A Goddess' Prowess
3
"'Link'... Who is that? And what do you mean by, 'The bearer of the Triforce of Courage?'" Farore said, giving the woman a suspicious glare.
"I think you very well know, miss."
Farore had her feet planted on the ground as she gazed up at the mysterious woman in front of her. Her mind was a swirling mass of thoughts and confusion. Should she run? Was this woman a friend or foe? Why was this woman here, and dressed as Zelda as well? Did this woman expect her appearance? Or did Queen Zelda expect her appearance, and set up this woman as a decoy instead? How did this woman know about the Triforce? And most importantly, why did this woman know and bring up that name?
As far as Farore knew about implying her motives to others, she had only suggested the idea that she was searching for Queen Zelda, which was completely true at the moment. So why did this woman say that name, of all names? Something was definitely up.
Before Farore could utter a word, however, she looked up and found a pair of inquisitive red eyes gazing at her at an inch from her face.
Startled, Farore let out a squeal and scrambled backwards, only to stumble and feel her center of gravity suddenly change when her foot caught on a stray vine stretching across the ground. The woman extended an arm in an effort to stop her from falling, but she was a moment too late. With a soft crash - as loud a sound as one could get from falling on grass - Farore fell face first down onto the grass.
The woman rushed over, helping Farore back up while asking, "Are you alright?"
"Mpphf..." was all Farore could mumble, her mouth full of grass.
As the woman helped Farore up, it was only until that the latter was completely upright did she think about whether or not her necklace had fallen out. Instinctively, Farore spit out the grass and looked down at her chest. Try as she might to wrench her eyes from the unpleasant sight, there it was. The Triforce of Courage had slipped out of her tunic, and was now in plain view.
Farore kept her eyes glued at her chest, only moving her gaze when she felt the woman's hand slowly slip out of hers. She watched the hand slink away, and easily anticipated the words that followed.
"Well, well! What have we here?"
Farore looked up at the woman begrudgingly. The woman's red eyes gazed piercingly into hers, hovering above a slight smirk. Farore bit her lip.
"Is that the Triforce of Courage, I see?"
Farore didn't bother putting the Triforce back underneath her tunic. The fact that this woman guessed which part of the Triforce it was made it unlikely that any lie would be able to get her out of this situation.
"Yes," Farore confirmed. "How did you know, though?"
Farore cocked her head backwards like a pigeon when she found an index finger pointing accusingly at her nose.
"Your clothes," said the woman simply. "The green tunic, the brown boots, a child around the age of ten or eleven. All of these were signs of the Hero of Time."
"The Hero of Time?"
"Yes. Although, the green hair I'm quite sure was not a part of the formula. Is that your natural hair color?" the woman asked.
"Oh, no. It's dyed," said Farore, touching one of her buns fondly. She brought her hand back down after a moment and continued, "But that's beside the point. So you said that you knew I was carrying the Triforce of Courage due to those... signs? Signs of the Hero of Time, you said?"
Farore jumped when the woman suddenly let out a large, boisterous laugh. The explosive volume of her laugh was enough the shake the leaves in the trees, causing birds to fly out of the courtyard clearing. It wasn't hard to tell what Farore was thinking judging by the way she covered her ears and the scrunched expression covered her face.
Once the woman stopped laughing, she said with a deep breath, "Pardon me. To answer your question, miss, yes, I did divine that you were holding the Triforce of Courage due to those signs. If those signs included that the Hero was carrying the Triforce at all!"
Farore was flabbergasted. "What? But Link - !"
Farore stopped again when she found a finger thrust dangerously close to her nose once more. Those sharp nails were long enough to gouge someone's eyes out, Farore thought, as she eyed the appendage with distaste.
"So you do recognize the name after all," the woman cut in, giving Farore a triumphant smile. "It's best to stop feigning, miss. After all, that is your name, isn't it? Link."
Oh, bother. The woman thought she was Link? She touched her temple, shaking her head in incomprehension. Her shoulders rose and sagged.
"I-I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," said Farore. "But I can tell you with certainty that my name is not Link, nor am I the Hero you mentioned."
The woman put a hand to her chin. She examined Farore more closely. "Hm? Then why do you have the Triforce of Courage?"
"I have it, because I am the owner of it."
The woman's eyes, which were fixated on the glowing object on Farore's chest, moved up to the face above it. After a few seconds of determined staring on both ends, the woman's eyes slowly widened, as though she had come across a revelation. The woman's hand on her chin had now fallen by her side, and her body was now trembling. She glanced at one of the stained glass windows on the castle wall behind Farore, which had the picture of a faceless figure outlined in green, floating beside a familiar yellow triangle. There was no doubt as to what her conclusion was.
"No!" the woman cried. "You can't be..."
Having already closed her eyes and put on a sagely smile on her face, Farore prepared to nod.
Her hopes were diminished, however, when Farore suddenly felt a tugging on her wrist and her feet dangling in the air.
"Wha?" Farore cried, finding herself cradled in the arms of the woman.
Before Farore had any chance to free herself, however, there came a flash of light, and the next thing Farore knew, the clearing vanished before her eyes, and everything faded to black.