Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story, I appreciate your comments. For those of you have commented on my poetic licence with this story, trust me when I say that there is a heck of a lot more to come.
Either way, here's chapter 6, and I hope you enjoy it. I found this one really difficult to write when I initially penned it a couple of months ago, and I do find it difficult to read now, as well, so I hope you enjoy it. I am noticing as I reach the Chapter 21 & 22 that Link is constantly running from some sort of trauma and trying to put it behind him. I'm fervently hoping that that's due to the story Nintendo gave us, rather than any autobiographical hints about my own life.
I hope you all have a lovely day
Chapter 6The Next Stage
Link's desperate desire to keep moving sustained him for quite a while. He kept up a steady, patient run, but after two hours his body could take no more. Since Navi had woken him he had had to climb, fight, weep and run, and he could ignore his exhaustion no longer.
He was running on wide open plains, gentle grass stretching away in every direction. There was a chill in the air, but Link had not seen anywhere to try and shelter from the night. Eventually, he wrapped himself in the blankets from his pack and slept, fitfully and warily. It was not a comfortable night, nor was it restful, but when he fully awoke several hours later he felt ready to go on again. He was stiff from the exertions of the previous day, but knew he would walk that off as a matter of course.
It was now near dawn. The sky in the east showed a hint of pink and orange; Din's Fire was preparing to burst over the horizon and begin another day. Using that as a reference for direction, Link started walking north. The Deku Tree had told him that was the direction of Hyrule Castle Town, the direction he had to go in. He had travelled three leagues in the night, and now set off, with no idea how much further he needed to go.
Not long after he had escaped the trees in the night, he had crossed a road. At the time he had paid no attention to it, but now he wished he had thought more carefully. It had to lead to a town or a village eventually, and it seemed a better chance than just doggedly travelling north.
As he walked, the deep, velvety sky grew lighter and lighter until it was the brilliant blue of day. The grass was wet with due, but the sun's rays reached down to the plains and warmed them. The heaviness in Link's heart began to soften. The tight knot of bitter pain relaxed. It was still there, ever present, but he began to take notice of the landscape more and more. During the night, his mind had been full of the Deku Tree and the gohma, of Mido and of Saria. Now, though visions of the previous day continued to fly unbidden into his mind, he was more conscious of the beauty around him.
The idea of the world outside the forest had always been a strange one; living surrounded by trees, the idea of such a wide open space had seemed terrifying and impossible, but now he was out here in the daylight he could not help being stunned by its grandeur. The plains stretched away in every direction now he had left the edge of the forest far behind him. Grass waved gently in the early spring breeze, and he walked for miles over the empty prairie.
Din's Fire was high above him when he stopped. He sat on the warm turf and for the first time properly examined his supplies. It was a disheartening moment, for he did not have enough food to last a long time, alone and in the wilderness. He had seen nothing all day that he could eat. The idea of trying to catch and cook the rabbits he had seen was entirely foreign to him, and he had not seen anything he was used to calling food. After a meagre lunch, he carried on walking.
By the end of the day he had covered a further eight leagues. The rolling plains stretched behind him but ahead, they were less flat. The land sloped steadily downwards, enabling him to see miles ahead. In the far distance, Link could see hillier country. He imagined he would reach the steeper slopes the next day.
There was little for distraction in the expanse of the prairie. During the day, he had crossed a stream where he had washed himself and filled his bottle, but had seen little else beyond rabbits and occasional birds overhead.
It was an uncomfortable camp that he eventually struck when dusk was once more in the sky. The landscape that had astonished him in the morning had grown wearisome the more he walked through it, and he yearned for some change of his circumstances. His mind was full of the gloaming in the Lost Woods, as the creatures of the day settled into their burrows or homes and the creatures of the night awoke and sniffed the evening air.
Most of all, he remembered the evening of the previous day. It had been at this time that he had dragged himself, soiled but victorious, out of the gohma's burrow in the Deku Tree's Hollow.
Before sleeping, he took off his sword and laid it close to hand, then drew out the ocarina Saria had given him at their parting. For a long time he simply held it in his hand, tracing its shape and running his fingers over the holes. He remembered all the times he had heard her play the instrument, and he heard again her part in the song of the fairies.
Then, he began to play. She had long ago taught him how to play her ocarina, though he had never had his own. He could not bear to play any of the tunes she had taught him, though, so instead made up his own songs of melancholy, fading away in the blanket of the night.
It was a while before he slipped into fitful slumber, and his rest was full of disturbing dreams, of insubstantial grey shapes, wind on the hilltops and icy rain. When he woke, he found that part of his dream was true: a wind had picked up, and it had begun to rain. Shivering, he wrapped himself in his blanket and trudged through the drizzle. It was an unhappy day, though by mid-morning the rain had stopped and the sun came out to warm and dry him.
The afternoon brought a small change in his fortunes, for the prairie gave way to the hills he had seen previously. He quickly became frustrated with the change, though, for the going was not easy. Where he could, he stayed at the foot of the tors, for it kept him out of the fierce wind that blew on the hilltops. This made progress much slower, though, for it was impossible to carry on due north.
As Din's Fire began its descent in the western sky, the hills had become steep, barren and rocky. More often than not, he found himself forced to climb to their peak, which was wearisome, and he found himself disheartened as every time he reached the top of a tor he could see nothing but yet more, even steeper hills ahead.
Things seemed very bad for the young kokiri at that point. He and Navi barely spoke. They had exchanged a couple of words over the last two days, but already knew what the other was feeling. Neither wished to intrude on their companion's pain. Both felt tired, and two days wandering without comfort or solicitude had not left them encouraged in their quest.
For Navi, the death of the Deku Tree was as bad as the loss of a limb, and her grief was still painfully acute. For Link, the loss of the Tree seemed a bad omen; it seemed a serious blow against all hope, for he had viewed the Tree as the embodiment of all that was good. If even the Deku Tree could die, it did not seem possible that this darkness could ever be halted. Further, his heart was full of doubt from Mido's accusations and the painful parting with Saria.
Finally, though, he crested a craggy hill and looked out at the land sloping downwards again, and in the distance, running between the lower rises was a road. Link's tired eyes followed the highway and he could see, far away on the horizon, some sort of dwelling. If it was merely a small farm or homestead or if it was a town, he could not tell, it was too far to make out; but hope suddenly burned again in his heart. It had to be less than a day away.
He descended the hill to get out of the wind, but found himself smiling. The road and what he had seen were hidden once more, but the hope continued to burn in his chest.
In the shelter at the bottom, he found a little nook where someone small could creep in amongst the rocks and make themselves fairly comfortable with a blanket or two. It was far better accommodation than he had had the previous two nights, and he was mostly hidden from the elements. He ate more fully, as well, leaving only enough for one or two helpings the following day. He again drew out the ocarina and played to the night before he found himself drifting to sleep. As his eyelids closed, his spirit was higher than it had been for days.
Over the course of the following morning, Link found that he had been over-zealous with his estimations. His destination, it seemed, was much further than he had thought. By noon, he was free of the steeper hills and his spirits continued to rise as he walked up and down the ambling slopes back onto the lowlands. He sat in the grass and let Din's Fire warm him as he ate the last of his food.
Not long after this lunch, he gained the road, and he found he was able to make much quicker progress on the hard packed earth. The settlement was now clearly visible on the horizon. Throughout the morning, he had seen it, always leagues away, never seeming to grow any larger, but now it began to loom up and he realised it was bigger than he had previously suspected.
Walls, taller than he had ever imagined, sprang up from the ground and protected what was clearly a large habitation. As the afternoon crept on, and Link was growing tired and dustier by the minute, he was able to espy people atop the fortifications; sentries and watchmen, their eyes on the road.
The flow of traffic had now increased. There were other people on the road. He had seen no one since leaving the forest three days ago, and these were not the sort of people he had ever seen before. The evening traffic was not busy; it was mostly farmers and other rural folk who had journeyed to the city on some business and now returned to their homes.
To Link, they seemed like giants. The tallest person he had ever known had been Teefa, who had been almost five feet tall. To be suddenly surrounded by the burly men on the road was at best unnerving.
None of them seemed inclined to pay any attention to the child drawing steadily nearer to the city.
Evening had fallen around Link and there were barely any people to be seen on the road when, foot-sore and weary, he gained the gate into the city. It was overwhelming for a kokiri who had never seen worked stone before. The great walls with their ramparts were very thick, and it was with some apprehension that he passed below the great portcullis that hung in the gateway.
He slipped into the shadows by the road and looked at the cobbled street leading from the walls into the centre of the city. The road outside might be quiet now dark was falling, but it certainly was not inside. The torches along this main thoroughfare were lit, and people were going to and fro as their day came to an end. Work had now ceased, and the revellers were coming out.
"This must be it," said Link in a hushed and awed voice.
"Hyrule Castle Town," agreed Navi.
"How do we find the princess?"
"I don't know. We'll have to find the castle. I suppose it must be quite important. If we follow the road, we might find it."
Link nodded and began to walk again. He was tired now, though, and could not go far. The scale of the city confounded him, and he could not comprehend how big it was or how much bigger it could possibly be. It seemed to him that it must go on for days and days. He slipped down a side street and slept in an alley, wrapped in his blankets. No one bothered him or harassed him, for street children were common enough in the city. Perhaps his garb was outlandish, but none paid him enough attention to think much of it, and certainly none noticed the sword that he again kept close to hand.
When he woke the next morning, Link found himself beset with problems he had never previously encountered. He had never in his short life been as hungry as he was that morning, and he was surrounded by the smells of a city awaking. It was still early, the sun was not up, but the streets were full of the hustle and bustle of urban life. Fresh loaves of bread were just being brought out of the oven; cooked meats were being put on display; cheeses, fruits and vegetables of all colours and sizes were being arrayed on market stalls and in windows.
Eyes wide at the sight of so much that was new to him, Link emerged back on the main road and looked at the stalls setting up all along the side of the road and the people shouting loudly to attract shoppers to buy their wares. As well as the wide range of foods he did not recognise but that smelt enticing, there were people selling jewels and leathers, clothes, boots, dyed cloths, books, quills and inks, fresh flowers, and all manner of other goods. Link walked along the road staring hungrily as he tried to take in all the new sights.
His stomach rumbled loudly and angrily, and his hunger overcame his apprehension. He approached a stall where a baker was selling his bread and rolls. Link had never eaten, had never heard of bread.
The baker looked at the child with disdain. He was not one to turn away a customer, and children running errands for busy parents often bought his wares, but more often than not beggars tried to steal what they could not afford, and this did not look like a child who expected to pay.
"And what may I get for you this morning, young master?" he asked, with all the mock sincerity he could invest into his voice.
"Please, could I have something to eat?" responded Link.
"Of course, the rolls are two rupees, and you can buy a loaf for five or ten. What would you like?"
It was at this point that the baker's expectations were realised and Link's hopes were totally dashed, for of course he did not have a rupee to his name. Indeed, he had no idea what rupees were, having never needed money before. Currency was as foreign to him as mixing, kneading and baking his own loaf would have been.
As soon as he saw that the child certainly would not be parting with any rupees, the baker's manner changed entirely. He sneered at the child and raised the back of his hand to hit him.
"Get away with you,, before I can get a hold of you, you miserable, grimy thing," he yelled. Link did not wait to argue the point but ran, dodging amongst the crowd, easily able to escape any pursuit but looking constantly over his shoulder for a good ten minutes nonetheless. It was an unnerving experience, and it took him a long while to recover himself.
Quite dejected and entirely overwhelmed by these strange surroundings, Link wandered on down the main road. He had not recovered yet from the shock of so many people, so huge and so diverse. The crowd was primarily hylian, for it was mainly the hylians who lived out on the plains of Hyrule, but there were also gorons and zoras in the crowd, and Link even caught sight of a forbidding looking sheikah, though he had no names to put to any of these outlandish figures.
It was in this way that he reached the central square. It was a wide open space, and the cobbles were replaced by neatly laid paving. The square was busier even than the streets had been, and stalls and carts had been set up all around the perimeter, filling every available space. The smells of spices and baking and cooking continued to torment the hungry traveller.
He was distracted, though, by the enormous structure in the centre of the square. All other business of the city seemed to be set up around this huge edifice. It was taller than Link could comprehend, rising above the houses and buildings around the edge of the square. Its roof was triangular, and before its doors was a large porch, held up by gigantic, ornate pillars.
"Link, that must be the castle," said Navi, slightly awed. Link agreed with the fey.
Touched by curiosity, they entered the portico and examined the pillars. There were six, and each was elegantly carved, depicting various figures. Some were familiar as Link's eyes flicked from the icons to the bustling crowd. There was a pillar on which the pointed ears and longer hair clearly indicated the hylians, but the next showed the rock-like gorons, all with broad smiles. Another pillar showed aquatic, graceful figures with scales and fins, and Link took a long time examining the pictures of what seemed to be many sallow skinned women and a single, dark man.
Finally, Link came to the pillar furthest to the left and gasped: many small figures, all accompanied by a hovering ball, surrounded a huge and mighty tree. It was, undeniably, a depiction of the kokiri. Emotions battled each other in Link's small breast, first because of the picture of the Deku Tree, then also because of the thought of all his old friends living life without him in the forest, and of Saria, but these thoughts were complemented by a warmth of pride at this place of apparent importance for his people. The kokiri were still known outside of the Lost Woods, then.
Buoyed by this discovery, Link turned to the doorway at the back of the porch. With anticipation and reverence, he walked through the open doors.
Inside, he found a large room, and was immediately reminded of the cathedral sized chamber within the Forest Temple, where he had first found his sword. High windows looked down into the room and the light that blazed down through them illuminated pillars of dust that swirled up in the dry air of the huge empty space.
There were more pillars in here, supporting the high ceiling, but the rest of the nave was clear and empty. A red carpet with golden fringe ran down the centre of the chamber. As he stepped forwards in the quiet emptiness, Link realised that there were pictures on the floor on either side of this carpet, frescos worked onto the tiles. Small figures, more kokiri, stood arm in arm with large gorons, and austere people with severe, stern eyes stood next to elegant zoras. All the peoples of Hyrule were shown here, all in harmony with each other, though they were currently beyond Link's comprehension.
On the far side of the chamber there was a dais and an altar, and behind this was a picture that stretched from floor to ceiling. It showed three golden women, their arms stretched towards the heavens. Above their outstretched finger tips was an image of three triangles, touching to form one symbol.
There were banners and flags on the plain stone walls around the chamber, as well. On both sides there were seven flags. The first six were each a different colour: green, red, blue, purple, bronze, and a brilliant yellow. Each had a circle in the centre with different symbols, the flags of the races of Hyrule. The final flag was a deep, rich blue, and embossed on it was the golden image once more of the three triangles, above two golden wings: the flag of Hyrule, as Link would later learn.
His eyes took in all of these details as he walked slowly to the front, then ascended the dais.
"Link," murmured Navi in a voice only he could hear, landing gently on his left shoulder. He turned. A man had emerged from a small door, obviously from an ante-chamber, at the side of the dais. He had a big beard, and small glasses, and a very small amount of silver white hair on top of his head. He was wearing a long robe, crimson with golden lines and markings all over it. The golden triangles were emblazoned on his robes. He was smiling. Link looked at the grandeur of the man and thought he ought to bow, or kneel.
"Hello, young one, what can I do for you this fair day?" the man asked. Then a strange look came over his face, as if he realised something was wrong. "Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
"No, I don't-" started Link, trying desperately to think of how he ought to behave in this sort of situation, but the expression on the man's face changed again, from worry to surprise, and Link noticed a fleeting glance at his shoulder. At Navi. Link had not seen anyone in the city with a fairy, but he had heard people outside the Forest did not have them. He had been so shocked by the size of the people that their reaction to a child with a fairy had never occurred to him.
Defensively, he raised his right hand to his shoulder to shield her, his other hand ready to go for his sword if he needed to. The man chuckled.
"Don't be afraid, I mean your little friend no harm. But I see you are not from around here. I thought the clothes were just fancy dress, but I see that is not so. You are a long way from the forest."
"You know about the forest?" asked Link, forgetting his fear and letting his hand drop.
"Priests know many things, small one. I feel I should not call you young one, for you may not be. What are you doing, here in the wide world? Long years have passed since last an ambassador of the Little People was seen."
"I'm on a quest," said Link, not wanting to give away too much. It was the Princess of Destiny he was searching for, not her father. Grandfather, maybe. He had no idea what the man meant by priest.
"Indeed? And why does this quest bring you to Tarseth, if you don't mind my asking?"
That shocked Link, and from the way Navi shifted herself on his shoulder it had caught her by surprise as well. He could feel confusion through their bond.
"Tarseth? You mean this isn't Hyrule Castle Town?" It was Navi who spoke; Link was glad of this as he expected she could handle this sort of situation much better than he could. Meanwhile, his mind was doing somersaults to catch up. So he had not yet reached his destination, after all.
The man laughed, kindly. "No, I'm afraid you're still along way from there, if that's where you're going. Did you think this was the Temple of Time?"
"Then, you're not the king?" asked Link without thinking, and immediately wished he had not said it.
The man laughed heartily this time, before catching Link's expression.
"I'm sorry, Forest child, I do not mean to mock you. No, I'm afraid I am not the king. I am just a priest, in charge of this temple."
"This is a temple? It's not at all like the Forest Temple," said Navi, as Link struggled to overcome his embarrassment.
"No, this is just an ordinary temple, rather than one of Hyrule's ancient temples."
Link did not know there were any others, nor had he heard of the Temple of Time, sheltered as he had been in the forest.
"You look lost, and in need of some help my friend," said the priest. "Let me give it to you. I would not offer my house to most grubby boys walking into my temple, but if you are from the Forest I think I can trust you. One of the jobs of a priest is to give aid and succour to all servants of the goddesses, after all, and I think the first ambassador of the Little People in three millennia counts as such.
"I would suggest the first thing is to get you tidied up."
***
Link and Navi accepted the priest's offer with thanks, and stayed in the temple for almost a week. The priest, Archon, had quarters in the temple and he treated them very well. He was a courteous old man, and spoke much to Link. He was a student of the legends of Hyrule, and the opportunity to speak with a living kokiri was beyond his wildest dreams. For his part, Link felt that he had little to say, but he greatly enjoyed hearing what his new friend had to impart.
In this way, he learnt much about the symbols he had already seen in the temple, about the races of Hyrule, and he learnt also about how to get to Castle Town and what he would find there. Of particular interest to both him and Navi was everything Archon could tell him of the golden triangles, for they were of course the Triforce, the ancient relic the goddesses had left behind when they left the world. It was this very artefact that Link was seeking to protect, the quest the Deku Tree had imparted to him.
Even with Archon's great kindness, though, Link found himself reluctant to fully explain his reasons for leaving the forest. He told the old priest he had been sent by the great forest deity, but could not bear to speak of the Tree's death, and was hesitant to give any details of his hurried departure. He instead spoke of his old life in the forest, how he had lived, and of Saria. Archon did not press him on the subject, but Link often felt that he was under scrutiny and the man was making shrewd calculations about his guest.
Every night as he lay in the little pallet that Archon had provided for him, he found himself drawing out the Kokiri's Emerald. Sometimes he would unwrap it and stare at its brilliance, or trace its delicate golden frame. On other occasions, he would simply run his fingers over it through its covering. It was a constant reminder of what was behind him, and why he had to carry on with his journey.
Link's sixth day in Tarseth dawned as bright and sunny as the one before. Link opened his eyes and gazed sleepily through the window at the blue sky. Light clouds drifted carelessly along and he could see birds chasing each other and singing cheerfully. Outside of the temple, he could hear the bustle of Tarseth starting up in the Temple Square. The noises were still completely alien to the ears of a kokiri.
Link closed his eyes again, not wanting to move. He had been sleeping rough for days since his abrupt departure from the Forest, and had not properly rested since before the Deku Tree summoned him. Even before that his sleep had been troubled by his dream. He had not heard the girl's voice nor seen the man with red eyes since he had faced the gohma.
Navi slept on the pillow just in front of him. She was still, and close enough that instead of just a ball of light he could make out her tiny body. Link had come to love her in a very short time. They had already been through a very great deal together, and their pain and anguish over that last day in the forest had now merged and meshed into one. Watching her now he realised once more how beautiful she was. All fairies were. It was not in the same way as Saria was beautiful, but it was every bit as wonderful to Link.
With those thoughts running through his mind, he jumped out of bed, knowing this was the day he would continue his journey.
"I knew you would not stay long, for I felt certain that you would not allow yourself to be long swayed from your course," said Archon when Link told him he was going. "I feel some power off you, child of the forest. You will do great things, and yet I feel sure it is a very long road that stretches ahead of you. Should you ever pass this way again, I shall be waiting for you, and you will always find aid in this temple, Link. May Farore's Wind carry you onwards."
It was with these words, and a much better pack of food, that Link left Tarseth. He now trod the same road by which he had entered the city, leaving through the north gate and once more feeling hope beating in his chest. The darkness of his departure from the forest was now finally fading; he and Navi both still felt their pain, but again their determination not to disappoint the Deku Tree's final words was uppermost in their minds.
It was with renewed vigour that Link now strode up the road, looking to traverse the many long miles that would carry him finally to Hyrule Castle Town, and the princess who awaited him there.