Chapter 2: I want to play an instrument!
"Get up Link."
His mother shook him gently for the tenth time. She sighed and shook her head, always the same thing. First she had to wake her husband, whom she as usual hadn't succeeded to wake this morning, then her son, who happened to be just as bad as his father. Instead she gave it another try to sort out her tangled hair. After a while she stopped and concentrated on nothing else than listening, her pointy ears twitched as she did so. She could hear her husband stir from his sleep.
His blond hair was shorter than that of his son's, scars were visible on his tanned skin and told of the many battles he had gone trough. He opened his grey eyes and sat up but soon closed them again, allowing himself to fall back to the warmth of the covers.
"You'll be late for your meeting with the king", his wife commented and then strode out of the room so that he wouldn't see her smirk, because she knew what was coming. Her husband leapt out of bed and ran through every room to find his finest armor, tunic, sword and all other necessaries you need when you were such a lucky man that you could meet the king. He wasn't a very orderly person and soon all drawers in the house were pulled out and their content all over the floor.
"Why didn't you wake me?" He grunted as he hurried past her.
"Do we have to go through this again?" she sighed but smiled playfully when he wasn't looking.
As usual she put her hair up in a bun to look presentable. Her husband tried a smile at his reflection and, satisfied, put on his cape.
"Now, where's my son?" he asked his wife.
"Mum?" A small voice was heard. The boy spoken of had just entered from his bedroom, still in his pyjamas. He was not fully awake yet but at least he could remember that he had forgotten to tell his mother something very important the day before. "I asked a girl to marry me."
His mother spun around and bewilderedly stared at him. "Link, d-did you… understand what I told you about marriage?"
"If you ask one to marry you they won't disappear!" he said drowsily and reached for his regular green tunic that hung over the back of a chair. Both his mother and father gaped at him but he was too tired to notice.
Finally his mother seemed to snap out of it, his father on the other hand still had his mouth open, and she pointed at his tunic. "We… are going to see the king."
"Oh…" he got the point and quickly reached for the red tunic he used the day before, but that was welcomed by a loud scream from his mother.
"What have you done? Look at it!" She quickly snatched the very dirty tunic from his hands, ran to the closet and began to look for another one that could possibly be accepted for such an important meeting as the one they were invited to.
After much, yelling, running, stressing and so on, not to mention the time it took to get the father to move again after the shocking news, the family was finally on their way to the throne room.
Link was more than raring to go. This meant one of the rare times he could see Zelda. He was often kept busy by his father, who seemed to believe that the best thing would be if Link gave up both food and sleep to improve his battle skills. As for Zelda, who as the princess, always was held busy by different teachers, that were to make sure she learnt all a princess could ever need to know, and was to be kept within eyesight she didn't have much time to see him either. Sadly it was almost impossible for the two friends to meet each other.
The huge double doors opened and the three family members entered the gigantic room where the king, and his daughter Princess Zelda, were waiting. Link followed his parents over to the throne and bowed.
"I am sure you are aware of the time this will take so I will make sure your son will be escorted elsewhere where he can amuse himself and be looked after." The pompous king said loudly, arisen from his throne. Link felt the urge to roll his eyes. He had only seen the king once or twice that he could remember but every time he actually was in the king's presence he realized how skilled Zelda's imitations of him were.
"I'll escort him father", Zelda spoke, her high voice followed by a faint echo throughout the room. She rose and walked gracefully, for a six-year-old girl, down to Link's side and silently gestured for him to follow.
None of them said a word till they reached the castle garden where Zelda began to giggle as if what had occurred had been awfully amusing.
"What?" he asked and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Did you see the way I sat on the thrown?" She held her head a little higher and let her hands rest in the air as if she was sitting on the throne again. "…and how I walked", she repeated the floating way she had walked with small steps.
"Zelda…"
"Yes?" she stopped and stared intensely at him to make him continue, as usual understanding when it was time to be serious.
"Do you know what 'marry' actually means?" he asked and glanced shyly at her.
"I've heard that people who marry lives together so… I guess you'll be like my brother and we can play with each other every day from then on" she said, more to herself than to him.
"Oh, and you know what…" he said, believing every word, a lot more excited.
"No, what?" She sat down opposite of him.
"When you marry someone that person won't disappear."
She gasped and leant a little closer. "Is that true?"
He nodded. Her admiring eyes made him feel confident. He lay down and gazed lazily at the blue sky. She obediently stayed where she was but in the end she couldn't resist crawling over to him and look down on his face.
"When we live together", she said. "Will there be a garden?"
"Of course", he said with a somewhat important tone to his voice. "If you want a garden you shall have a garden."
She laughed and some of her long hair fell over her shoulder and tickled his nose. She stroked it back behind her ear and smiled apologetically.
"Can we have pets too?" she asked him. Link frowned since he didn't know how he should answer this question. Animals usually liked him and he in turn was very fond of animals but there was this horrible, fat lady that always had to talk to his mother whenever they ran into her, and she could talk for an eternity too. Her second favorite subject seemed to be a certain Mr. Mutoh. You'd be amazed by how much there was to tell about Mr. Mutoh.
Now, you might wonder what this had to do with anything and we're about to get to that part. You see, her favorite topic was her dog Richie. If there always was something to tell about Mr. Mutoh there was always twice as much to tell about Richie. While Link's mother had to endure these astounding stories Link had to look after the dog. Oh, what a great task you might think and that's just what Link thought too. However, the dog always ran off somewhere.
The dog seemed friendly enough, but as soon as Madame Mamamu Yan was busy gossiping he set off and Link had to go find him. What's so bad about that then? Now it happened to be so that the dog had an amazing talent to find the dirtiest, worst, awful, hard-to-reach places there were. These were of course times when Link was grateful for Madame Mamamu Yan's gossiping because the dog had to be back, safe and spotless, at the second she was done talking. If Madame Mamamu Yan noticed a grain of sand or a corn of dust on her dog she'd scowl at poor Link and believe me when I say that there could be nothing worse than having Madame Mamamu Yan mad at you. You could be sure she would tell everyone lots of awful things about you and make sure you were kept outside of all conversations and not invited by anyone. She had a gift to turn people against you. While that didn't bother Link much it also meant that Madame Mamamu Yan would treat his mother the same way and it took a lot of bribes and flattery to make Madame Mamamu Yan happy again.
The mere thought of having a dog brought thoughts of Madame Mamamu Yan pinching his cheek, not to mention the bringers of nightmares, her kisses, and making him look after that dreadful dog. Link was sure Richie put him through all the trouble of following him on purpose too.
"As long as it's not a dog", he answered Zelda's question.
"Maybe a Keaton", she suggested hopefully.
"What?" Link asked, not being able to fully recall what a Keaton was.
"Doesn't your mother read you fairy tales?" she asked, and simply assuming it could be so almost brought tears to her eyes.
"Of course she does", Link snorted. "She reads plenty every night." He didn't want to look stupid in front of Zelda and the embarrassment made his cheeks redden. He also couldn't stand her crying.
"I've heard lots of fairy tales, probably more than anyone, and my mum tucks me in and kisses me goodnight", he added. Zelda's smile faltered. You wouldn't know and I don't think Link knew either but Zelda's mother died when she was very little and ever since her father hadn't been bothering much about her. Not that it was enough to bring her down. She was convinced her father loved her more than anything else in this world and she treasured her memories of her mother dearly. More importantly, she had Link. Link who had seen the world outside of the castle, who always explained things, told her stories and was the one she was going to marry one day, if he now did write her a song.
"Keatons are very clever and good at hiding, that's why some believe they don't exist", Zelda told Link. "But I'm sure they do and I'd like one to come and visit me at least. I could comb his golden fur and he'd caress me with his three tails and tell me such good things that I don't have to worry about anything. Then I'd hug him…"
"I tell you good things", Link said defensively. If that Keaton would get that much attention he would make sure they didn't get one.
"Oh, of course, you tell the best things", Zelda ensured him, feeling very guilty that she hadn't praised him and bent down to wrap her arms around him, snuggling against his neck. It tickled him and he chuckled.
When his parents were done with their business it was already late and Link held back a yawn. His mother was holding his hand but he was so tired she had to pull him along. Suddenly Link remembered something.
"Mum, I want to play an instrument." As soon as the words were spoken his father turned his head so quickly that Link was almost sure it could have fallen off.
"A… What!" His father roared.
"An instrument" Link repeated.
"Such a lovely idea my little Deku flower", his mother cooed with a smile and lifted him up to carry him, realizing it would be better than dragging him.
"Please, darling, stop referring to our son as a Deku flower! And put him down! He can walk by himself!" Link's father pleaded.
"Oh, but look at him, he's so tired and Deku flowers are adorable, just like him", she answered, knowing that her husband sooner or later always gave in to her. He fell silent for a second but decided it would be better to argue. His wife had way too much power over him and what would become of them if he let this continue?
"But how will he become a strong, rich, famous, handsome, unbeatable, respected warrior if you keep carrying him and calling him… You know…"
"I want to play an instrument! Mum, Dad!" Link yawned and tried to stay awake a little longer. Just so he could know for sure what the answer would be.
His father groaned. "But how are you supposed to become a strong, rich…"
"I'm sure he understands, dear", Link's mother cut off. "We'll make sure you get to play an instrument first thing in the morning."
To the sweet promising words of his mother, and to his father's endless complaining, Link fell asleep with a smile on his lips and with high hopes for tomorrow.
I'd be very happy if someone could take their time to give any suggestions for names, I really don't know what to call Link's parents! I could really use some help!
And I'm very sorry that I'm so slow when it comes to updates! I have plenty of time but I'm way too lazy!
Hmm… I don't recall ever hearing Mamamu Yan's name in OOT (or Mutoh's for the matter). I haven't played OOT as much as MM and it's also very sad that you can't hear people's lines over and over in OOT. Mutoh is as you probably know married in MM but perhaps Mamamu Yan fancies him anyway? I planned to have her worship 'the bearded man' (you know who I mean) but I don't think he has a name so he was replaced (sorry bearded man). And the dog's full name is of course Richard.