The Waters of Nayru
Chapter 20: Hyrule
By, Frank Hunter

A full day went by before Rigo fully came around, but he had some short, broken memories of the missing time.

Someone, he assumed the guards who found him, had brought him into a nearby building. It was a stone building, and he felt perpetually cold despite the natural sunlight that shone in through a small, rectangular window high in the thick gray wall. He'd been placed on a small cot and covered with a slight, pale white blanket. His arm had been set in a sling and cast and was bound up to his breast. His clothes had been taken, replaced with loose-fitting and light cloth attire that Rigo could hardly feel at all.

If he hadn't felt so comfortable when he awoke, he'd have felt vulnerable.

When his eyes did open in the middle of the following day, he tried to sit up and was met with a fresh round of pain from his ribs. The memory of being thrown down a flight of stone stairs surfaced and he let out a grunt as he collapsed back down on his pillow.

"Ah!" came a cry from his side. He looked over and saw a young woman, blonde and not yet out of her teens, with pale, peach skin and small, pointed ears staring at him with her hands clutched at her chest. She wore a white dress and looked far more afraid than Rigo felt was warranted.

"Sorry," he said, apologizing lamely. "Didn't mean to scare you. Didn't know you were there."

"You're…awake?" she asked.

It was an odd question. "Yes?" Rigo answered inquisitively. Could he have answered any differently?

The girl seemed to steel her resolve and turned to a small cabinet beside her, where Rigo guessed she'd been working before he woke up. She picked up a small bottle and poured some of the contents into a small ceramic container. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"My chest hurts," he said. Thinking about it, he added, "My arm hurts. I think everything hurts."

"You came in here fairly banged up," the girl said. She turned again and crossed the short distance of the room approaching Rigo, but she did not come all the way to his bedside. Instead, she kept some distance between them and set the small glass down on a wooden surface beside his cot. The liquid in it was thick and deep green. Rigo picked it up. It smelled like the mildew that sometimes grew on the clothes if the women left them down by the river for too long.

"What is this?" Rigo asked, wrinkling his nose.

"It's a wildroot tonic," the girl said. "It should help with some of the pain."

He sniffed it again, but it didn't seem any more appetizing than before. "Who are you?" he asked.

'I'm a medic," she said, keeping planted where she stood. She had taken the fingers of one hand in the other now and was fiddling with them nervously. "My name is Ilsa."

"Ilsa," Rigo repeated. "Okay." He gave the cup a little swirl before downing the liquid in one quick go. It didn't taste any better than it had smelled, and he had to work not to gag on the aftertaste of it.

Ilsa came back to the table once Rigo had placed the cup down and collected it, scuttling away again with all possible speed. She brought the cup back to her small countertop and immediately began wiping at it with a rag.

"Are you alright?" Rigo asked. He found her behavior somewhat peculiar.

"Yes, of course," Ilsa answered, but said nothing more.

Rigo decided not to push it.

Ilsa finished her chore and stepped over to the door by the foot of his bed. "I'll, uh…I'll be right back.

He closed his eyes and laid back in his bed, enjoying the lasting comfort of the thing as Ilsa stepped out and shut the door behind her. Why was she acting so timid? Rigo'd never met her before, never wronged her. Granted, he'd never met any Hylians over the course of his short life. Maybe this is what they were all like?

Of course she was also apparently taking care of him. It was difficult. He'd always been taught that Hylians were evil creatures, generally unpredictable and weak. But the two guardsmen outside had rescued him. This woman was caring for him by bedside. This wasn't what he would have expected from these creatures.

Rigo stayed put until he heard the door open again and looked up tentatively, not moving much for fear of hurting himself again.

A man stepped in from the hallway. He was large, taller than even Pureet had been, and clad in the uniform armor Rigo had come to recognize from the Hylian guards. Except, the man was not wearing a helmet. His skin, still pale to Rigo, was more tan than the nurse's had been. His dark hair was cropped exceedingly short, and a small patch of it was also maintained on his chin.

This was the very first time Rigo had ever seen another man up close, and he couldn't help but stare. Sure, there had been the occasional visitor to the pueblo from Jirin, but Rigo had never interacted with any of them, only viewed them form afar. From the roughly trimmed bristles on his face to the broadness of his shoulders, the nature of this man was something that was so foreign to him, so brutish, and yet something that he knew one day would become so personally familiar.

"Well, hello! Ilsa was right, huh? You are awake," the man said. Rigo saw two more shapes out in the hall. The first was Ilsa, craning her neck to get a look at him over the shoulder of the man. The second was mostly blocked from view. Rigo thought it looked like another guardsman, but couldn't be sure before the door swung closed on them, leaving him alone with the stranger.

"You all seem so surprised," Rigo said.

The man dragged a chair over from beside the wall and pulled it up to Rigo's bedside. As he set it in place, Rigo noted that he also did not choose to sit within arm's reach. Was he being courteous? Was it a Hylian custom to keep distance?

"When you were brought in last night you looked like you'd been through Hell," the man said. "We weren't sure if you'd survive, my little Gerudo friend." He peered down at Rigo, taking in the features of his face. "You are Gerudo, yes?"

"Yeah," Rigo said, staring back at him. The man had a kind of authoritative confidence about him, but his eyes also betrayed a tinge of fear. What was he afraid of?

"Well, your visit comes as something of a surprise. We haven't seen the likes of a Gerudo in…some time." He held out his hand to Rigo. "But where are my manners? My name is Tydus. Major Killian Tydus.

"Rigo," said Rigo. He almost introduced himself as King of the Gerudo, the man's pride in his own title almost pulled it out of him, but something told him it might not be a bad idea to keep that information a bit more private as long as he was laid out on a hospital bed. Or to play some of his cards a little closer to the chest.

Tydus sat down in his chair. "I oversee the security of the citizens in Hyrule Castle Town. So naturally, your well-being has fallen to me."

"Is that where I am?" Rigo asked.

"In the Castle Town, yes," Tydus said. "You must have come quite a long way to arrive here, too. Hounded by brigands, or so your wounds would suggest."

"Something like that," Rigo said.

"And did you…come alone?" Tydus asked. There was a hint of suggestion in his voice, but if there was a deeper meaning to the question, Rigo didn't follow.

"Yes," he said, not revealing anything of Amili or Sooru.

"And to what purpose?" the man pushed further.

Rigo shook his head. "Just for help," he admitted. "Just to recover. It's been a tough trip, and I needed to rest before going back. I actually hadn't intended to come here at all."

"Of course," Tydus said.

"It's…something of a long story," Rigo added.

"Oh, I'm sure. And I hope to hear every bit of it, lad. I'm sure your travels have been nothing but fascinating, and there is much I would know about you and tne people you come from. But I understand that you are still exhausted from the journey, and we're in no rush." The man rose again, and made for the door. He abandoned his chair where he had dragged it. "I only wished to be introduced, we can discuss once you've recovered some. Not to worry."

"Yeah, sure," Rigo said. "But I can't stay here too long. I need to start heading back, like, as soon as possible. Once my arm's ready."

"Sure thing, lad," Tydus said "Don't you worry on it. We'll also arrange for your return trip as soon as possible."

Rigo smiled. "Thanks," he said. The hospitality here had been remarkable, if a little tense. Maybe the Gerudo scholars had been wrong about Hylians after all.

"Get some rest," Tydus said. "And I'll see you again soon." The door shut behind him, and Rigo was again left alone.

He had almost begun to start feeling better when the positivity shattered like so much broken glass. The small sliver of comfort that had begun to develop was sliced open almost instantly when the familiar voice in his head rang out again, clear as ever. Don't trust him, Nabooru said.

Rigo sighed and felt a familiar weight drop onto his shoulders. You know something? You're paranoid. he thought at her, not wanting to speak out loud just now. The last thing he needed was for Ilsa, the nurse, to think he was in here talking to himself. Who knew what kind of tonics he'd have to drink then?

Oh, yeah? Nabooru asked.

Yeah. The Gerudo are always teaching that the Hylians are bad, the Hylians are uncaring. The Hylians are dangerous. But they're treating me like one of their own. They're taking good care of me!

That's what they're doing, is it?

Rigo wiggled his bound arm to the extent that he could without it starting to ache. Hello?

And I'm sure all patients get a personal visit from the head of city security? Nabooru asked.

Well, Rigo thought, like he said, I'm Gerudo. It's interesting to them.

You were out cold yesterday, weren't you?

Rigo hesitated a moment. Yeah.

So you didn't hear any of that conversation from last night?

What conversation? Rigo asked. What are you talking about?

Nabooru paused and Rigo waited for her answer. He was about to ask if she had heard him, when it came back to him. But, instead of a description in Nabooru's own light, nasal voice, Rigo heard another voice surface in his head. This one was that of an older man.

"This is a total security crisis!" the man was yelling, overblown. Rigo started.

What's this?! he thought at Nabooru.

It's last night's conversation, she answered.

You can repeat what you hear word-for-word? Rigo asked, incredulous.

Yeah, it's just one of my many features. Now be quiet. Just listen.

"Keep your voice down, Warden," came a second voice. Rigo was surprised to find he recognized this one. It was the big man who'd just left the room.Tydus. "You don't want to cause a panic."

"It's a crisis!" the "Warden" hissed again loudly.

"It's not ideal, but it's not a crisis, so calm yourself," Tydus said.

"Did you see the boy's face? His…his eyes? Sweet Din, did you see what he looks like?!"

"I know who he looks like," said Tydus.

"You need to escalate this. Inform the queen, get the Royal Family involved. This is too big to just sweep under the rug. The queen will have a diplomatic way of dealing with this."

"Diplomacy is weakness here, Warden."

"You…you shouldn't talk like that," the Warden stammered.

"Do you think it would have worked to be diplomatic with him?" Tydus asked. His voice was bubbling over with impatience and anger, frightening in its power.

"No, but…well, what is it? What do you want to do?"

"Do?" Tydus asked. "If it had been up to me, I'd have killed the little sand rat at the gate and been done with it, nice and easy. Like a cockroach under my boot." Rigo felt the color drain from his face. It was him. They were talking about him.

"Damn Mars for bringing him in here," Tydus went on. "Now too many people have seen him. We can't just off him, or they'll start asking questions."

"Well, I can't keep him here!" the Warden protested.

"Oh yes you can," Tydus said. "You'll lock him up, good and proper. And don't mistake me. That's not a request. It's an order."

"You can't order me to do something like this!" the Warden said. "Not without written authorization from the Royal Family. I insist…"

"Before you say anything else that might be considered insubordinate," Tydus interrupted, "I would like to remind you, Warden, just how dirty your hands have been of late. You think I don't know about the things you've done? You think I don't know about Cynthia?"

"No…" the Warden muffled.

"Oh yes. So once I've finished with him, you will lock the little sand rat into a hole and throw away the key. And if you even think about going over my head, talking to the Royal Family, so help me, I will expose you and everything you've done. I'm sure your wife would appreciate it. You will keep this to yourself, and keep him under lock and key, is that clear?"

If the Warden answered, Rigo didn't hear it. The man sounded beaten. Pathetic. A beat went by before Tydus spoke again.

"Besides," he said. "I've heard that sometimes accidents can happen down in the Stockade. If something like that could be arranged, well…then the boy won't need to be here so long, will he?"

"I'll see what I can do," the Warden muttered.

Rigo waited for more, but nothing came. There was empty silence in the room as Rigo filled with dread. He looked up. Upon inspection, he realized that the window above, which he noticed earlier allowing sunlight into the room, was covered on the outside with iron bars that ran vertically along its length. The cold, thick walls, the heavy doors, the guards. It all made sense.

Kid, this isn't a hospital. It's a prison, Nabooru said. You're still in danger here.