Chapter 18: A Dream Becomes Reality
Link struck the surface of the water and sank to the bottom in a flurry of bubbles. The fury with which Lord Jabu-Jabu had expelled them from his body convinced him that the god's natural defenses had kicked in at last.
Of course, it was hard to rejoice in that when he couldn't breathe. Only when he broke the surface and sucked in the air did he take time to collect his thoughts.
Unfortunately, he failed to notice the tree root sticking out of the water until his skull found it with a sharp crack. When he had recovered, he grabbed onto the root and climbed from the water to rest, panting.
He didn't rest for long. Hot breath on his neck made him aware he was not alone. He shot to his feet so quickly that he lost his balance and fell back into the water. Ruto giggled as she watched him float back to the surface again.
"You know," she said, "you were braver than I thought back there."
Link said nothing. Where's Navi when I need her?
Diving in after him, the Zora Princess swam right up in his face. "Tell me what you want, and I will make sure it is given to you." Her words spilled over themselves. "If you want money, my father will be glad to reward the man who saved my life. Anything you ask is yours for the taking."
She was so close that he had trouble hiding the red in his cheeks. "The stone you were looking for. Could I see it again?"
She blinked, surprised, then shrugged and held out the jewel he'd helped her recover from Lord Jabu-Jabu's stomach. "This?"
Link examined the stone until he was certain. Not only was it roughly the same size as the first two Spiritual Stones, but the color of the three sapphires making up the larger stone had the same richness as the Kokiri Emerald and the Goron Ruby.
He nodded quickly. "That's what I want."
"Are you sure?"
He swallowed. "Yes." Something about the grin his answer planted on her face made him uncomfortable.
"Very well." She took his right hand and placed the Spiritual Stone in the palm. "My mother told me to give it only to the man who will be my husband." She blushed. "You might call it the Zora's Engagement Ring!"
This probably should have alarmed him, but instead he turned to Navi, who had finally found her way back to his side, and whispered, "Engagement Ring?"
If Ruto's humor had disturbed him, the titter in Navi's voice terrified him. "I didn't know you were in a hurry to get married, Link!"
Link's face went white. "Married? Me?"
And then he fainted.
Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, leaned back against the headboard of her bed, engrossed in writing a letter. The inkpot sat on a small nightstand to her left; by instinct, she knew just when to dip the quill before it ran out.
Since the morning Link had departed, the need for distraction had seized her. After all, until he returned—if he returned—she would be trapped here, a prisoner of her birth, able to do little in assisting him.
She glanced up at the window behind her, frowning. Judging by her view from the battlements earlier that afternoon, the sky had been clear. Now it was darker than it had been in months.
Dark, like it had been in her dream.
It means nothing. She shook her head and dipped the pen, trying to ignore the sudden quiver in her hand.
Outside, thunder cracked, and she jumped. Ink plopped on the sheets, inches from her dress. She began to shake. Nothing, it means nothing.
"Good evening, Princess."
She froze. No. Not him. Not here, not now.
Ganondorf Dragmire glared at her from the foot of the bed, his arms folded at his chest, his cape flapping in the wind whipping through the open window. "You may finish the letter if you wish."
Her eyes ticked back and forth between the sword at his right hip and the look on his face. "You realize if my father finds out you were here, he'll break the treaty."
Ganondorf smiled. "There are two reasons that will never happen."
She took a breath and prayed a silent prayer to Din. "Yes?"
"One. You know I entered your room the night before the treaty was signed. You told your father, and he didn't believe I would have the audacity to do it."
She swallowed. "Even if that were true, there is nothing you or he can do to deny it this time."
Ignoring her, he began to draw his sword from its sheath. "The second reason. Your father is dead and therefore unable to break our treaty."
"Imposs…" The denial died on her lips as his sword cleared its sheath. Blood—still wet—stained the end of the blade. An animal's blood, or at worst a Knight's, she told herself. He wouldn't dare strike my father.
Her thoughts raced. Where was Impa? Should she scream? Would it save her if she did?
Ganon's expression hardened. "Where is it?"
She lowered her head, tucking the quill out of sight. "I suggest you leave."
A growl built from the back of his throat. "How many must die before you realize I will have what I want whether you resist or not?"
She swept a hand towards the nightstand at her side. "Very well."
His gaze snapped on the drawer just below the top of the nightstand. Desire warped his features, but there was also suspicion. It was too easy. The Ocarina of Time was too valuable an object to be surrendered so quickly.
But she knew he would take the risk anyway.
"Your cowardice surprises me." As he pulled open the drawer, he laughed. "Even your father, fool as he was, gave a braver resistance at the end."
Her hand moved quicker than his mind could respond. Whipping the quill from beneath the sheets, she rammed it into his left cheek. Ganon screamed, even more from anger than pain, and threw the quill to the floor. Turning his attention back on the princess, he grabbed at her arm and yanked her off the bed.
The door flew open with a crash. In two seconds, Impa had taken stock of the situation and decided how to act. Drawing the knife at her right hip, she lunged at Ganondorf, forcing him to break his grip on Zelda's arm to fight her off.
"Princess, the window!"
Momentarily free from danger, Zelda yanked open the drawer of the nightstand and snatched up the Ocarina of Time. Tucking the instrument into her dress, she clapped her hands on the window sill and prepared to launch herself through.
With a curse, Ganon smashed his forehead into Impa's and swung at her neck with his sword. Instead of taking her head off, he only managed to sever one of the bedposts as she leapt past his left shoulder and dove through the window, taking Zelda with her.
And then they were falling away from the tower, two hundred feet above the ground, with nothing to stop them from dashing their bodies against the cobblestone below—or so it seemed.
Even though Zelda never closed her eyes, the fog was so thick it prevented her from seeing anyway. But she could hear well enough, and what she heard was the thunder of hooves on the road beneath.
Invoking the name of the goddess, Farore, Impa slowed their descent with a magical blast of wind and landed squarely in the saddle of a white horse with Zelda clinging to her waist.
"You knew we would have to escape!" Zelda shouted to be heard over the noise of the animal's gallop. "That's why you've been hiding food in the stables."
"Yes." Impa patted the horse's saddlebags. "There will be enough for a month if we are cautious."
Zelda's mouth hung open. "A month? How long do you expect to be in hiding?"
"Only the gods know, Princess."
"What of father? What of Link?"
"The King of Hyrule is dead. In my concern for our escape, I arrived too late to defend him from his assassin. As for Link…"
Long after Zora's Domain had faded in the distance, Link brooded on the consequences of gaining the third Spiritual Stone. Rescuing Princess Ruto from the belly of Jabu-Jabu seemed a small task in comparison with the oath she had made him swear before leaving: to return when his quest had ended and be joined to her in the traditional Zora fashion.
"I'll bet I know what you're thinking about," Navi said.
He scowled. "I wanted to get out of there, back to the castle. I should have just stayed and explained why I needed the Stone to begin with."
"You did the right thing."
"Easy for you to say."
"Link?" Navi landed gently on his arm. "Are you alright?"
Suddenly, he had stopped. Something bothered him.
"What is it?"
His frown deepened. "I've been here before."
"But we just came this way with Malon and Tal—"
"No. I mean I was here, in a dream, the night Ganondorf cursed the Great Deku Tree."
They both gazed westward. In the distance, less than a mile away, Hyrule Castle Town stood majestic under a black curtain of thunderclouds. The drawbridge had been raised, though the day was still young and the meal he had shared with Malon and Talon recent enough to keep him from starving.
His left hand curled into a fist. "I think Zelda's in trouble."
"Wait!" Navi sped after him as he took off towards the city. "Be careful, Link!"
Ignoring her, he headed for the drawbridge, reaching it just as the heavens opened up to pour forth the fury of the gods…
Impa spurred the white horse on the final stretch of cobblestone leading up to the drawbridge. On their left, the door to the guardhouse was open. Two Gerudo women, their scimitars caked with the blood of the Knight on duty, rushed into the street and jumped in front of the horse.
"Impa…" Zelda's knuckles were turning white.
Steering the horse towards the guardhouse, Impa dropped from the saddle and hurled herself at the crank that turned the drawbridge.
Clearly, Ganondorf had planned his coupe well, but she wasn't about to yield her life or that of the Princess so soon.
After a screech of chains, the bridge began to lower in a steady rhythm…
Link stood back, sensing danger. The drawbridge groaned to a halt as it found the edge of the moat. Seconds later, a white horse barreled through the fog inside the city, nearly running him over.
Remembering the dream, he didn't have to look to know who rode that horse, but he looked anyway.
Their eyes met, and the strength of the feeling each saw in the other burned through the fear of the moment. Link realized how much Zelda's faith in him had meant when he had first set out to gain the Spiritual Stones, and she began to realize how much his faith in her had meant when even her father had refused to believe her dreams were true.
Freeing one arm from Impa's waist, the Princess fumbled with her dress until she had untangled the Ocarina of Time from an inner pocket.
"Be certain you are choosing the best course of action."
Zelda paused at Impa's words. "The Spiritual Stones will be useless without it."
"But is it safe for him to open the Door of Time alone?"
The Princess heaved a sigh, knowing the risks but confident that Din and her sisters would protect Link and give him the courage to finish the task. Thus resolved, she pulled back her arm and pitched the Ocarina towards the drawbridge.
Then she turned back to face the road ahead, renewing her grip on Impa's waist, even as she whispered a final prayer of safety for the fate of Link and of Hyrule itself.