since he's clearly more important to you than me!" she says. I take a step back, surprised at her sudden outburst. Saria isn't known for getting angry. Frustrated, yes. Mad, yes. But not angry.
"Saria, I'm sorry, okay? I got mad and I shouldn't have. Listen, he's been with me the entire time we've been searching for you. Leaving him would be like leaving half of me behind. I need him to be the man I am. So, please? Please let me go get him?"
"Fine, Link. But I'm coming with you. I want to talk to you while we walk."
"Okay, I guess. Just don't get hurt on the way there, please. Dark used what was left of our medical supplies keeping me alive when I was hurt." She nodded when I said this, and that should've seemed a bit strange to me. She usually asked questions when I came home with a few new scars, always fascinated by the stories I had to tell for them. But I was glad to have her back, so I didn't question it.
We began walking up the mountain to the hole near Goron City. For about five minutes we remained silent. Then Saria began complaining about how long we'd been walking and how her legs hurt, so I began to carry her. She seemed lighter than usual, but I chalked it up to malnutrition. Saria decided to begin a conversation, knowing full-well that I had no conversation material for her. She just wanted to talk about her experience, and I was left nodding, saying "Yeah, I know," and doing generally kind things while not paying any attention to her words.
"Link, are you even listening?" Saria asks.
"Of course I am, Saria. I am completely focused on what you're saying."
"Good! Now, where was I? Oh yes! I began walking back home…" she says. I space out, still utterly uninterested in what she's saying.
About twenty minutes later we were less than a mile from camp. "Look, Saria! If you look real hard, you can actually see our camp!" I say, unknowingly interrupting her sentence. She stops speaking (thankfully) and turns to look for our camp.
"I can't see it, Link. Where is it?" she asks.
"Just keep looking. You'll see it, trust me." I say, knowing for a fact that she won't see it. I couldn't even see it and I'm the one with the sharp eyes. I just wanted her to shut up.
"Oh, I see it! I see it!" she yells. I furrow my brow, half annoyed and half astonished. How did she see it when I couldn't?
"Okay, I think I've been carrying you for long enough," I say, my arms beginning to feel fatigued.
"Oh, fine," she says, clearly disgruntled by the apparently laborious action of walking. I set her down gently as I could, though I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to throw her down. The fact that I feel so violent towards the one that I love sickens me. I push the thought from my head and wrap her hand in mine. She yanks it out, a look of disgust gracing her face. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was holding your hand. You're my girlfriend, I hold your hand. It shows intimacy."
"Yeah, well not now. I don't want your disgusting hands touching me." I don't reply. I'm just glad she's back.
We're nearly at the camp by now. I'm very happy to see Dark again, even if he is just a manifestation of my bad side. The fact that I'm happy to see my bad side gives me chills, but I don't care. I' going to see him again, and I'll be whole.
I open the flap to the tent that served as a door to find an empty tent. There's the cushion I was sleeping on, the pillow and sheets that complimented it, and a single note. I look at Saria, a worried look gracing our faces, and turn back to read the note. I pick it up, surprised that it's written in Hylian. "Hylian," I relay to Saria, showing her the note. I begin reading it.
Hey, Link. I bet you're surprised and a little annoyed to find out that Dark Link is not there. Well, don't worry about him right now. You'll only have to worry about him if you make a certain choice. You see, I captured Dark Link about twelve hours ago. He currently has a badly broken leg and an incredible hatred towards you. I'd be careful if I was actually worried that he could hurt me.
Now, as for your dear girlfriend Saria, she's in a dungeon in the Gerudo Canyon. She should be safe; it's been about four days since I last saw her. She has enough food to survive for three weeks, and she can collect whatever rainwater comes her way. Did you know it's rainy season there? Anyway, I left a plethora of demons and monsters near her, just to make it difficult if you make a certain choice.
Now, here's the deal: You can only save one of them. It's either Dark Link, your bad side, or Saria, your dear girlfriend. Whichever one you don't rescue will be executed in front of you and the one you chose. On the other side of this note is a map leading to both prisons. Have fun choosing!
xoxo Dimesia
I turn around, thinking that I'd ask Saria about what she thought of the note, but she wasn't there. I realize it quickly now. The things I don't like about her being so apparent, how I wanted to hurt her, how I wanted to leave immediately when I saw her. It all makes sense now. She isn't there.
She was never there.
Dark's at the prison, and Saria's at the Gerudo Canyon. Damn, Link. Seems to me like he has a huge choice to make. The one he doesn't save will die, and we don't even know if the one he goes after is alive. I say "we" because it is a "we" situation. I don't know what I'm going to write next; I really never do. Please review, it lets me know whether or not I suck. It also lets me know if I rule, which I'd love to hear about. Until then, if there are no questions, I'm out. Peace.