Chapter 15

The next day passed much like the first, except longer. Link also had a deep soreness to deal with, pinching at every point on his body. The hunger that had plagued him the previous day had died down somewhat though, as if his stomach had accepted that complaints were futile. Trying to stretch out the kinks in his neck, he pulled a bruised up apple from his gear, slung on his pack, and resumed his trek north.

Desi seemed a good deal more lively, or at least more talkative. She stayed right by his side, chatting idly about her favorite birds, or the cute tennis partner she missed, and countless other inane things Link did not bother to keep up with. It was pleasant, though. A sense of normality, of everyday pleasantness to grace their rough journey.

Link, in turn, told her of Fado, and Miss Rebecca, and how Aghreal helped him learn Algebra. He couldn't tell whether she was as bored of him as he was of her, but it filled the silence and took their minds off their surroundings.

At the sun's climax, they stopped for lunch.

"We could just walk and eat," Desi said. "Shave some time off."

"Food's the only thing I like about this adventure," Link said through a mouthful of dried granola. "I'm gonna enjoy it."

Lunch was pitifully short. Less than five minutes after he sat down, Link had begun trying to talk himself into standing up again.

"You see that?" Desi said as he massaged his calves. He looked out west where she was pointing. There might have been a faint splotch there, or it might have been nothing.

"Maybe. Barely."

"Wanna check it out?"

He hesitated. "Well, it is north-ish and a little to the left," he said, and they both grinned. It would be absolutely ridiculous for them to find the Master Sword that way, though. More than ridiculous, it would be stupid. Then again, ridiculous things just seemed to happen now. May as well get used to it. "Let's go!"

A clear goal now in sight, they set off with renewed vigor. The whatever-it-was passed out of sight for a few moments as they trod through a small valley between dunes, but their progress was largely straightforward.

After twenty minutes or so, they were able to tell that the splotch was actually a creature of some sort, running toward them.

"Hang on a minute," Desi said, dropping her pack to the ground. She began to rummage. "I thought these would be useful," she muttered. With a grunt, she pulled out two pistols.

Link's thoughts burst into an incoherent tumult, but through it all three threads appeared foremost:

Rusl never trained us on pistols.

Who did you steal them from?

We're totally doomed.

"Um… have you thought this through?" he asked.

Desi rolled her eyes. "There's supposed to be monsters in the desert. Guns can kill monsters. Oh look, monster!" She loaded one and handed it to him. "There's the safety, and there's where the bullet comes out," she said, pointing.

"I know where the bullet comes out," Link grumbled. She was already reshouldering her pack. "Just… don't jump to conclusions. It might not be, y'know, evil."

"No duh."

They watched it approach a few moments more.

"We could try running," Desi suggested.

"I'm not that fast," Link said. Especially not while carrying a few dozen pounds of water and equipment across sand.

The creature was clearly visible now. It was a vaguely humanoid figure, leather red skin stretched tight across a slender frame. It loped quickly toward them, metal blade of some sort in hand.

"Doesn't look friendly," Desi said. Link was already raising his pistol, trying to hold it steady in front of him as he squinted down the sights.

"Stop!" Link called to it. He tried to project the commanding tone he'd always seen on TV, but his voice cracked, and it came out like a dull screech.

The monster kept charging. They were close enough to see its fierce snarl, a protrusion of fangs from a cavernous mouth. It raised its blade, metal glinting.

Two shots cracked out, spaced less than a second apart.

The monster skidded to a halt on the ground, trembled, and lay still.

"Nice shot," Desi said, lowering her pistol. They'd gotten it twice in the chest. Pools of blood seeped out and dripped to the ground.

Link barely noticed. It could hold a sword, it could think, it could've been Hylian almost, his mind was screaming.

"Link, you okay there?"

He absently raised a hand, pausing her. Within, another voice took over. A familiar voice. The collective wisdom of the dozens of novels he had consumed merged with the firm strength of a figure of pure rightness, a burst of clarity that had been imprisoned in his mind.

You know better, the voice said. Its intent was hostile, and you have not the power to subdue without killing. Not yet.

But-

If this is too much, turn back now. If you turn your sword against Ganon, more than these will fall by your hand 'ere your fight ends.

That was no longer an option. Even without all his very good reason for fighting, without Zelda or Fado or Kafei or anyone in Kasuto, he simply wasn't about to let the misery of the past two days be for nothing.

But I don't have to say its death was good, right? It could use tools, it could've had a family, it… it…

Then a third voice, soft and high, and laced with the love of a mother: No. You don't ever have to say that.

"Okay, you're sitting down before you get heat stroke," Desi said, pushing him to the ground. "Drink."

He complied, then started to stand up. "I'm fine. I-"

She shoved him back down. "You were zoning out for like five minutes there. We're resting. Besides, my legs hurt."

"Oh, you mean there's a part of you that doesn't hurt right now?" Link said. It was probably best to just go along with her. He couldn't explain what had just happened, even to himself, and a rest did sound appealing.

As Desi lowered herself down beside him, Link thought he spotted something shimmering behind her ear. He leaned forward, trying to peer around her head, but saw nothing. Maybe the heat was getting to him.

Meanwhile, Desi dug two holsters out of her pack. Link clipped one to his belt and strapped the pistol inside. The strange weight was comforting, especially after the monster, but something felt off about it. Something felt foreign. And on a more practical level, bullets ran out. It would not do to grow too dependent.

"Bokoblins travel in packs," he said. "This was probably a scout or something. We want to be gone before the rest find out he's late."

Desi frowned at him. "You sure? How would you even know that?"

Link did not fail to notice that she now sat somewhat straighter. The question, important as it was, could be waved off for now. Perhaps it had something to do with the voices he'd heard earlier. The important thing, right now, was getting away, finding a place to hide.

"Come on, I'm good for now," he said, standing up. "I want to be miles gone before they find him. Hidden too, if we can."

As he helped Desi to her feet, he thought he saw that strange blue glow again. He could have snarled. He would have, if he were alone. He couldn't afford to start doubting his senses, not now, not out here.

He set out at a brisk stride, Desi matching him step for step.

"So, where exactly are you planning to hide in a flat desert?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. But it's just stupid to give up before you've even tried."

"Um… Link?"

For the first time, he noticed Desi wasn't beside him. He sighed, biting back a stinging comment he'd never even have thought of two months ago.

"Desi, we don't have time-"

He cut himself off mid-turn. Desi stood five paces back, staring slack-jawed at a hovering orb of soft fluorescent blue.

Well, it seemed he wasn't insane. Probably. That was good.

"Hiya!" the orb beamed. No, not the orb. There was no reason to keep being silly about these things. That was a fairy. He was holding a conversation with an actual fairy.

On second thought, maybe he had gone insane at some point.

"I'm Flueckli," the fairy said. It had started orbiting around them, bouncing up and down excitedly as it went. "I've never met any real life humans before! You two are so adorable. Not like in a mushy way, but Goddesses, real humans!"

Desi raised a hand to her mouth, poorly concealing a growing smile. Link was not so easily distracted.

"If we don't get moving, you might see your first dead humans soon too. There a safe place out here?"

Her light dimmed, and she descended slightly, drifting to the side as she thought.

"Well, the Great Fairy's cave, but… Ooh, she's not too fond of outsiders. I dunno…"

It was a small chance, but one he had to snatch up while he could. He strode forward, hoping he was now facing her.

"Will you take us?"

Flueckli hovered backward. "Uhm…."

"We'd really love to meet more fairies," Desi added. "There aren't any in Hyrule anymore."

"Yeah! And we can tell you all about Hyrule too." Link saw from her radiant glow that he had struck her chord.

"I guess we can try! But we have to get moving now."

They moved.


By evening, their intense pace had run Link near senseless. Flueckli's energy, on the other hand, had scarce diminished.

"Wow, and you killed a bokoblin? So, so how did two people end up on the wrong side of the border? It's just been us for decades an' decades! I bet you're treasure hunters!"

"I think," Link said in between breaths, "I only want to tell that story once."

"Oh, I've been pestering you, haven't I? I do that sometimes. But soon you'll be able to rest, and it's cool, and-"

The fairy's chatter died to a mild hum in his mind. Every so often as they walked, he would glance behind, making sure nothing was following. Now, he saw the faintest of distortions shimmering on the horizon. He would have ignored it, but that same sense which drove him mercilessly forward warned of its danger.

"How much longer?" he said, cutting Flueckli off mid-sentence.

She made a distinct sniffing sound, then froze in mid-air. "Oh. We'll still make it. I think."

"What are you looking at?" Desi asked. Before Link could explain, the fairy had already started flying again. He had to run to keep up, and step by step Desi started lagging behind.

"Flueckli!"

"You're almost there," the fairy urged. "Just come on!"

She had flown up the side of a steep dune. Link grimaced, but followed without pause. His feet made scant purchase on the sliding slope, but he struggled forward. Desi scrambled valiantly below him.

He dropped to his knees, clawing his way up on all fours. The sand scalded his bare skin, and Link came closer to the top.

"Hurry, we can't let them see the entrance it's right there just keep climbing come on-"

Link went back to ignoring her, for the moment.

Desi's hand clutched around his ankle, higher and higher as she pulled herself up his leg. Once she was high enough, he reached back and helped lift her to his side. She grimaced, sweat-drenched strands of brown hair trailing down to the sandy surface.

"You okay?" he asked.

She glared, and she nodded. Then she resumed the climb, with Link right beside her.

"-come on come on come on you're right there just a little bit tiny bit farther and YES!"

Flueckli flew around them three times, and then Link started to sink through the dune. Before he could react, the sand had covered his back. He struggled to push himself out, raised up his head to gasp in a last breath of air, and then sank beneath the sand.

For a moment, it was pressing in on all sides, smothering him. The next moment, he fell free, descending into a pit of utter darkness. Desi's gasp showed she was still there, and if he looked up he could see the fairy's glow hovering above him.

He was falling, but he did not even think to scream. It felt as though a cloud had filled his stomach, raising him buoyantly upward as the earth pulled him down. It was just enough to land him lightly on his feet a few seconds later. Desi touched down just beside him.

With solid ground beneath him once more, he finally noticed that this underground cavern was actually cool. Chilly even. Though an immense comfort after the past couple days, he hugged himself against the cold.

Ahead, braziers spaced perhaps a dozen feet apart gently illuminated a trail that descended deeper into the cavern. Beyond, he thought he heard a trickle of flowing water.

"C'mon," Flueckli said. "You should be safe here! If the bokoblins didn't see us too closely. But they were super far away. We should be fine. For a few more months anyway. But you'll be gone by then, so it's okay. Anyway, I should introduce you to the Great Fairy before she kicks you out or something. Ooh, better idea: you can have a bath and get food and stuff, and I'll let her know what's up. Come on!"

In the dim torchlight, Link and Desi exchanged glances. He'd hoped that arriving at a safe place would mean he could drop the weight on his back and sit down for a while. Seemed they had a bit more walking to do, however.

Desi's expression seemed more bemused than anything, however. "Oh come on, don't tell me you're not looking forward to being clean again."

He shrugged and followed the fairy down the path. He would have liked to have asked where exactly they were, but there was no room to talk through Fluecki's chatter.

They passed through a narrow arch into a wide open chamber, and it was there that Flueckli stopped.

"The pool's just down there," she said. "I'm off to the Great Fairy. Bye!"

Even in the dim light, he could see it, spread out over most of the cavern. Its surface was a dark sheen, with the firelight glinting off. Five paces forward, and he was at the edge, dropping his pack, removing his shirt. In this state, he no longer much cared what Desi might or might not see, or anyone else for that matter. He just needed to relax and feel clean.

After stripping down, he waded into the pool. The shock from the cold stole his breath, but he pressed forward, allowing the water to surround him and numb him. Sand and sweat seeped off, dirtying the water around him, which Link dispersed with a wave of his hand.

"Too bad we didn't think to pack soap," he said, only half-joking.

A small splash and stifled gasp heralded Desi's entrance to the pool. Careful to keep his back facing the entrance, Link lifted his feet from the stone bottom and hung suspended in the water. Then, with a deep breath, he submerged his head fully beneath the surface.

"I never thought it would feel this nice to be so uncomfortable," Desi breathed when he emerged. She swam past, cutting a sleek line through the water. He was almost jealous. He'd never had time to learn to swim more than the simple floating he was now doing. She made it seem so elegant, so freeing. But there would be time to learn later, after everything was settled. In the mean time, Flueckli would be back soon.

He pulled on the spare set of clothes he had packed, then began soaking his soiled clothes. He had been hesitant about packing that second set, but he was relieved he would not have to struggle back into all the grit that was washing off now he was finally clean.

"Hey, are you staring at me?" Desi called.

Link sighed, and deliberately lowered his head to his task. "No." What else would you say to a question like that.

From the middle of the pool came an exaggerated, disgruntled harumph. "What, are you saying I'm not pretty enough to stare at?"

Link sighed. "I am not playing this," he announced, then turned to wring out his soggy clothes.

"You're no fun," Desi grumbled a few minutes later. Link was kneeling now, waiting patiently for Flueckli, touching the rock that Aghreal had shown him.

"So you've said. Repeatedly." It was almost her catch phrase when they were hanging out with Zelda. "You threatened to make a sign about it."

Desi giggled. "Warning: epicenter of fun-free zone detected." She giggled some more. Link rolled his eyes.

Flueckli zoomed back in just then, stopping abruptly before the pair.

"Who are you?" she said before they had a chance to say hi.

"I'm Desi, this is Link," Desi. "Don't you remember?"

"No, not that! I mean, just… Just come with me," she said, and for once she was silent as she guided them again through the cave.

They came to a large stone wall, etched with glyphs similar to those used in Ancient Hylian, but they seemed older somehow. Two grand torches of gold on either side spewed forth light.

Nearby, other faeries flew around. There were a number of other creatures too, that Link didn't recognize. Blue-skinned humanoid beings; stout, bulky things that spoke in low rumbles; and slender dark-skinned people who emanated a soft blue-ish green light.

A large crack filled the room, and the wall split in two, revealing a passage to the chamber beyond.

"The Great Fairy will see you now," Flueckli said. "Alone."

Link and Desi exchanged glances. He wasn't sure whether this was supposed to feel ominous or welcoming? Was the Great Fairy an ally? Did she have the power to make his life miserable? To stop him? All he knew was that one of her creatures had led him hair, and let him bathe. There was no sense in wondering further. He took a deep breath, touched the rock, and entered.