HOPE REKINDLED
In the morning, Link was pleasantly surprised to find his tunic, hat, and trousers still amongst the items that were returned to them. Even more pleasant was the discovery that they had been washed and repaired.
"My mother must have patched them up while you were unconscious," Kin explained as she helped pack away their campsite. "Do not be too quick to thank her though; she sews to relieve stress, not to exude kindness.
Link hardly thought it would matter, since he would never have the opportunity to thank the woman. That is, as long as everything went as planned. Nevertheless, it felt good to feel the long green cap upon his head.
Navi too seemed relieved to be able to cuddle away beneath his hat again. Somehow, she was able to slip in and out without him having to remove his cap. Baffled, Link vowed to someday figure out how.
"Why, my dear demented swordsman, do you wear that ridiculous outfit?" Kin asked as he buckled on his belt and bracers.
Link shrugged. "Princess Zelda had them made for me after I arrived in Hyrule. I remember her saying something about it being my birthright." He pulled at the fabric. "I think this is what every Hero of Time has worn, or at least something similar." Link chuckled. "Honestly, I couldn't care less about that, but it's just so darn comfortable." With another laugh, he strung his bow and swung the quiver over his shoulder next to the Master Sword. I'm amazed the string is still good, Link marveled, giving it a melodious pluck. Though with only a half dozen arrows, it won't do much good for long.
"Comfortable!" Kin laughed outright. "Of course it's comfortable! You look like you're wearing bedclothes!"
Link feigned concern. "Really?" He sighed. "Is it the color? I always wondered what it would look like in blue, or maybe red."
"How about purple?" Kin teased, throwing a clump of grass at him. "Come on, we should hide all these supplies. We won't want to carry them up the mountain."
Together, they managed to cache the food and blankets in the hollow beneath a nearby boulder.
"Here we are," Kin said, leading Link to a small mountain path hidden behind a dense thicket. "The main path to the temple is hardly used, but we still might run into some guards." She grinned mischievously. "I'm the only one who knows about this back path. I used it to sneak away to play as a kid." She continued to chuckle until a rather stiff branch of brambles snapped against her rear. "Son of a Goron!" she cursed. "I remember this path being quite a bit bigger."
Link couldn't help but laugh.
The path up the mountain was steep, but after climbing Mother Isle, Link couldn't find it in himself to complain.
"So," Kin asked as the path twisted around the backside of the mountain. "What do you plan to do after we speak with Valoo? No matter what happens, we still do not have a boat."
Link shrugged. "We'll steal a ship."
"Steal a ship?" Kin repeated hesitantly. "Swordsman, as much as I hate to say it, these aren't bad people. We can't just—"
"We can, and we have to," Link interrupted. He caught Kin's eye. "I wasn't lying about the castle reimbursing their loss, but even if I was, there is too much at stake to risk it all over something as trivial as this. I would burn a thousand boats before I let Vaati, or anyone, destroy this kingdom."
Kin was visibly unsettled. "I understand how important our quest is, and maybe stealing a boat is necessary, but burning a thousand? How far is too far?"
"Sometimes I wonder," Link replied quietly. "Would you kill one to save two? To save a hundred?"
Kin couldn't answer.
"I would," Link said forcefully. "A life is a life, no matter how it's used, and every time I cut down a bulblin or a darknut, I make that choice. I take their lives to save the hundreds they could have hurt."
"But they're—" Kin began.
"Don't try to tell me they're evil, or that they deserve it," Link interrupted. "You cannot lay down judgment on an entire race. Most of Hyrule's enemies are playing follow the leader to some higher power. They don't think they're in the wrong. In fact, you'd be surprised to know that there are entire clans of moblins dedicated to preserving peace." Link sighed. "On the other side of that rupee, there are plenty of humans who pillage and murder for their own benefit, or in the name of some evil power. Are they any different?" Link's voice became hard as the stone they walked upon. "No, they are not."
"You can put on a tough face all you want, swordsman," Kin said, regaining her nerve. "But I don't think you could harm an innocent bystander to accomplish your goals, no matter what you say."
Link let out a deep breath of air. "No, I suppose I probably couldn't, but I pray I'm never faced with that choice. I could not live with myself if my lack of resolve were the reason any more people died.
"Besides," he continued. "That is the reason I do not fight for myself. As much as the princess infuriates me at times, she allows me to do what needs to be done. I fight for her, so that I may draw my blade without hesitation. I shed blood, yet she is held accountable. I would call it a partnership, but she is the one who suffers for my actions and shoulders my nightmares; it would be uncouth to place my bloodstained blade alongside her heavy crown."
Link left Kin with much to think about. For nearly an hour, they continued on in silence.
"You were planning to steal a ship all along," Kin suddenly realized. "Ever since Bruchis refused your request."
Link nodded.
"Then I went and caused this whole mess," Kin continued sullenly. "I opened my mouth and made everything that much more difficult."
She nearly stumbled into Link before she realized he had stopped walking. "You said what you needed to say," Link said, smiling at her. "That moment was not about me, and it should not have been about me. You cannot hold everything so tightly in here," he lay his finger on Kin's heart, "or it will create a darkness inside of you." He flicked her nose before turning around and continuing on. "You taught me that! Besides, if you were actually worried about making my life more difficult, you'd still be safe aboard the Zephos and I'd be halfway to Hyrule with a half-retarded fairy, a bad temper, and no answers," Link said, winking at her to show me was teasing.
"Hey!" Navi called out, offended. Link stuck his tongue out at the little ball of light.
The conversation was much more lighthearted after that. In what seemed like no time at all, they were approaching the temple.
"Be quiet and step carefully," Kin whispered. "The main entrance is just around this next bend, and there are sure to be guards. Thankfully, I know another way in."
"How?" Link asked.
"There are skylights in several of the residences, but not all the rooms are always used," Kin explained. "As long as they're as large as I remember, we can drop in through one of those into an unused bedroom."
Link nodded. "Sounds good. Let's go."
Kin led them away from the entrance, a little further up the mountain. While they walked, Link marveled at the stonework of the temple. It had been carved right out of the mountain itself. In some places it was hard to discern where the mountain ended and the temple began.
Before long Kin stopped and gestured to a series of small windows carved nearly straight down into the temple.
"What do they do when it rains? Link asked curiously.
"It doesn't rain much in the fire belt," Kin explained. "But if the sky looks cloudy the priests will send one of the servants out to plug up the holes with large rocks. That's how I discovered them." She pointed to a flat boulder almost a meter across. "And coincidentally, that's how we'll know which room to drop into. Only an empty residence would have a blocked skylight on a day like this."
Together, Link and Kin managed to move aside the rock, exposing a hole just barely big enough to fit each of their shoulders through. Through it, Link saw only darkness.
"It looks deceiving," Kin said, not sounding totally sure. "It's really only a few lengths to fall."
"Navi?" Link whispered. Obediently, the bright little fairy fluttered into the darkness. Before too long, they could see the ground. It did only look like a few lengths, but judging for certain was difficult.
"It's either this or the main gate," Link said, earning an exasperated eye roll from Kin. Before he could stop her, she leapt into the opening.
Link heard a muffled thud, then a loud crash.
"Are you alright?" he whispered down worriedly, trying in vain to see any sign of his friend in the darkness.
"I'm fine!" Kin called back up in a hushed yell. "I accidentally broke a pot. Oh, look there was a rupee inside!"
Now it was Link's turn to roll his eyes just before leaping into the blackness. He landed right next to Kin with hardly a sound.
Link's eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom. Around him were the dusty furnishings of a long neglected bedroom. An ornate wooden bed had been pushed up against one wall to make room for several chests and empty crates. Next to one lay the newly shattered remnants of a small clay pot.
"Where do we go from here?" Link whispered.
"Shh!" Kin hushed him, her ear pressed up against the wooden door. "Alright, it doesn't sound like anyone is out there." She turned to Link. "The entrance to the Great Valoo's nest is further into the temple, near the summit of the mountain. Follow me and be quiet. Most of the guards don't enter the inner portions of the temple and the priests should be in the library this time of day, but I can't guarantee it."
Together, the trio slowly made their way through an endless maze of hallways and corridors. Link couldn't help but look around in fascination; the stone work was even more detailed and exquisite inside the temple than without. He must have seen more than half a dozen reliefs depicting what he thought must have been different moments in the temple's history. Lavish rugs covered most of the walkways, making it much easier for the two to keep quiet. Many of the larger chambers even had fountains to disperse clean water.
"This feels so surreal," Kin whispered as they stopped for a drink at one such fountain. "I never thought I'd be back in this place. I hated it here, but even so it still feels a little like home."
"How much further?" Link replied, straining his ears for the sounds of anyone approaching. He was growing more anxious with every step into the temple.
Kin pointed to their left. "That corridor will take us to the foyer. Then it's just up a few stairs and we're there."
She had barely gotten the last word out when a door to their left swung open. They didn't even have time to think of hiding before the two adventurers were spotted.
"What are you doing here?!" the girl said, shock and anger apparent on her voice.
Link started. He recognized the girl; she was Kin's younger sister.
"Shay?" Kin said, clearly just as shocked as he. "Shay! Please don't scream out! Please, just let me explain!"
"Explain!?" Shay said, clearly not bothering to keep her voice down. "How could you explain coming back in here? And bringing him with you?!" She furiously gestured to Link. "You've completely turned your back on us! You've betrayed us to an outsider!"
"No Shay! No I haven't!" Kin pleaded desperately. "Shay, he's the Hero of Time! He has to speak with Valoo or else the entire kingdom might be destroyed!"
Shay's eyes looked like they might bulge right out of her head. "Speak with Valoo?" she repeated. "Speak with Valoo?! You cannot bring an outsider before Valoo! You should be killed for even telling him of Valoo! For even bringing him in this temple!"
"Shay," Kin begged. "Please."
It was too late. Link grabbed Kin's arm and pulled her running down the left corridor just as Shay filled her lungs. "GUARDS! GUARDS! INTRUDERS IN THE FOYER!" the girl screamed. Her high pitched voice echoed endlessly down every stone hallway. She was sure to have been heard.
"Come on!" Link yelled, not bothering to be quiet.
Kin stared sadly back after her sister for another moment, then turned away.
Navi's bright light led their way down the unlit corridor and into what Link assumed must be the foyer. It was the largest room he's seen yet. A bridge passed over a small stream that ran through the middle of the chamber. On the other side were a steep flight of stairs leading to a rather large stone door. The stairs were flanked with a series of statues.
"We can lock the door from the other side," Kin explained as they sprinted across the room.
Link nodded. He was beginning to hear the sounds of people yelling in the previous room; there must have been a contingent of guards not too far away.
With one smooth motion, Link threw himself against the heavy stone door, swinging it open just enough for Kin and himself to slip through. Bright sunlight awaited them on the other side.
"STOP!" an angry voice called out from the room they'd just escaped. Link could hear the crunch of armor on the hard floor. Desperately, he put all his weight back against the door. It moved an inch, then two. The guards were on the steps. With a growl, Link forced the door the rest of the way shut, barely managing to throw down the crossbeam before the weight of several guards smashed against it from the other side.
Link breathed a small sigh of relief. They were safe for now. That sigh caught in his throat as he turned around and found himself face to face with a dragon.
Valoo's hot breath washed over him as the dragon's enormous golden eyes regarded him and his companion. Link couldn't move. Valoo was easily the size of a large inn – his bulk engulfed the large summit plateau they had emerged onto. Link thought he saw Kin out of the corner of his eye, bowing.
Navi casually floated out from beneath Link's hat and perched upon the great dragon's snout.
"Hi! I'm Navi!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, followed by an odd gurgling sound that emerged from Valoo's throat. He's laughing! Link suddenly realized.
"Watashi wa, Navi o ai dekite ureshiku omoimasu," Valoo suddenly said. His warm, booming voice filled the air and reverberated off the high stone walls. The dragon's golden eyes again returned to Link. "Soshite watashi wa, tōji no hīrō futatabi o ai dekite ureshiku omoimasu. Itsumo no yō ni, watashi wa anata no sābisu de gozen."
The language was foreign to Link, but he felt like he could almost understand it. Almost...
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Hero of Time. As always, I am ready to serve," Kin said breathlessly from where she stood behind him. "He speaks in the old tongue. I can translate for you."
Link's heart beat nearly out of his chest from either fear or excitement, he wasn't sure which. Uncertainly, he bowed.
"My name is Link," he began hesitantly.
"Sore wa anata no namaede wa arimasenga, anata wa Link daredesuka," Valoo replied. "Anata wa itsumo sōdatta." The sun glittered off his bright red scales as he breathed. He wore a long, grey beard that trailed beneath his muzzle, and two more tufts of tangled grey hair lay along each side of his head like horns.
"Link is not your name, but who you are," Kin translated. "It has always been so."
Link shook his head in confusion, but pressed on. "I seek the Sands of Time," he said. "The kingdom is threatened by a man, Vaati. The Queen of the Fairies told us the answers would lie in the Sands of Time."
The dragon closed his eyes and was silent for a very long time. Link wondered if he had fallen asleep.
"Picori no ritān wa saigai o motarasu kotodeshou. Watashi wa kare no aku wa eien ni nemuru koto o kitai."
"The Picori's return will bring disaster. I had hoped his evil would sleep forever."
"Then tell me, how can I find the Sands of Time?" Link asked again, frustrated. "You must know!"
Another pause. "Watashi wa, watashi no kioku ga watashi no furui jidai ni hakudaku shite iruga kowai," the dragon boomed. "Jikan no suna...
"My memory is clouded by old age," Kin translated slowly. "The Sands of Time..."
"Please, try to remember!" Link pleaded.
"Gomen'nasai. Kore wa watashi ga oboete iru subetedearu: Jikan no suna no rokku o kaijo suru ni wa, kīde wanai kī o mitsukeru hitsuyō ga arimasu."
"I apologize. This is all I can recall: to unlock the Sands of Time..." Kin hesitated. "This next bit is hard to translate. He says you need a key? But...it is not a key. Kīde wanai kī. The key that is not."
"I don't understand!" Link yelled. "Please help me understand!"
The dragon rumbled. "Sore wa subete watashi ni ieru kotodearu. Watashi wa amarini mo nagaiai nemutte ori, yūgure ga watashi no ue ni aru. Watashi wa, saikuru, wakai eiyū no ōku no tān o mitekimashita ga, watashi wa, kore wa watashi no saigo no mono to osorete iru."
"That is all I can say. I have slept for too long, and twilight is upon me. I have seen many turns of the cycle, young hero, but I fear this shall be my last." Kin's voice trembled.
"Mizu ni ani o sagashidasu. Kare wa watashi ga dekinai tame, go an'nai dekiru baai ga arimasu. Greatfish ni idō shimasu. Soko ni wa, anata ga motomeru kotae o mitsukerudeshou."
"Seek out my brother in the water, he may be able to help you as I cannot. Go to Greatfish. There you will find the answers you seek."
Link growled. "That isn't good enough."
Without warning, the dragon raised his head and roared, releasing a white hot burst of fire into the sky. "Anata wa anata no kokoro, wakai eiyū ni kiken'na kasai o hoji shimasu! Sore o yawarageru ka, hairaru wa ushinawa remasu."
"You hold a dark fire in your heart, young hero! Temper your passion, or Hyrule will yet be lost," Kin translated in a frightened whisper. Link glared at her.
Valoo slowly relaxed, again resting his head upon his large front legs. He turned to Kin. "Kare wa, shūryō mae ni sukoshi Rito ga anata o hitsuyō to shimasu. Anata dake ga kare no arashi o shizumeru koto ga dekimasu."
"Al—alright," Kin stuttured. "I will try my best."
Valoo then turned his attention to the little fairy on his nose. "Ōjo wa sudeni ushinawa rete imasen ka?"
"Yes," Navi responded sadly. Kin gasped.
"Zelda wa Vaati no kanri-ka ni sudeni aru. Greatfish ni idō shi, sore wa kanojo o sukuu tame no yuiitsu no hōhōdesu," Valoo spoke again now to Link.
"Zelda is already under Vaati's control. Go to Greatfish, it is the only way to save her," Kin translated; her voice was strained.
With those words, Valoo let out a great yawn and his eyes fell shut. The dragon was asleep once more.
"Damnit!" Link yelled to the sky. Kin walked up and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"We will save her," Kin tried to reassure him. "I know we will."
"No thanks to him," Link said angrily, flipping his thumb at the dragon.
Kin's hand tightened on his shoulder. "You know that's not true."
Suddenly, the door to the temple blew open in a cloud of smoke. Link leapt in front of Kin as two dozen armed guards raced through the opening and surrounded the duo. Navi zipped underneath Link's hat as a number of spears rested against his throat. He didn't even have time to draw his sword.
"Blasphemers!" shrieked a wrinkled old man who must have been a priest. "You dare to defile the lair of our god?!" His ostentatious robe was covered in all sorts of jewels and gilded pendants. "Kill them! Kill them now!"
The spear points tightened against Link's throat.
"Wait!" Shay's voice called out over the commotion. She walked out from behind the old man and lay her hand upon the dragon's snout. "Valoo is not harmed. They must be taken to my father."
The priest sneered down at the girl. "You do not give orders here young whelp!"
"You would break the law?" Shay asked, a dangerous edge to her voice. "I wonder how my father would react to hearing that you've spilt blood within the dragon's aerie?" The priest glared daggers at the girl, but she held her ground.
"Bind them," he snarled viciously. "We will take them to Bruchis."
Link was clubbed in the gut and disarmed. Rough hands thrust his hands behind his back and tied cords so tightly around his wrists that they dug into the skin. He could hear Kin wince behind him from the same treatment.
As they were violently pushed along, Link had one last look at Valoo from the corner of his eye. The dragon slept still; oblivious to what had taken place. Shay glared at him as he was herded into the darkness of the temple, but he did not hear her footsteps follow them into the foyer.
The walk back through the corridors of the temple was long. Link and Kin were prodded on at spear point, and their treatment was unforgiving each time they stumbled. Eventually, they emerged into the sunlight again. Link looked around, vainly searching for some means of escape. As the path turned down the mountain, a wide stretch of the Great Sea came into view for just a moment. A small familiar shape on the horizon caught his eye. In his mind, he could see the black flag wave above the ship, the sewn likeness of a gyorg set upon the fabric.
"It's the Biri," Link whispered.
"What?" Kin's voice was coated in panic.
"They found us."