Settling Down

There comes a time in a everyone's life where they must think about what they're going to do with the rest of it. Not exactly having lived out all of the youthful days, and not entirely old enough to just do nothing for the rest of your life. So what to do next? Settle down? Find a job, a house, a wife, start a family? Those just cover the basics of a normal life.

Link nearly hated the thought of settling down and having a normal life. It wasn't his style in a manner. Then again, what choice did he have? He was back home in Hyrule and there was no great evil to slay any longer. Up until then, he had never been presented with what most would consider a normal way of living.

It was the dead of night and Link was on his way to Kakariko Village. He had signed up to work on the Western Castle and he was hired on near instantly. His build was just the type needed for the work requirements, he had been told by an excited burly fellow. He had a job. Link scoffed at the thought as it flew out of his mind like a mingling butterfly. It was only temporary. When the castle was finished being built, he would no longer be needed.

He was in a very agitated mood just then. He had had a long day. Like, a really long day. The news of Zelda's death had put him in his sour mood. He had not expected that twist at all when he decided to trek back to his homeland initially. It had taken quite a bit of mental preparation on his part to make the move. He was quite happy with his nomadic lifestyle and it took a lot to find within him the desire to come back.

The main reason, he was realizing, had been Zelda. Now that she was gone from his life completely, he almost didn't want to have anything to do with Hyrule anymore. It was a very sharp turn in his thoughts from the start of the day and it was draining on him.

The reason he was headed for Kakariko was because there were no empty rooms available for him to stay in the Castle Market. He would have wanted to stay closer for his work but everything was absolutely packed. He was advised to try the neighboring village. Seething about his luck, he packed all of his things and made way for Kakariko. Malon hadn't been at the stable when he went to retrieve Epona. It would have been nice to see her once more that day. She could always, without fail, put an awkward smile on his face. His lips quivered a bit into a half grin as he thought of her always abundant and infectious cheeriness.

Then the thoughts of 'settling down' and 'wife' wiped the grin from him entirely. He was tired of life's little games. He was really just tired in general. He needed a place to sleep.

Speaking of which, how was he going to get someone awake at the hour it was to get him a room? He had no intention of dealing with more people that night. He didn't have a problem with camping so that's what he decided he would do. He would set up a small camp outside of the village entrance. He could see that very entrance just a little ways away. He wouldn't have long to go. He closed his eyes as Epona's slow clip-clopping lulled him into a light slumber…

There were three people standing at the bridge to the Gerudo's Fortress. Two female and one male. Link thought that was odd. There usually weren't many men that just roamed about the fortress.

The two females were indeed Gerudo folk. Well, one of them definitely was, wearing green desert garb. But the other seemed too light skinned to be accepted among the tribe of tanned thieves. It was a wonder, though, that you could see her skin under all the bandages she wore. Had she been injured? What was the situation that was taking place before him? The two females were talking in low whispers while the boy tended to some horses a some distance from them. Were they preparing to go on some journey together? They were an odd threesome to be sure. As he was thinking the scene playing out for him was more than a bit questionable, all three of them jerked their heads in the same direction. There was a new arrival blocking the path that lead across the bridge. They all had scared looks on their faces. He wondered why. The arrival was one lone Gerudo and she didn't look so tough.

She started to speak but Link couldn't understand her. It was like they spoke in a different language through a pillow. Everything was muffled to him. She had a defiant stance to her and she looked very angry.

The one definite Gerudo talking with the injured 'Gerudo,' stepped in front and began talking in the same blurred tones. Link couldn't tell at all what was happening.

Then there was a startling whinny and a horse came galloping from the boy's direction. It rammed into the three girls and they went tumbling over the bridge. Link reached out to grab them. He couldn't let them fall. Then he tripped over the edge of the cliff he was peering down and was falling to his death. Falling, falling…

Link jerked awake when his dream self had plunged headfirst into the watery depths below. He was tensed and his whole body ached with fatigue. He let out a long sigh as he calmed himself.

'What was that about?' he asked of himself. Who were the people he had dreamt of? He had never seen any of them before in his life. Well, he wasn't sure that that was completely true. The one Gerudo woman talking with the injured woman looked familiar, but he could not be sure if she was who he thought she was. It had been so long since he had last seen her.

Epona had come a long way since he had drifted off to sleep. They had crossed the stone bridge over Zora's River and were in a beeline for Kakariko. He looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin. His eyes widened in the dark as if they thought they could see better and his skin was suddenly sticky with sweat.

Someone was standing at the entrance to the village and clearly staring directly at him.

Link couldn't be sure who it was or what their intentions were. His adrenaline was pumping and he was ready for anything anyone threw at him at that moment though, so he stayed his course towards the village. As he neared, the person never moved. They simply stared. Link kept eye contact with them even though he couldn't actually see their eyes. He would not show weakness. He was close enough to speak with the person. They, however, beat him to the punch.

"Link." They said with a certain authority in their voice. Link was close enough now to get a full view of the person waiting for him and he felt very stupid. He was so busy not tearing his eyes away from the other persons' that he didn't even bother getting a good look at their whole form. It was Impa of the Sheikah who had staked out the entrance and met him.

"Impa," he said sheepishly. He was meeting all sorts of interesting people in interesting places today. The Sheikah smiled.

"It is good to see you again." She said. She never moved a muscle when she spoke, her arduous Sheikah tribe training showing.

"What are you doing here?" Link asked. He had once wondered about the sages lives. He wondered, once they entered the Sacred Realm as sages, did they stay there forever?

"I am sorry to say that I am not physically here." Link cocked his head in curiosity at her words. "We sages cannot currently leave our places in the Sacred Realm for fear of Ganon's seal weakening. Even more than it already has." Link's eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean?" It was so many questions wrapped into one. And it was another nasty shock that the peaceful Hyrule he thought he was returning to threw into his face.

"Come. We have much to discuss."

Link had a feeling about their destination. When they turned toward the set of stairs that led to Impa's former head house of the village, Link knew he had guessed correctly. They climbed the stairs with Link leading and he opened the door with a flourish. The inside was dark and musty, but as soon as Impa's form passed the door frame, the room lit with torches and candles simultaneously all around. Link dropped all of his things with an exhausted heave.

"Now," she motioned for Link to sit down in a bar stool seated at a small counter for preparing food. He took a seat and looked across at her expectantly. He thought for a minute about why she didn't take a seat herself, but then realized she probably didn't need to if she was merely a projection of her original self. "As you well know, I do not occupy this home anymore and what with the absence of refugees, no one else lives here either." Link was about to interrupt, "And as well as I know, you do not have a place to stay since returning to Hyrule." Link gave a huff of affirmation. He was too modest to completely accept her unspoken offer, but, also, too broke to decline it. "You may have this house." Now Link would speak up.

"I can't do that! I mean, it's yours. I'll save up money to get my own place-" he began, his jumbled thoughts spilling forth from his lips without order. He was too used to doing things on his own to fully accept what was being granted to him. Well, he had never been completely on his own. There was a small twinge of longing in his heart for his old fairy friend before Impa held up what Link realized to be a translucent hand. He stopped.

"It is a small gift from us sages for your help saving Hyrule." Link had to give her that one, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"I'll stay tonight and go from there," he said knowing that she knew he had no other options. He felt cornered, but not in a bad way. Even now, he was eyeing the bed on the other side of the room. It was very late into the night.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you need to," she said with a grin. "Onto more pressing matters," she said and then began to tell of the happenings of the last few months since he'd been gone.

"I'm sure you're aware of Princess Zelda." Impa said matter-of-factly. Link gave a slow nod.

"Do you know the cause of her death?" Link had been yearning for this information even if it meant he would feel more responsible for her death than he already did. Impa almost seemed like she wouldn't say at first. But Link's set expression told her he was determined to get an answer. Her face became more stern.

"The cause of her death was a magical overdose." She replied. Link looked confused. He didn't understand completely the ways of magic users. "She used so much of her power in the fight to defeat Ganon that it over exhausted her body and ultimately shut it down." Link looked to the floor. He thought back to all the times she had used magic. Forcing open the barred passages to escape the castle, then holding the King of Evil down for Link to strike him. That must have taken a lot by itself. Then she called the other sages to seal him away. Then they were transported to the Sacred Realm after the battle. That must have been her too. And she sent him back in time… His face fell into his hands.

"I should have stopped her," he felt terrible. Impa allowed him a moment's peace. Then she spoke again.

"Her body has not been recovered." She stated so simply. Link ear twitched at this.

"But I saw a grave site. For her and the King." He said.

"Yes, but only the King's remains lay beneath the earth there." She paused again. "After Ganon was sealed, there was nothing holding the ruins of his tower above that pit. It tumbled below into the lava which shifted the unstable ground and it was completely covered as if it had never been." Impa didn't have to say what she meant by telling him this. She thought Zelda's body was buried in the land slide.

"She can't be there, can she? She was with me, when we went to the Sacred Realm."

"I can only guess, but I think the two of you never went to the Sacred Realm after the final battle." He was skeptical but then the thought came, who else would know if they were there than a resident of the place? "I think she projected an image of herself into your mind to make you think that you had gone there."

"But why would she do that?" He was angry with her for a reason he didn't know. He wanted her to be alive and she wasn't. That must be it, for however stupid it sounded in his mind.

"She was protecting you." That caught Link off guard.

"What?" he said, pulling his body straighter to look Impa in the face.

"She knew she had exerted her body passed its limits. She didn't want you to know that she was dying. Really, she only prolonged you finding out about it. Perhaps she did not want you going back to her younger self to warn her of her future." Link stared in disbelief as she finished her statement.

He stared in disbelief for a moment, then something happened that Link would remember for the rest of his life and it would haunt him. A sharp pain wrought across his temples and his head blurred until the candle lit cabin disappeared from his vision and a new setting took its place before his eyes.

He was back at the castle ruins where he had dealt the final blow to Ganon and he and Zelda sealed him away. Ganon had just disappeared with a brilliant flash and then everything was quiet. He was standing amid the destruction the battle had caused. Link, before, only remembered that after that flash, they ended up in the Sacred Realm. This was all new to him.

He felt himself look up at the sky which had recently boasted looming dark clouds but now was showing its blue tint on the rubble below.

Link let the light touch his features and relished in it like he would never get the chance again. He laughed.

"It's finally over," he quoted Zelda from earlier. He began to turn to where he knew the Princess to be. "See, Zelda? That wasn't so h-" He trailed off as he laid his eyes on the heap of white and pink fabric strewn on the ground that was Princess Zelda.

"Zelda!" he shouted desperately. He let his sword and shield fall to the ground with loud clangs and rushed over to the girl, not paying any heed to the rumbling that shook his feet. The floating island was beginning to fall. Link only had eyes for the already fallen Princess.

"Zelda?" he reached her and slid on his knees to kneel beside her and turn her to face him. She wasn't breathing. He held her propped up on his knee and went to reach for her face to feel her skin, but as soon as his fingers made contact, his whole body froze and Zelda's glazed eyes peered into his deeply. Then his mind blanked.

His memory transitioned to his meeting with Zelda in the "sky" which he had earlier believed to be the Sacred Realm. But he knew differently now. His memory of what happened after he stabbed Ganon had pushed its way back after being suppressed for seven years. Just as the vision was fading from his minds' eye, he thought he saw a couple of shadowed blurs that caught the spectral Princess' attention. Then he went under once again.

He came back to reality where Impa was shouting his name. He opened his eyes, which had previously been squeezed shut, to see his white knuckles and the floorboards. He had fallen to the ground on his hands and knees. His head hurt something fierce and he was shuddering. He took a steadying breath.

"I'm okay," he said to the floor. Impa stopped yelling. He slowly began to pull himself back up into his chair.

"What happened?" Impa demanded, her earlier poise demeanor now demolished with worry wrinkles lining her face. Link sat in his chair holding his head, pressing his palms against his temples, willing the pressure head ache to dissipate. His eyes were clenched shut again as his ears started ringing. All this on his senses was tiring him even more. He took another steadying breath.

"You were right." He stated clearly. Impa became tight-lipped as she awaited an explanation. He continued, "About Zelda. She used the last of her power to trick me into thinking she was okay and then sent me back in time." Hot tears stung in his eyes. He was so full of sorrow and anger, he felt like he was about to explode. The days' events were overcoming his will to remain calm.

"How do you know this?" He explained the repressed memory that had resurfaced when he had fallen. She adopted a mildly bemused expression that held for the rest of her visit. She nodded as he concluded.

"I shall let the other sages know about what you have just told me." Link gave an affirming nod. Then he remembered her words from the beginning of their conversation.

"You said something about the seal on Ganondorf weakening. What is happening with that?" Link asked of the sage. She looked into his face somberly.

"We are doing all we can. Since Zelda's death," her face took on a pained expression, "The death of a sage weakens the bond of the sages as a whole. Basically, it's like there were 7 parts a lock that worked with each other as an interwoven core. With one part of it missing, it could stay together, but it could also fall apart easily."

Link figured something like this was the cause. It still hit a little hard. All that work, time, everything he had sacrificed to stop Ganon, could have been for nothing. He thought about Zelda and her actions. There's no way she could have known that what she did could have caused this. He wouldn't believe that she might have known that this would happen. Unless there was something she knew that could be done about it.

"Is there no way to fix this?" Link asked pleadingly. The way she looked at him didn't ease his wandering mind.

"I have been and will continue to search for an answer to this. In the mean time, I will leave you to your thoughts." A small pause. "I am sorry you had to return to this. I am sure it was not the Princess' intention." She turned as if she were about to leave through the door, even though she wouldn't need to. Link didn't say a word in reply.

They were quiet.

"She truly cared for you." And the sage vanished with no trace. The candles dimmed slowly and then went out completely, leaving Link to ponder in the dark. The quietness that followed was suffocating.

The last statement hurt him and he didn't know why. Was it because he felt too responsible for Zelda's death and that just added fuel to the fire? Link couldn't help but feel there was something else underlying in the whole ordeal. Everything he found out today meant something and he tried his hardest to retain it. On top of it all, he felt like Zelda wanted something from him. She wanted him to figure it all out with the minimal amount of clues and leavings from her passing. It was like there was a nagging in his mind that he needed to remember something, and that embodied the Princess. She was there, urging him to find the right pieces and put them together. Only all that he could see before him was shattered glass that seemed impossible to repair.

He felt foolish for thinking all of this in the darkness that Impa left him in. But then, in the middle of all that, he also felt a desperate hopefulness. He needed for something to happen.

He urged his body up from his chair and slumped over to the bed in the corner where he remembered an animal pen used to reside. The whole in the wall was also replaced with a seamless repair. He paid little mind to it all. He plopped down onto the unused feather bed and it sagged graciously as if it had wanted nothing else other than to be slept in. He didn't bother to remove his traveling clothes.

Link lay in his new bed under his new roof simply staring. He was dead tired, but his mind was too awhirl. His thought tree branched off into hundreds of different directions and he couldn't control where it went. He remained like that for an hour or so before his mind gave in to delirium and he drifted off into a fitful slumber where nightmares reflected his ponderings and feelings.

In his dream world, there were a hundred Zeldas and each one of them was in grave peril where Link could do nothing to help. Every time he reached out to one of them who were falling indefinitely, another would call out for his help and he'd turn towards her fearful tones and witness each apparition fall before him. He couldn't get to any in time. He felt glued to the spot as he was surrounded by the Princess's corpses. His breathing quickened, his heart rate shot up, he was so distressed tears began to pour unchecked down his face, he sobbed and apologized to each individual Zelda for not being there for her. He fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands and continued to sob indiscriminately.

Then everything silenced. Link barely took notice, only continued to apologize to nothing. He felt so very alone.

There was a throbbing feeling at the edge of his unconscious that began to bother him. He had stopped crying but continued to hug himself tightly. The throb soon became a tapping on his back and it annoyed him greatly. He could only ignore it for so long before he was made to look up, trying to find its source. He was surrounded by blackness. There weren't anymore Zeldas to be seen. Once he had looked up the tapping had stopped; he stood. It was at that point that his consciousness became aware that he was dreaming. He looked ahead at the darkness wondering what it wanted with him. He started to turn his head to look to the side, but as soon as his eyes tore away from the space before him, a small orb of light appeared there and he noticed it out of the corner of his eye. He turned back abruptly. It floated there innocently at chest height just ahead of him. Link started at it wonderingly. Everything felt tight and tense, like something was about to implode and suck all the air out of him. He was suffocating. His mind wasn't registering any options to escape. He stood there helplessly as his life was drained from him. It was dizzying.

'Step forward.'

It wasn't anything audible, Link felt the words wash over him and give him a small amount of clarity to comprehend what they meant. He put to action the words and moved his left foot in the direction of the orb. As soon as his foot came down, at once, the tension ceased. He stood there dazedly as he regained his dream awareness. The orb still floated there.

Link took that as an incentive to move closer to the suspicious light. He took another step and nothing happened. Another step. Then another. He was upon the light and it did nothing to acknowledge his presence. It was unyielding in its glowing.

Link wasn't sure what this light wanted from him. It just sat there as he gazed upon it. There was nothing else remotely interesting about it. The tapping started up again.

'What do you want?' he thought to himself. He kept his eyes fixed on the light as the tapping grew in intensity. His arm raised almost without his volition, though he was curious all the same. He reached for the orb.

When his middle finger made contact with the core of it, everything exploded in shredded light. It was like torn pieces of cloth were flying from the tiny ball in every direction to create a sky and land around him. Link's head whipped around to take all the brightness in.

He was standing in a field. It wasn't Hyrule field. At least, not any part he recognized. Everything was still and serene. Then, something just below his eye level began to form.

It was misty at first but it took shape. It was a person. They were sitting upon the ground with their face hidden in their knees. Link started to make his way towards them. As he approached and their form solidified even more, Link saw that the person was a female. Sorrow emanated from her very being. He could feel her sadness within himself and it made him want to cry.

'Are you alright?' he thought in his mind. The girl didn't reply. He stopped a few paces away from her. Neither moved.

A flicker of movement caused Link to turn to his right. Another person had formed there. They, however, were standing. A man, looking strong and resilient, a dark cloak flowing around him elegantly, stood looking on at the prone girl between them. He didn't take any notice of Link, just simply stood staring, his expression unreadable. Link then felt obligated to look to his left where another form was appearing. His breath caught as the next mist took on the shape of none other than Ganondorf.

Just as the cloaked man hadn't taken notice of him, Ganondorf followed suit and ignored Link. He was also looking on at the girl they were surrounding. He had a malicious look in his eyes that sickened Link. He was about to call out to the girl when a shimmering from the grass below his feet distracted him. A golden light enveloped the space he stood in. It made a triangle that he was standing in the middle of. He was dazzled by the brightness and purity of it. Happiness washed over him for an instant as he relished in this light. Then he looked up to see that the cloaked man and Ganondorf both had triangles at their feet as well. Their corners met and thus, the Triforce was created. Link understood the connection that he had to Ganondorf, but he had never met the other man. What did this mean?

Then he caught sight of the center of the Triforce where the girl had been. All he saw was darkness that spilled over the edges of the golden triangles. The girl remained where she was as the darkness slowly swallowed her.

'Wait!' he cried and reached out for her.

She looked up into his eyes.

He awoke in his bed and his eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. He was momentarily confused as to why there was even a roof over his head at all before the events with Impa unfolded in his memory. A pounding in his head caused him to wince. His palms instinctively kneaded his forehead where the pain erupted from. It didn't recede. With a groan he picked himself up from his cot and made his way over to the window.

A water basin filled with the clear liquid peered up at him invitingly. He dipped his fingers into the cool water and splashed his tired face a couple times. He stood at the window dripping water from his chin, eyelashes, and fingers, and watched the moonlight slowly creeps its way up the glass. The coolness from the water soothed his aching head a bit.

The girl in his dream, she wasn't anyone he was familiar with. He had never met her. He had, however, dreamed of her before. She was the injured Gerudo from his last nightmare. It was only a few hours ago, though it seemed longer to him. He really had no idea who she was. He assumed that he dreamed of her because his subconscious remembered her face from one of the few visits he made to the Gerudo Valley. Consciously though, he couldn't remember ever seeing her before.

From what he dreamed of, she had very short auburn hair and skin darker than his, but lighter than any Gerudo he had met. From what he remembered of the exclusively female race, they seemed to mostly have long tied back hair. There was uniformity among them was clear. The lower ranking ones wore a violet garb and a mask over their mouths, and then there were the fighters who wore red with masks as well. Nabooru and the one woman who gave him his freedom to walk among the Valley wore pink and green respectively, signifying their authority.

He remembered a few had been adorned in white. Didn't they have short hair? The women there seemed to pride themselves in their image. He didn't think any promotions included chopping off the staple of the Gerudo 'look.'

It was then that Link felt the heaviness of his traveling cloak he had not removed before he fell asleep. He unclasped the front of it and it crumpled to the floor around his feet. He removed his belt and gauntlets and started to pull his tunic over his head when he noticed something from outside the window. He pulled the fabric over his head and leaned over the basin to get a good look out the window.

There was what looked like a scuffle happening near the entrance of the village. From what Link could see, there were about two or three people in night dresses and carrying lanterns. There was some raised voices but he couldn't discern anything intelligible. There were two horses and a black one adorned a rider who couldn't seem to sit up right. The second horses' rider was standing beside the two mares and making gestures toward the slumped figure. Link thought he heard the word 'help' in the shouting. Then there was a frantic scurrying as the slumped form on the black horse completely slid off the side and tumbled to the ground. Two women hurried over and carried the fallen one between them and walked awkwardly to a nearby house. The lanterns followed and everything was dark once more.

Had there been an attack? He hoped not. It would just be another reminder that Hyrule was not as safe as when he had left it. He resolved to finding out more about the disturbance once the sun rose. He removed his last remaining sleep intruding article of clothing, his boots, and trudged back to his cot.