Chapter 9 – A Strange Rock

Link awoke the next morning on what would become perhaps the happiest day that he had experienced since before the war. It had been a long time since he had felt so free of burden and oblivious to all the neglect and stupor around him. It was a simple day in which nothing much transpired, but it is often the simplest days that are the most memorable.

A full day was shared by Link, Ralis and Nate doing nothing apart from lazing about and enjoying the fruits of each other's company. And for Link, there was a feeling about him that he had not felt in a long, long time; a sense of belonging. It was almost as if nothing had come between Link and his kingdom after the war, but alas, some prayers come back unanswered.

But what Ralis had brought up the night before still lingered in the back of Link's mind. Was it truly an act of coincidence that he had met Nate or could there have been some malicious intention masked somewhere behind that clever ruse? Was it simple chance that they had come together so closely or was it a combination of Nate's aggression towards his prey and Link's need for company? Could Nate be who Link believed him to be or might he be something far worse?

Link tried to touch on the subject with Nate around midday that day, when Ralis was called by one of his advisors to read and possibly authorize a proposed bill written by the civil head of labor. The two were waiting by waterfall while Ralis acted on his duties as prince, in much the same position that Link and Ralis were the night before.

Nate had his elbows on the railing and staring down at the water below while Link was right next to him with his back against the fence and looking up at the sky.

Link took a deep breath, and then said quietly, "Do you ever wonder how we came to be?"

Nate furrowed his brow and replied, "I beg your pardon?"

"It's just…" Link said slowly as he tried to piece his thoughts into sentences. "We kind of met in a crazy situation, didn't we? We just sort of ran into each other and the rest is history. Do you ever think that there may be something behind that?"

"Perhaps it was the good fortune of the gods." Nate said with a shrug of indifference and then promptly spit over the fence. He watched in admiration as his creation sailed down into the water below, nearly hitting a nearby Zora swimmer.

Link thought for a minute or two. "Maybe." He said quietly. "But what if…?"

"Why must 'why' be such an important question?" Nate said quickly, cutting Link off mid-sentence. "Can't we just take what we have in stride and be thankful that our paths crossed?"

"Yeah." Link said with a nod. "Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound distrustful, it's just, you seemed to turn up right when I needed you most. But forget I mentioned it."

"No, it's fine." Nate said with a small grin. "It was very fortunate wasn't it?"

"For you or for me?" Link said with a smirk and Nate laughed as well. "You know," Link continued. "I used to dive into the pool from way up here a few times back during my adventures."

"No way," Nate said with a frown that concealed a grin. "You wouldn't have the guts to do that."

"Yeah?" Link grinned. He strapped off his shoes and took off the upper portion of his tunic, then said, "Watch me. And when you don't follow me, I'll call you a wimp from now on."

And so, Link got the answer he had been hoping for, but he was still not entirely convinced. But he put any thoughts on the matter all the way into the back of his mind and by dinnertime, he had forgotten about the matter altogether. Perhaps there was something to be explained there, perhaps there wasn't; but Link no longer cared, for Nate was a great friend and that was all that mattered.

Link woke up late on the day that he and Nate were to leave. Having already gone through the agony of packing the day before, he spared himself somewhat in that respect.

He often wondered to himself why it was that they had to leave now. Conceivably, they could stay here for a very long time. They weren't needed anywhere else, and Link was sure that Ralis would let them stay for as long as they wanted.

Perhaps Link said it best when he described himself as a drifter. Ever since his life-changing adventure, Link could not find the urge to settle down in one place for too long, even in places that gave him the happiness he was looking for. Nate, Link was almost sure, was the same way. In fact, it was Nate's idea that the two pack up and head out early that day.

Still, Link was faced with the enormous task of saying good-bye to a very good friend. What made it worse was that he had no idea when he'd see Ralis again, perhaps not for many months.

Which ultimately led to the foreseeable question, where would they go next? Literally thousands of viable destinations were out there, and yet, no single location stood out in front of the rest in Link's eyes. All were essentially equal in terms of legitimacy.

It was while he was doing this, pondering where-to in the dull candlelight, that Nate woke up. Nate, too, had packed the night before. But he, unlike Link though, had chosen to make use of his extra time by sleeping in.

At first, Link hadn't noticed him get up. His contemplative eyes seemed fixed on the wall behind Nate's bed, too concentrated to detect movement below. Unmoving, but forever thinking. It was not until Nate was ready to walk out the door when Link noticed he was up.

"Boy, Link," Nate said, grinning. "Not much of a morning person, huh?"

Normally quite the definition of a morning person, Link was anything but today. His hair was very disheveled, with many strands askew and pointing off in awkward directions. A bag of faint black hung beneath his eyes. He sat in a slump in his chair, characterizing his current grogginess, his eyes open and empty.

Upon hearing Nate's voice, Link visibly shook his head awake and promptly faced the source hastily. "Just thinking," Link yawned, after he had noticed the voice came from his friend. "You know, about what happens next."

Nate looked back at Link thoughtfully for a moment before replying. "We don't really need a set destination." Nate answered. "We could do what I am used to doing, namely wander around aimlessly."

Link shared in an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose so…"

"Here, how about this-" Nate suggested. "We go back to South Hyrule Field. I know that area best, I could show you the many nooks and crannies it has to offer. And while we are doing that, and while traveling there, we can decide what to do after. Sound good?"

Link grinned slightly, and silently thought to himself what Nate could possibly know that he didn't already. Having passed through the area many times beforehand, it was hard to imagine that Nate knew more about the area than he did. But he didn't mention this to Nate, and instead nodded and replied, "Yeah, that does sound good. Much better than anything I could come up with."

"Alright then, are you just going to sit there all day or are we going to get going?"

Link grabbed his small bag and stood up with a grin on his face. "I was ready to go much earlier than you were!"

"Whatever." Nate smirked. "So why is it then that I walked out the door first?"

Link grinned and followed Nate out the door and into the hall. "Shut up and walk." Taking one, final look back into the room, Link shut the door.

In no time at all, they found themselves behind the large door that lead into the dining room. With one hand resting on the doorknob, Nate spun around to face Link and said seriously, "Don't take too long."

He did not elaborate and opened the door upon saying that, but Link knew perfectly well what he was talking about. Both he and Nate knew what lay between them and the door, a very powerful obstacle. The obstacle of guilt.

Ralis was already down in the dining room, facing them and eating lightly. His head perked up at the sound of the squeaking door hinges, and Link got a good look at him. He had definitely seen better days. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and his overall demeanor was slow and shaky, jumpy and tense.

Link and Nate began their march, slow and steady, over to Ralis, who was watching them the whole while. "Hey." Link said awkwardly when they had reached the distress Zora prince.

"Hey." was all he got in return.

"Yeah, so… uh, we're leaving today…"

"Yeah," Ralis answered quietly.

"I'm sorry, Ralis, I would love to stay longer…" Link looked at Nate for a split second before continuing. "But we need to leave now. We cannot stay here."

"Yeah, you gave me the reason last night…" Ralis muttered quietly. "But, y-you'll come back, right? To visit?"

Link smiled. "Definitely."

"I'm sorry." Ralis said quietly. "I don't mean to look like this. The kingdom, though, the stress of decision making is starting to get to me. Perhaps it is better that you leave me now so that I can more fully concentrate on my people."

Link grinned lightly. "Don't work too hard now. We'll be by every once in a while to give you a break."

Ralis visibly lit up at that. Still depressed, but more hopeful, Ralis said, "Well, I guess this is good-bye, Link."

"Yeah, but not for long, I can assure you that."

Ralis stood up and gave his friend a friendly hug. "Take care of yourself." Ralis said when they pulled apart.

"What?" Link smirked. "You don't think I will?"

"Nate," Ralis retorted, grinning. "Watch his back for him. Watch his back for the goddesses know that he can't."

Nate smirked. "Will do."

"You guys are mean." Link said grinning.

"Oh, get over it." Nate said jokingly. "You ready?"

"Yeah… See you soon, Ralis." Link turned on a dime and walked toward the door to the Zora throne room. In the knowledge that he would not see this room in a while, Link took care in noting the serene beauty it held, down to the last tapestry. When they had reached the door, Link opened it and walked through it, nary a backward glance. He couldn't bear to look back.

The doors opened to the throne room, which was full of seemingly emotionless guards, but Link knew better than to think that they truly were emotionless. He knew they were thrilled to have him gone. Link led the way, passing through the sea of Zora guards unselfconsciously. Finally, when he was out of the throne room and had reached the hallway constructed in the mountain, Link stopped to look back.

"Are you going to miss it?" Link heard somewhere off to his right.

Link watched as the water cascaded down from the throne room, and admired in awe the light which reflected brilliantly of the water. The water below, filled with happy-go-lucky Zoras swimming about, glittered with the noontide sunlight as well.

"Yeah…" Link said distracted, taking in the sight around him.

"Come on, we can't stand here forever." In the end, Nate had to practically drag Link away from the Zora's Domain.

"Well, that didn't take as long as expected." Nate said thankfully.

Link had got a mind of his own again once they had made it to the entrance to the fishing hole. "Yeah, I prefer things to be quick."

They walked at a quick pace after that. With no more distractions to hinder their speed, they were able to make good time. But that didn't wash away the tinge of regret Link felt.

Link woke up the next morning sore and achy. After a couple of days of rest, his body wasn't ready for the grueling conditions of mountain traveling. Nonetheless, they had made it down the semi-steep mountain path and were presently camped in Northern Hyrule Field.

It was a grueling day of hiking, the day before, but neither of the two complained. Indeed, there was not much talk between them at all through the entire day once they left the Zora's Domain. They had left without another word, and after stopping to pick up Epona again, they proceeded down the path. Each was lost in his own mind with thought.

Link had no idea what Nate could possibly be thinking about, but Link found himself thinking, once more, to the night which had transpired just two days ago. Of course, he was grateful to have Nate back as a friend again, but the sequence just didn't seem to add up. After Link had retold his story to Nate, Nate barraged him with a bunch of in-depth questions.

Nate wanted to hear more of Zelda, of his home in Ordon, of the Goron tribe, of the Twilight Realm, of the mysterious Midna. He wanted to hear of the temple's puzzles and bosses and the vast distances that he covered in his travels.

But most of all, he wanted to hear of Ganondorf. It all had seemed justifiable at the time and Link had gone along with it, but looking back, it seemed very curious. Nate had spoken of Ganondorf as if he had somehow already known much about him, as if he and the evil king had previously met. As if he already knew the answers to the questions he was asking.

And again, Ralis' warning crept back into his mind…

Nate was already up when Link finally got up and out of the tent. "Hey, what's for breakfast?" He said with a smirk when he saw Nate crouched over a small fire with a frying pan.

"A fish I just caught." Nate replied simply, keeping his full focus on cooking the fish.

"Aww, more fish?" Link pouted. "We've had nothing but fish for the past three days!"

"If you want to starve, be my guest." Nate retorted. "I would think that you would be happy that I got you breakfast."

Link smiled. "I am grateful, thank you." He took a seat on the ground across from Nate.

In no time at all, the fish had been cooked and served. Luckily it was big enough to satiate both of their hungers. And after having doused the fire and packed up camp, they were, once again, on the road.

"Think that they'll be happy to see you?" Nate said, pointing ahead of them as they started to move along.

Link saw, looming ahead of them in the distance, the small chasm that led to East Hyrule Field. Link fought hard to restrain a laugh. "I doubt it."

"Do you want to go that way?"

"Yeah, I think we should." Link said thoughtfully. "In the end, I think it would be quicker, seeing as we would have to go pretty far out of the way to go through castle town. And besides, me traveling through castle town at this point probably would not be such a great idea."

"Yeah, I agree, but you don't think that the goblins will cause any problems, do you?"

"Nah, I doubt it. But if they do, I'll take care of them."

Nate laughed. "Well, alright then. Let's go."

Much the same as the last time they passed through the chasm, the journey took two full days. The goblins had retreated deep into the mountains, hidden from view, since their previous encounter. They did come into contact with one once, but he ran at first sight, so all was basically uneventful for the next two days.

On the morning of the third day after they had left the Zora's Domain found Link and Nate back at East Hyrule Field. It was seemingly untouched since they had last passed by here; quite likely, it was untouched. East Hyrule Field, at least the northern portion of it near the bridge, was never known for bustling activity and many people. Moreover, it was highly regarded as intrinsic to the natural well-being of the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Not much was said between the two of them as the readied themselves for another day of travel. They found a nearby berry bush where they were supplied a meager breakfast. After they had finished their light meal, they packed up the tent while Epona proceeded to devour the berries that were left behind.

"Back to the old grind, eh?" Nate said airily as they were doing so. Packing up tent had occurred on each of the past three days, and after their break at the Zora's kingdom, Link could agree with Nate more.

Once they had all of their things and were ready for departure, they slowly crossed the old bridge, destroyed but also fixed by twilight, en route to the most beautiful of Hyrule's fields. Link was really starting to feel groggy by now; he had not gotten a good night's sleep since back at the Zora's kingdom.

They had made it about halfway across the bridge when Nate stopped in his tracks and let out a loud gasp. Link's grogginess instantly disappeared as he turned to Nate with a sense of alarm. Link instinctively reached a hand back to the hilt of his sword, fearing the worst; but, at first, he did not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Nate was staring somewhere over his shoulder and a look of terror filled his face.

"Whoa, Link, what is that?" Nate exclaimed, hysterically pointing his hand toward the heavens.

Link eased up a bit as he turned to look where Nate was pointing, but he tensed right up again when he saw what obviously had caught Nate's attention. A rock, some kind of radiantly shining rock, was blazing through the open skys to their right. Almost pure black at the center, but possessing an extended tail of blazing orange, this rock was hurling overhead toward the ground at immense speeds. It was moving at an alarmingly fast pace and was moving in their direction, growing bigger and bigger with each passing second.

The object itself did not seem to be big at all, and it wasn't high up either. Link could well have hit the thing with an arrow had he the mind to, once it got close enough. That is, he could have if it were not travelling so damn fast. In any case, he did not even try, as he had been frozen by shock.

Link had never seen anything like it before. And judging by the look on his friends face, nor had Nate. At one point, the rock passed by directly overhead, but it passed as quickly as it came and now was shooting past them. After having gotten a better look at it then, he realized that it was not a rock. What it was, he was not sure, but it definitely was not a rock.

Still ablaze, the object continued on its demolition path toward the earth at unprecedented speeds. Somewhere near the entrance to Kakariko Village the object made the inevitable impact with solid ground. The ground visibly rose near where it had plummeted into the earth, telling Link that it had plunged in deep.

"What the hell was that?" Link exclaimed, still rooted to the spot in shock.

"I don't know." Nate replied, almost fearfully. "The goddesses aren't mad at as now, are they? You don't think they're hurling rocks at us now, do you?" He peered around in the sky, as if expecting more to come.

"That wasn't a rock."

"What?" Nate exclaimed. "What the hell was it then?"

"I don't know. I didn't get a very good look at it, but it definitely was not a rock."

Nate turned his attention to the spot, a pretty far ways away, where the object had landed. Steam was rising from the spot freely now as the land around the impact site continued to emit an eerie orange glow. Everything seemed to have stopped apart from the smoke as it rose from the ground at the impact zone.

The moment Link picked up his foot and made to step closer to the far away object, an arm held him back. "Don't! We don't know what it is!" Link heard Nate caution. "Let's just turn around and head back the way we came. We'll just take the long way."

"Come on, Nate," Link said, eyes still fixed at the spot near Kakariko. "That would take days! Besides, what can there be in there that could possibly hurt us?"

"I don't know." Nate cringed. "I don't like the looks of that object, whatever it is. We need to head back now, while we still can."

"That would add days to our journey, Nate, weeks even. We need to move forward." Link finished conclusively, taking a step forward and urging Epona forward. Epona reared up on two legs and neighed loudly. "Come on, girl!" Epona finally conceded, but not without a fight. It would seem that Nate was not the only one who had a bad feeling about what lied ahead.

The only difference was that Nate was not as yielding as Epona.

"Come on, Nate!" Link hollered at him when he noticed Nate had remained motionless. "Or do I have to drag you, too?"

"Fine." Nate muttered, taking cautious step after cautious step forward. "It's your funeral."