Chapter Ten

"Long ago, before the Gerudo were banished, one of 'em fell in love with a human. That feeling was mutual, so they got married and had a child. My great-great-grandmother. She never knew her Gerudo ways, so she married a human, too. Her youngest daughter was my great-gran'ma. Soon enough, most of the Gerudo blood had disappeared, except for the red-haired look, and on'y women being born – it's one male ev'ry hundred years, and no one's been lucky enough to have that male. People never thought of us as Gerudo, because my ancestors never did anything wrong, so we weren't banished." Telma sighed, her face distraught. "If anyone knew, we might very well be, though. Eir doesn't even know."

"What about her father?" persisted Link, unwilling to give up. "Who was he?"

Telma shrugged. "A wise man, that's all I know. Very kind and soulful. And he said he was one of the lasts of a race. His name was…Chistro, I think. I don't know what happened to him; dead, I think, with Eir his only relation."

Link nodded, but he knew better. He was pretty sure that Eir did indeed have a living relative, but neither of them knew it.

OoO

Link had left Telma's bar moments later. She was surprised by his sudden decision, exclaiming, "But we haven't even talked about the Senvivanes – "

"No time," he had interrupted. 'I have a—an appointment, and I'm late." Before Telma or anyone else could get a word in edgewise, he had waved a hand in farewell and dashed from the room.

He was now tearing across Hyrule Field, in wolf form, having left Epona by Castle Town. Normally, Link would have doubted the possibility he was about to encounter, but he knew not to doubt anything now. Many people scoffed at the idea that a human could change species; Link was living proof that this was possible.

He was barely aware of time passing as he curved his direction towards a small pathway, surrounded by sheer rocks. He raced along it, pleased to notice the lack of arrow-slinging Bulblins – perhaps King Bulblin had informed them of their alliance –, and came across a gaping hole in the right wall. He returned to human form and raced through this cave to the Hidden Village.

He knew it couldn't be this easy. There was some sort of a catch, yet he couldn't figure it out. He walked into the Hidden Village, sword drawn and held loosely in his left hand, peering about. It was truly a ghost town, except for the twenty cats that frisked around. Link had a certain fondness for cats, because, when he had talked to them, they had given off an aura of such innocence and happiness.

He made his way through the town, walking cautiously up to Impaz's house. The sweet old lady was probably in there, with her multitude of cats; unless something bad had happened, which Link dreaded and anticipated.

He knocked on her door gently, and then opened it. There was only the light of the dying sun filtering through her windows, creating an eerie glow. Link looked around the one room, feeling perplexed. Impaz was nowhere to be seen. The room was very neat and orderly…too neat, as though it had not been used for a very long time. Not even her cats were in here.

"Oh…hello," came a ragged voice from behind him. Link turned around to see Impaz, looking very tired. She was considerably thinner than the last time he had seen her, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her hands were brittle and shaking as she clasped his. "So good to see you. Would you like to come in?"

"I already am," he told her uncomfortably. "S-sorry for intruding, Impaz…"

She gave a small laugh. "Don't worry. You're always welcome…I haven't seen you in a while." She went into a coughing fit. Link stood there, feeling very strange and out-of-place.

"Are you feeling all right, Impaz?" he asked nervously. "Why don't I take you to Castle Town? There's a doctor who can fix you right up…"

Impaz waved a hand airily, sitting down on her bed. "No, no, but thank you, dear. I'll be find; just a passing cold." She looked up at him, smiling. "Now…what did you need?"

"I…want to ask you a question," he ventured.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

"Did you…did you know a man by the name of Chistro?"

Impaz launched into another coughing fit, her eyes wide with surprised and suspicion. When finished, she looked at him and rasped, "'Chistro'? Do you mean 'Chisstron'?"

Link nodded fervently. "Yes, that's probably it. My—my friend, Telma – "

Impaz clapped her hands together in delight. "Telma?! You know Telma?"

"Yes! Do—do you?"

Impaz nodded, smiling happily. "I know of her. Telma was Chisstron's wife's sister. Chisstron was my son." Her smile faded. "When Chisstron met Virvatuli, it was the best day of his life. But…he said to me that he had to do something important, he had to help the world. He said 'I'll be back', but…he never was." Her eyes were filling with tears. "And I've never seen Virvatuli again, because I wasn't allowed to leave this village."

"Virvatuli is Telma's sister?" he asked. Impaz nodded. "Virvatuli is gone from this world, but she had a daughter, named Eir. Telma is raising her in Castle Town."

Impaz's face lit up in purest joy, despite the frailty. "C-Castle Town? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am," he returned firmly. "I've met her. I talked to her, and she knows nothing about you. I think you ought to meet her…"

Impaz held up a hand, shaking her head. "I cannot. I am too weak, too sickly; I am barely able to move about the village. I went outside two days ago to tend to the cats, and only got back today. I felt very weak and fell asleep in one of the abandoned houses."

Link immediately had another suggestion. "What if I brought her to you?"

Impaz nodded, coughing. "Yes, I think that would work. Oh, and if you don't mind…would you bring me some food? I will pay you…"

Link was already reaching into his equipment bag, pulling out a bottle of milk. He handed it to her. "I don't want any money. You're in need of help; I'd never charge anybody for that."

Impaz accepted the bottle, her eyes very watery as she smiled. "You're a good boy. Thank you."

Link nodded and then quickly exited the house. He ran through the village and, as soon as he exited it, turned into a wolf and began dashing back across Hyrule Field. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he knew that he was a small step closer to getting the Twilight Mirror back in one piece.

OoO

Link reached Telma's Bar shortly after seven o'clock. His limbs were very strained – he had not done so much running in a very long time – but he felt quite energized. Eir was no longer at the bar; Telma was, busying herself by organizing mugs. Eir was at the back table, chatting amiably with Shad. Link strode up to Telma, breathless but beaming.

"I've found Eir's grandmother," he told her. She turned from her mugs, looking surprised.

"You did?" She sounded very doubtful.

"Yes, I did. Her name is Impaz," he explained. "I know that this all sounds odd, but it's the truth. That's where I just was, asking Impaz about Chistro. It's actually Chisstron, by the way."

Telma put her hands on her hips, casting him a look of suspicion. "Now, how do you know this?"

Link pulled out one of the stool under the bar and sat on it, laughing. "Oh, let's just say that I'm friendly with coincidences. Tomorrow, can I bring Eir to meet her? If I set out with her round seven, I can have her back soon enough. I'm…meeting with some people tomorrow, anyways."

"With whom?" asked Telma.

"I'm evading that question," he warned. "Back on topic, now. Can I bring Eir to meet her?"

Telma looked over him with a scrutinizing eye; after a moment, she threw her hands in the air. "Oh, it's not like I can stop it. Go ahead, honey. Let Eir meet her gran'ma. Now, if we can just stop her flirtin' with Shad, come join us back here, and we'll tell you what we were discussing."


Okay, it's becoming clear that I can't maintain a regular writing schedule...so I won't have one. I'll update as often as I can, but that might not be frequently. While I love writing, I feel as though I've taken on too many projects. I'm going to continue this one, but to make space for all of them, I'll have to devote an equal amount of time to all of them, and not focus a large amount of time on one and smaller amounts of time on other...that just doesn't work with me. I'll try wrapping up one (it's a one-shot, will be on my FictionPress (some penname)), and then I'll devote more time to this. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but sometimes I just can't do that. I guess fanfics are harder for me because I have to always reference something (say, the layout of Hyrule) that doesn't come from my imagination. But I'm trying.