THE PRINCESS OF DESTINY
The sun was setting, casting a peaceful orange glow over the smooth waters of the Great Sea. Link sat on the edge of the pier, gazing out into the horizon. The Great Sea still managed to amaze him after all these years in Hyrule. There was so much water, more than his imagination could have held before seeing it for himself. Link had watched the fury of the sea as it roared against the coastline during a storm, but he had also seen serenity and peace on the smooth rolling waves. It was as if the sea were a living thing, its tides rising and ebbing with every breath, its mood reflected on the water's surface.
Link lost himself in the sound of the waves sloshing against the docks and the smell of the salty sea air whispering through the evening light.
He had arrived in Hyrule Castle Town the day before last. Without stopping, he had ridden right through the heart of the city and into the castle. Zelda had met him in the throne room as usual, but he was no longer awed by the immense chamber or the intricate statue of the Goddesses that stood behind the throne, standing guard over the country's monarch. Before such an immense sculpture, the Princess of Destiny still sat commandingly – seeming almost like a Goddess herself.
Link had not knelt. He did not even bow his head as all around him guards and servants fell the floor, prostrate, as Zelda rose to welcome him.
"Link, it is good you have traveled so swiftly," she begun, her words grating against Link's patience. He didn't quite understand why, but her presence never failed to rile up anger within him.
"I fear something terrible stands upon the threshold of Hyrule," Zelda continued.
"What do you want Zelda?" Link demanded, earning several small gasps from the attendants for his rudeness. "Don't speak to me in riddles; I do not have the patience for it."
Zelda was quiet for a moment, her soft blue eyes studying him.
"Come Link, let's walk," she said, surprising him. Without a word she descended the steps before her throne and strode past Link. When her personal guard began to follow she waved them back. They obeyed, but seemed reluctant to leave their princess alone with such an insolent stranger.
In silence, Zelda led Link to the castle palisades. The ocean stretched out before them, sparkling in the sun. Link could feel the waves pound against the palace walls far below, and he marveled at the unrelenting strength of the water.
"I thought that perhaps this conversation was one to be best had in private. It is not my wish that my fears be made public quite yet," Zelda finally said. Link turned away from the ocean to meet her gaze. The intensity of her stare made him cautious.
"What happened? I'm sure it's nothing that I can't handle," Link said, wondering what could have put Zelda on edge like she was.
"Surely you've seen the signs too," Zelda replied. "Link, evil is reawakening all around us." She turned to the sea, leaning tiredly against the battlements in an uncharacteristic show of weakness.
Link's eyes hardened. "Bulblins…" he breathed, beginning to understand.
"Bulblins, Armos, Redeads…Hyrule is being slowly saturated with foes from our dark past," Zelda paused. "I fear there is a larger power at work here – a catalyst provoking the sudden surge of evil within our lands." Link found himself realizing how much responsibility lay on the shoulders of the princess. He relentlessly cut down the small sympathetic sentiment threatening to rise within him.
"Who?" Link asked.
"I cannot tell, and my magic has failed to reveal more. Whatever form this evil has taken, it possess sorcery that surpasses even my own."
Link stood in stunned silence. Zelda's magic had been granted to her by the Goddess Nayru; to have even greater power was...should have been...impossible.
"What does that mean?" Link asked slowly.
"It means that, until we ascertain the truth of the situation, Hyrule is at the mercy of the enemy," Zelda replied somberly.
Link turned again to the ocean, taking a moment of silence to process this new information. There was no doubt that Zelda was right in what she said, and Link thoroughly agreed that they needed information desperately. Did she intend for him to gather that information?
"Your message mentioned a mission across the Great Sea," Link said. "The answers lie there?"
"That is my sincere hope," Zelda replied. She turned toward him, regaining her royal posture. "I am sending you to the Mother and Child Isles. There are tales of a great fairy within the mountain on the northern isle. If you can find her, she should help us."
Link blinked in surprise. "A fairy?" Fairies were creatures of myth; anger threatened to rise again within him. "Don't play games with me, Princess."
Zelda smiled. "Of course, I sometimes forget that you hail from a very different land than our Hyrule. Our histories speak very clearly of the great fairies aiding Hyrule in times of need. They have appeared in many times in many forms, but they have always shown kindness toward those who walk in the light of the Goddesses."
"Alright…" Link said, trying to process this new information. "But even if I can find her, are you sure she'll be able to help? Is her magic that much greater than yours?"
Zelda paused for a moment, apparently collecting her thoughts before continuing. "As you well know, my powers have been granted to me by the Goddess Nayru to protect the Triforce of Wisdom," Zelda said. "Using that power is similar to filling a cup from a river. I can only partake in as much power as fits within that cup. This is because I exist separate from the Goddesses, as does every Hylian.
"The fairies do not draw from the power of the Goddesses as I do. They are not beings of flesh, but of spirit, and as such they need no cup. They are, in fact, part of the water itself, connected intimately to the Goddesses in ways we cannot imagine." She paused for a moment, a quizzical look on her face. "I suppose, in our analogy, if the power of the Goddesses is the river from which I fill my cup, the fairies could be described most accurately as puddles where the power of the Goddesses has overflowed and collected."
"Which means what?" Link prompted. "That they have the powers of the Goddesses? Then why don't they intervene and destroy this evil for us?"
Zelda shook her head. "They are connected to the Goddesses, but they are not the same. They can harness no more power than that which they are made of, and once that power disappears, so do they. Like a puddle that dries up, they will cease to exist. However," Zelda continued. "They do possess some of the Goddesses' sight, and will be able to tell us much of this new evil."
Link just nodded; as much as he couldn't stand the woman, Zelda's judgment was always sound. "When do I leave?"
"I have kept a ship in the harbor ready. The captain assures me that he can sail at a few days' notice, so you have until then to be ready."
There it was, Link noticed with irritation, the condescending tone he'd learned to despise in Hyrule's monarch.
"Fine," Link said irately. He'd left without another word, feeling rather childish for storming off but relieved to be away from the object of his inexplicable anger.
As his harsh footsteps carried him away, Zelda called out to him one more time. "Perhaps the great fairy will know too how to give peace to your soul."
That had been two days ago. Tomorrow he would depart on yet another of Zelda's missions. He felt like yelling out into the ocean before him; he would yell out his grief, he would yell out his frustration, he would yell out his guilt, but he knew it would not change anything. It would not bring her back.
As he sat upon the pier, staring into the dying sun, a swell of bright, spotless water rose up beneath him, sprinkling his feet with its pure breath. Swallowing a sigh, Link rose and began the long walk back to the inn; he had one more night to drink away. One more night to forget.
The morning came both slowly and painfully. The morning's rays tore down violently through the curtain's gap, burrowing into Link's eyes until his head seemed to be filled with the glare, pounding at the intrusion. He tried rolling over – a futile retreat from the assault – but his skull was already full of the light, throbbing from sunlit congestion.
"Damn all liquor," he muttered, not quite meaning it. Shading his eyes, Link chanced a quick glance outside, immediately withdrawing as if burnt. The sun was climbing high into the sky. I'm already late, he noted indifferently, pulling on the loose brown breeches he wore underneath his tunic. Getting dressed was a sluggish affair, and eating breakfast no less so. Indeed, noon had come and gone by the time he departed from the inn and worked his way toward the docks.
The captain of the ship was waiting for him as he strolled up. Waiting rather impatiently, though he tried not to show it.
The ship itself wasn't very large for being an ocean-bound vessel, but Link knew that the tradeoff meant it would be faster. Unfortunately that also meant it would sway more in the rougher waters.
Link eyed the ship as he climbed aboard; he'd never seen another of its like. It wasn't very large; in fact it was hardly bigger than most river craft, but it was much skinnier. The three masts were several times taller than was usual as well, leading Link to assume that the keel of the vessel submerged deep underwater to provide a counterweight. Squinting into the clouds, Link thought he could see someone in the crow's nest near the top of the mainmast, but it was too high up to be sure.
Following the captain onto the main deck, Link asked about the canon capacity of the lower levels.
"Canon?!" the older man exclaimed, guffawing loudly as if at a joke. "On Zephos? Lad, Zephos here's the speediest craft on the Great Sea. Puttin' canon on her'd be like puttin' boots on a bird, slows her down and don't do a lick of good. There ain't no need for a fight when there ain't no ship can catch us."
"However fast she is, she can't outrun a cannonball," Link parried, annoyed at this new turn of events. "This is ridiculous."
"Lemme tell you about the beauty you're gonna be sailin' upon," the captain replied, the hint of a smirk on his face. "Zephos ain't your typical sloop. She's a new breed of ship, only one of her kind. We used a special type of wood, near sight from being charmed if truth be told, lighter than air and harder than oak. With the extra sheets she'll hit forty knots on a good day."
Forty knots? Link wisely kept his skepticism to himself. The fastest sloop he'd heard of couldn't hit fourteen knots. Forty wasn't just unheard of, it was impossible. The old man must think it funny to play games with him.
The captain began yelling at his crew to stow the anchor and set sail. Link sauntered over to the railing, sullen, and gazed out at the city as the men busily swarmed around him.
Within minutes they were ready to embark. As the last few mooring lines were tossed to the dockman upon the pier, a figure burst out from behind one of the dockside warehouses, a satchel over her shoulder and jet black hair streaming behind her. She vaulted onto the deck just as several of the crewmen began pushing off.
She set her satchel down confidently, ignoring the dumbfounded looks from the sailors around her. The captain bustled over to where she stood, his eyebrows drawn with irritation.
Link couldn't believe what he was seeing. The jet black hair, the dirty overlarge shirt and trousers. Standing before him was the strange girl with the harp from the town outside Outset.
"Lookit here girl, this ain't no passenger yawl—" the captain began, already motioning the helmsman to guide them back to the docks.
"I have plenty of coin to pay for passage, and you'll find my harp useful when your men begin to feel the droll of the sea." She spoke briskly and without pause, giving the captain no time to interject. Without hesitation she tossed him a small bag of rupees. "I'll take passage as far as he's going." She tossed her head in Link's direction, causing her hair to whip around.
The captain was silent for a moment.
"You can't be serious!" Link exclaimed, not sure if he was yelling at the girl or the captain.
"I was told ta take ya' to the Mother and Child Isles as quick as Zephos'd let me," the captain pronounced slowly, weighing the bag of rupees in his hand. "The princess never said nothin' 'bout not takin' on any extra folk."
The girl silently mouthed 'the princess,' excitement on her face.
Link swore loudly.
The captain chuckled. "'Sides, every boat runs a sight smoother with a musician on board. She might even save us a day or so."
The girl smirked. She had won. As the captain strode away, rupees in hand, she walked over to where Link was standing. He tried to ignore her.
"I'm glad he accepted my offer, that was all the money I had," she said with something akin to a giggle. "Men are so predictable."
Link strode back to the railing, but she followed closely, like a cat stalking an interesting piece of yarn. Link pretended she wasn't there.
"Aren't you curious to know how I followed you?" she asked after he didn't say anything. Her voice was soft, not raspy but airy, bringing to mind the image of a sweet summer breeze, or moonbeams blanketing a field of daffodils.
Link didn't answer.
"Fine," she said with a shrug, beginning to walk away. "You'll ask later though Swordsman."
Link considered throwing her overboard.
"My name's Link," he said. "Not Swordsman."
She smirked rather impishly.
"And my name is Kin," she responded sweetly. "Bard of the Ryū."