The Bleeding Effect
Chapter XVII
Link positions himself between the angry golden wolf and his companions. He's shaking, from a combination of chill from the water and fear from his situation. His left arm reaches up towards his scabbard, but he isn't quick enough; the wolf darts up and bites hard into his shoulder.
Link squeezes his eyes shut, but opens them once more when he feels no pain at the animal's bite. All around him is a white expanse. Behind, above, below, all colorless.
"Hello?" He calls out. His voice reverberates in the abyss. Then, the white surface before him starts to crack. Jagged lines spiderweb outwards and upwards, so far and so high Link soon can't even see the fresh cracks forming.
Then, with a mighty crash, the wall of whiteness crumbles down into a heap.
Now in front of Link is none other place than his home. Kokiri Village. He eagerly steps over the remains of the wall and into the forest village.
The first thing he notices is that the tall grass is at the wrong level. It comes up to his shoulder, not his waist. He looks down at himself. He gives a short, startled laugh of relief as he pats himself down. Link is back in his own body. Not his descendant's, not the wolf's form, not his older one. His genuine ten year old body.
"Imposter!"
The golden wolf drops down in front of Link. Then it rears up on its back legs. Its fur recedes and then vanishes, leaving only a skeleton. Link watches with horror and revulsion as the bones shift and pop, enlarge and shrink until the skeleton of a wolf is now the skeleton of a man. Unholy red fire gleams in one of its eye sockets.
"Imposter!" It says again, like a battle cry as it charges towards Link.
The boy backs away, but soon brushes against something solid; the white place has disappeared entirely, replaced with the compact soil and grass of a hill. He flattens to the dirt as the skeleton swings its blade. It brings down its sword to deal Link a mortal blow, but the latter rolls out of the way. He makes it without injury, but he feels the rush of cold air right by the nape of his neck, feels some errant hairs ruthlessly sheared away.
Stumbling to his feet, Link takes off across Kokiri Village. The skeleton follows. Each heavy footfall behind him sounds like a thunderclap. The wind picks up, stirring the trees the way it always does when a massive storm is brewing nearby. The sky roils with black clouds.
The village is devoid of life—are the Kokiri all hiding inside? Link skids to a stop. No. Mido was many things, not all of them good, but he always looked out for the well being of the rest of the tribe. Mido would hardly let this skeletal creature roam the village without confronting it in some way.
Link turns around to face his pursuer.
"This isn't real." He says. The other's only response is to raise its sword for another blow. Link's legs shake with the urge to run, but he forces himself to stay put. "This isn't real!"
Though he believes what he says, he can't help but flinch and draw his arms up to protect his face as the sword bears down on him. However, before the weapon can even come close to touching flesh, something inexplicable happens. In Link's left hand, the Kokiri Sword materializes. In his right, a Kokiri shield. The skeleton's sword connects with his shield and knocks him back a few steps, but he's unharmed. Link looks at the newly appeared sword and shield with wonder before turning his attention back to his foe. He brings the shield in front of him, reaffirms his grip on the sword. Now that he's armed, the dynamic has shifted. He's proved to be more than a worthy adversary of many a stalfos before.
But to Link's bemusement, instead of attacking him again, the skeleton lowers its sword. The boy doesn't relax his stance just yet, though; it could just be a ploy to get him to drop his guard. Several scars across his stomach tell him such thoughts aren't irrational.
"For you to call upon those weapons, you must be…but I don't understand," Rumbles the skeleton. "How are you here?"
"You're the one who brought me here." Says Link.
"You're not the Hero of Twilight." The skeleton stabs its sword into the ground. Before Link's eyes shreds of it peel off and float away into nothingness, until the entire sword is gone. "And you're certainly not an imposter."
"Well, no."
"You're the Hero of Time." The skeleton doesn't phrase it as a question, so Link doesn't respond.
The skeleton changes its form again. Blonde hair sprouts beneath its helmet; skin stretches over the bones. The burning eye cools to a soft blue. Instead of intimidating and twisted, he now appears magnetic and welcoming. He looks like Link's seventeen year old form, but…older.
"You're me." The spirit confirms what Link's thinking.
Link takes half a step backwards. The Kokiri Sword and the shield flake away to nothing, no longer needed. "This is madness. I must be imagining this."
"This conversation is not taking place on any earthly plane, but I assure you it's very real."
The older Link steps closer, resting his hands upon the younger's shoulders. They're large and warmer than Link would've expected.
"I knew you weren't the Hero of Twilight, but I did not know who you were. I assumed you were some sort of monster possessing the boy's body." His one eye sears into Link's pair. "I'm sorry for frightening you."
"N-Not at all." Link can't stop staring up at the older one. This is the man he'll become?
The elder Link's lips upturn in a bittersweet smile. "You don't believe me."
"Well…" The way the adult him holds himself, so tall, with such confidence…it isn't like him at all. "We just don't seem very much alike."
The older man waves his hand, and the scene before them ripples and alters. The thunderclouds part to reveal a blue sky and a warm golden sun. The villagers leave their homes, chatting amongst themselves. The Know-It-All Brothers take turns instructing Fado on the proper way to fish. It's apparent she already knows what to do, but she humors them anyway, letting two brothers angle her arms as the other tangles with the tackle. Mido stumps off to check on the Great Deku Tree.
Link gasps as Saria runs past him, heading to his hut. He moves to follow her, but his older self gently holds him back.
"She can't see you. None of them can."
Saria calls up the tree. To Link's astonishment, he sees himself poking his head outside the door, tunic and hair sleep-rumpled.
"I think I need to sit down." Link says weakly.
A large log on its side springs out of nowhere, and the older guides the younger to sit on it with him. The boy runs a hand along the wood. The rough bumps and grooves feel real enough.
Then a whole cluster of Deku Scrubs waddle into the village, carrying strange brass pipes and horns. The Kokiri don't seem to notice them. The Deku Scrubs settle down and begin to play a pleasant melody, one that reminds Link of Saria's various compositions.
"We're in my mind." The older Link answers the question on the tip of the younger's tongue. "My memories, my imagination, my dreams. They're all present on this dreamscape. That's what we're seeing."
Saria and the figment Link run past, laughing, color high in their cheeks. Further away, Mido puffs up in jealousy.
"What happened to you? I mean, me? Um, us?"
"Don't strain yourself figuring out what to call me. You can refer to me as a separate being if you wish."
A few Gorons roll into the village. They gather near the Deku Scrubs and start to dance to the beat, in that graceless, but charming, way of theirs.
"I can't say I ever expected to meet myself this way." Confesses the older Link. "I never ran into myself when I used the Ocarina of Time. I'm not sure if telling you about what's to come would be wise or not."
"How can you not know?" Link points to him. "If you're older me, haven't you already had this conversation, where you're in my place?"
The older Link shakes his head. "No. This is a new ripple. In my time, I never found myself flung as far into the future as you seem to have gone."
A young Malon leads her prize filly behind her. Zoras titter around Epona, bemused and entranced by the land animal.
"Something must have gone wrong. Something must have interfered with the natural course of history."
"The Happy Mask Salesman."
The older Link's look sharpens. "What?" He demands, and the boy obliges him, quickly explaining all that had happened to him after he obtained the Water Medallion.
"When we get you back to your proper time, you might have to find Navi. When you go into the forest to search for her, you must be on your guard. A skull kid will attack you."
"Why? They're my friends. One of them saved my life not a fortnight ago."
The peaceful vision before them melts away, replaced with one that seems to be deep in the Lost Woods. The Link that sits upon Epona looks slightly older than the ten year old he set off on his journey as. They watch as Link is ambushed by two fairies and a skull kid, as Link blindly chases after the horse thieves and loses his humanity. How he stumbles in the underbrush, his balance distorted thanks to the transformation, until he reaches the Happy Mask Salesman.
The salesman's leer vanishes in a puff of smoke, and the comforting image of Kokiri Village is brought up again.
"I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did, since we now know the true nature of the Happy Mask Salesman. But I'm not sure if warning you will have any effect."
"Why wouldn't it?" Asks Link.
"I could tell you everything. About Termina, and beyond. But there's a chance that even if you try to avoid situations, you'll still somehow end up in them regardless."
At the boy's puzzled look, the older man sighs. "Think of time as a great river. Hylians have tried to divert its path, jamming it up with logs and the like. And sometimes, the dam does hold. But in others, the river bursts free from its constraints and continues on its original, planned path."
Link nods in understanding. "You could spend days telling me all that would happen, and it would be for naught." The child swings his legs, scuffing the bottoms of his boots against the dirt. "So what should I do now?"
The older Link rises. "I've kept you on this plane too long as it is. You must go back."
The young springs up. "Wait, not yet! I still have so many questions."
"We just discussed why telling you about future events would be meaningless."
"Not about that! About us! Me."
"I never had this conversation, and I turned out fine, didn't I?" The village softens at its edges, color leeching away to the pale white plane Link started on. The neat outline of a door, a think black line in the shape of a rectangle, carves into the white.
The older Link opens it, beckoning the other through with a wave of his hand. Beyond the door is darkness.
"I don't want to go back."
"Isn't there someone waiting for you? Aren't there people depending on you?"
"But…"
Link doesn't need to explain; his older self knows full well the thoughts and feelings that plague him.
"It'll get easier. I promise you that."
Link walks up to the door and eyes the looming darkness.
"Will I see you again?" He asks.
The older swordsman smiles. "I suppose only time will tell."
After stepping through the door, all is dark. Slowly, sound begins to filter in: the murmurs of two male voices. One high-pitched and excited, one low and dragging. Then comes the gentle roar of waves lapping upon shore, the various creaks and groans of a home.
Link opens his eyes and pushes himself up into a sitting position. He's on a couch, in a house he doesn't recognize. Something lukewarm and wet slides off his forehead, dropping into his lap. A washcloth. Was he ill? Link presses a hand to his head, but feels no fever. If he was sick, it must've passed by now. He puts the cloth aside, gets up, and stretches. Then he remembers the condition he left Midna and the little oocca in. The hero checks around the house, and though the items inside range from interesting—the large canon that hogs a good portion of the room—to banal—lined against the wall is a fireplace and a quaint kitchen—his avian companion is nowhere to be found.
"Midna?" He stares down at his shadow on the floor. "Midna, are you in there?"
It is then that he notices the two voices have dropped to whispers. Ears pricked, he makes out the tail end of their conversation.
"…talking to himself, told you he was touched. Never should've fixed that canon, Goddesses damned Auru besides." Comes from the deep gruff voice.
"The boy's clearly been through a lot. He can't be blamed."
"It's not about who's to blame, it's about how it is. If he's touched I don't want him here."
"Fyer—"
"I can hear you." Link glares at the wooden door. There's a moment of silence, and then the door opens with a groan. Two clowns are there, looking sheepish at being overheard. Even for clowns, this couple is especially flamboyant. The tall one has more tassels than Link has ever before seen on a man, and the squat one wears more eye-popping pink than Princess Zelda.
The tall one clears his throat to dispel the awkwardness of the moment.
"We're glad to see you're awake, Link."
Link's first impulse is to ask who they are. The short one's name is Fyer, he overheard that, but he doesn't know anything more about them. But he bites the words off. Being honest and blurting things out is what a child does. An adult wisely withholds information and only gives what's necessary.
"Yes, I'm awake." He says shortly. "And I'm certainly quite alright in the head, Fyer."
The addressed man squirms with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment. The other clown steps closer to Link, smoothly blocking Fyer from view. A placating smile upturns his lips.
"We were just very concerned. When Fyer found you washed up on shore, you were sick with a very bad fever. You said all sorts of strange things."
Is that all the meeting with his older self was? A fever dream? No. Link refuses to believe it.
"And I was…alone, then?"
"Were you traveling with another? There was no one else with you."
Link purses his lips. He strides past the clowns, but turns back to them as he reaches the doorway.
"Thank you for taking care of me. I'm sure I'll repay the debt some day." He leaves the conversation at that, letting the door swing shut behind him. The clowns don't come after him, but he still keeps his pace brisk as he searches for the place he came ashore. But when he reaches it, there's no sign of either of his companions.
Then he feels a slight pushing from his item bag. He unlatches it, and to his surprise the little oocca flutters out. It zooms up so it's at eye level with Link.
"Finally, you're awake! You sleep too long, you know that?" The oocca scolds him.
"So I've been told."
"Now that you're awake, take me to Mama!"
"Ah." Link looks upwards to the tall walls of stone all around them. They appear to be in some sort of basin. A very unclimbable basin.
"Look." He says. "The imp I was carrying when I ran into you—Midna—what happened to her after the golden wolf bit me?"
"It was very strange, Mr. Hylian; she sank right into your shadow!"
So she is in there. Link crouches down. The sun blazes overhead, casting his silhouette into the ground before him. He pushes into the grass with his hands.
"What are you doing?"
"Midna's not coming out. She might still be hurt." Link presses harder into the shadowed ground. "If she can't get out on her own, I have to help her."
"This is insane! Just take me to my Mama!"
"We need Midna to get to your Mama." Link explains, more patiently than he would have before. It's strange. His older self swore he could do nothing to help Link grow, that it was right for him to learn on his own, as he had. But just meeting his future self seems to have shifted something inside of him. He has to deserve to grow into such a strong person.
The Triforce emblem warms on his hand, and slowly, his hand start to sink into the blackness. His hands feel like they're squeezing through cold muck, until they suddenly have a grasp upon something much more solid. He grasps it firmly, and lifts it out into the light.
He's got a hold of Midna, by her small shoulders. Her eyes are closed, but to his relief, she still draws breath. Link cradles her close to his chest.
"What should I do?" He wonders. He could go back to the clowns, request their aid, but he thinks better of it. They might mistake her for one of Zant's twilight creatures, and try to do her harm. His hold tightens at the thought.
So instead, he continues further around the basin searching for an alternative. It isn't long until he reaches a sign.
"Lanayru Spring ahead…" Link reads aloud He decides to investigate it; after all, other springs had contained Great Fairies in his time. He walks into a hollowed out tree, with a pool of water at its base.
There's no Great Fairy waiting for him here. But there are a dozen or so normal ones. At his entrance, they flock towards him. They seem to instinctively know that Midna is the one in need to immediate aid, as they swarm her tiny body and cover it with layer after layer of healing magic. That done, two of them peel off from the group to buzz around Link. The lingering pains from Skyloft evaporate as if they were never there.
"Thank you." He says warmly, and the fairies titter. Their laughter is like a hundred bell chimes.
Their work done, the fairies flutter back to the center of the spring. Link slides down into a sitting position, leaning against the wood of the tree. He angles Midna so her head rests in his lap. The fairies saw to it that her injuries were healed. Now all this is left is for her to awake. She'll do it in time, so while he waits, he decides to read the old diary. He pulls it from the item pouch, and carefully turns to the first page. The oocca, understanding but not entirely happy that it must wait a little longer to see its mother, snuggles in next to Link's thigh, falling asleep. And Link reads.
Today was my first day in the Knight Academy! There's so much to write about, I hardly know where to begin. I suppose I'll start with the people. They're more interesting than the classes, anyway.
Since her father's headmaster, I think Zelda was more excited than anyone to finally be old enough to join the Academy. It's all she's talked about for weeks. You're allowed to join the Academy once you turn twelve. Zelda was that old months ago, but she waited for me to be old enough so we'd be in the same class. Today we didn't learn all that much about becoming a knight; rather, we learned about how we'll learn about becoming a knight. We were led on tours of the dorms, the mess hall, the class rooms, and the Sparring Hall. I think Zelda was actually upset that we weren't assigned any textbooks to read just yet. I don't understand it. I like stories—the legends of Hylia, the Loftwings, ancient heros—but to read to learn? I suppose it's just a Zelda thing.
During lunch this boy named Pipit introduced himself to all us new recruits. He's so loud! But it's clear how much he loves training to be a knight. I think we'll be good friends during our stay at the Academy.
But I don't think I'll ever like that Groose. While we were on the tour, he tripped me five times. Five times! But then Zelda told him off. She's a great friend.
I wanted to write more, but my candle's almost down to its end. I'll have to be sure to restock tomorrow. I'll finish with this paragraph. Despite Groose and his cronies, it's really, really nice here. Not that my time in Skyloft before was bad. Aside from Groose, everyone was always nice to me. But without parents, without a family, I never felt like I really belonged. Here, at the Knight Academy, I'm a part of something. I have a family now. If only stupid Groose didn't have to be a part of it!
Link laughs a little to himself. He can see why Midna wanted him to read this. His ancestor suffered through many of the things he himself had: the pain of never knowing his parents, the torment of another boy, the uncomfortable feeling of isolation from everyone else. But he shared the same joys, too. The happiness at having even one solitary friend. The warmth of finally belonging.
Link eagerly devours the journal, reading of his ancestor's various exploits, adventures, hardships. His friendship with Pipit grew into something strong and long-lasting. His, if not quite hatred, annoyance with Groose became just as strong and long-lasting. And Zelda, well…
It's Zelda's birthday tomorrow. Ever since we got our loftwings, we've always celebrated it the same way. A few hours before dark, her and I would fly to a far away island. It's small, barren of all life save for one tree. It produces the most delicious fruit I've ever tasted. Like a peach, but so much sweeter than even the ripest peach could ever hope to be.
But this year is important. She's turning sixteen. She'll be a girl no longer, but a lady.
I've thought for weeks about the perfect present, and finally, today, I realized it. But Groose—may the Goddess Hylia curse the winds he travels by!—had the audacity to offer his own present to her in the mess hall this afternoon. He said his present was his 'presence'—that night, in her bed. I swear, I would have smashed my tray in his face had Pipit not restrained me.
Zelda deserves far better than him. Someone who will care for her, cherish her. Worship her. Someone like—
The rest of the diary entry is slashed through with heavy ink, but Link can put two and two together. Face flaming, he shuts the book with a snap. This is definitely not why Midna wanted him to read the journal. Just because he drew a picture of his own Zelda doesn't mean that he—that he—Goddesses, he can't even think it!
To his relief on multiple levels, it is then that Midna starts to stir. Putting the diary away, he shifts all his focus to her.
She blinks at him, regaining her bearings, and then sits up. She massages her head with one hand as she looks around.
"I take it we survived the destruction of Skyloft, then?"
"Are you alright?" He knows the fairies had done their job properly, but still, he can't help but worry.
"I've been through worse." At the look on his face, Midna elaborates. "I feel great, Link. Like I was never hurt in the first place."
"Midna, has the other Link ever…met with a golden wolf?"
"Did you meet it?"
Link nods.
"Did he frighten you? He looks pretty gruesome in his skeleton form, but he means well; the other Link and I think he's an old ancestor."
"He is." Link confirms. She understands what he's getting at. And bursts into laughter.
"Oh man, you're telling me that that creaky old spirit is grown-up you? I never would've figured you'd grow up to be so grumpy."
"He wasn't grumpy, not with me." Link looks out across the spring. "He understood."
The young oocca squirms awake and flutters up by Link's head.
"She's awake. Let's go to mama now, Mr. Hylian!"
Link rises, patting down his clothes to brush away the grass and dirt that have collected there.
"Well, Midna? Are you up to teleporting us to the house?"
"Of course. I just said I was fine, didn't I?"
Midna raises her arms, and in a matter of seconds, they have left Lanayru Spring and are standing before a house carved from a tree. Link smiles. It's nice to see that some things don't change. He climbs the ladder up to the door. Midna hovers on his left side; the oocca, on his right. Link takes a deep breath, and opens the door.
-TBC-
Sorry for the delay, and the not very exciting chapter. Next one should be better and up much faster!