This chapter starts the next sequence of the story.

In answer to a question I had on the last chapter: Every story that uses the character of Navi eventually writes her out in some way, at least every one that I know. She doesn't have as much character or motivation as Midna or even Tatl, and she's a difficult character to write. I decided quite a long time that she wouldn't stay by Link's side for the whole thing. Also, I think it made sense that she wanted to stay in the Forest. When Link was a child she saw herself playing the role of guide to him under the instruction of the Deku Tree, but now he's grown up she doesn't view it in the same way. Their bond is impaired, because he is no longer a child, and since their awakening, she has wanted to be back in the Forest. It's where she belongs.

Chapter 31

An Errand

It was a clear day, and the sun shone down on the Sacred Forest Meadow, making Link feel the once-familiar sensation of life bursting out all around him. They walked in silence, stepping lightly on the soft turf. For his part, Link was enjoying the sensations that surrounded him. He could feel the Lost Woods repairing themselves. Something that had been missing had been restored. It seemed as if all the creatures that had been hiding from Ganondorf's taint had come out now that taint had been removed. When he had first arrived back in the forest, he had seen no creatures, barely heard them in the undergrowth; now they surrounded him, an abundance of life taking the place of death and devastation.

When they reached the tree line, they stopped though. Mido stood under the eaves just beyond the meadow.

"What did you do?" he asked. There was no surly demand in his voice, now, just a cautiousness and a reserve as he talked to the big strangers.

"My friend went into the temple, as we agreed," answered Sheik. "He spoke with Saria. She has agreed to stay there - she has a job to do which could help us all. But you may have noticed things changing in the woods."

Mido nodded. "All the animals are moving again. And it doesn't feel scary, any more."

"Yes. I told you Talamin would help! You see, already the Lost Woods are regaining their strength. Soon, strangers like me won't be able to come into the forest again. Your home will be safe."

"Thank you," he said shyly, looking at Link. Then he said, "Have you ever met someone called Link?"

Feeling as if he'd been punched, Link felt he could do no more than dumbly shake his head.

"He used to live here," said Mido, and then spoke in a rush as if he had to say the words quickly before his lost his nerve. "He's a kokiri, like I am, and he left the woods because of me but I know it wasn't his fault." He paused and breathed before adding, "If you ever meet him, please tell him, tell him I'm sorry I was mean to him. And I don't blame him for what happened, not at all." Mido hung his head.

Link still could not speak. The silence held for a long time before Sheik broke it. "Thank you, Mido. Go back to your village. It's safe there, now." Without looking at them, Mido turned and walked away between the trees. He seemed to fade from their view before he was far enough away to be out of sight.

Sheik led them from the meadow and began to follow a path amongst the trees. Link followed without question, running over what had just happened in his mind. Even if he hadn't known who he was speaking to, Mido had apologised. He had gone so far as to call him a kokiri. Link smiled at the irony that his old tormentor and finally accepted him as a kokiri just as Link himself had found out he was in fact a hylian.

After some time, Sheik changed direction and began to lead Link further north. The warrior hesitated – he had been heading for the same point where he had entered the forest, days earlier – but after a moment he followed the sheikah. When they had walked a further distance, Link noticed the trees beginning to thin. They came to the little stream, a long way from where the old, wooden bridge crossed it.

The two companions splashed through the water, for it was not deep, and then Link could see two horses further ahead. Sheik made straight for them and began to stroke them, talking soothingly to them.

"I thought it was prudent to provide transport for our journey," he said.

"Our journey?" quizzed Link.

"Well, yes. We're both going to the same place, aren't we?"

"And where's that?"

Sheik fixed him with a piercing look. "I suppose that depends. Where are you going?"

That made Link hesitate. Now it came to it, where was he going? It was not as if he could ask Navi for her advice, any more. He felt suddenly lost. Sheik began to move around, taking food from packs and preparing a small meal.

"I need to look for the other sages, that should be straight forward enough," Link said eventually. "I'll visit the zoras and the gorons first, and see what they can say."

His companion nodded. "Sound thinking. Only, Link, please remember what you learnt here. Do not expect to find Death Mountain or the Avehn Gorge as you remember them."

Link's throat constricted. "Why, what has Ganondorf done there?"

Sheik did not make eye contact, now. "I'm just warning you. Nowhere is free from the Evil King's grip, now."

They ate their small meal quickly, then Sheik set about pulling blankets from packs. Suddenly, Link noticed that his own pack was amongst Sheik's saddlebags. He questioned it.

"I thought it best to move it here, while you were in the temple," answered Sheik. "I didn't know how quickly you would want to leave here." It had not even occurred to Link what had happened to his pack since he had left it in the courtyard to enter the temple.

"Thank you for not tell Mido who I am."

Sheik did not look at him, busying himself with tidying up after their small repast. "No. I did not betray that trust. We cannot always be honest about who we are, regardless of whether or not we want to. This is a truth I know."

They lay down to sleep. It took Link some time to relax, even though he felt exhausted. It had been a very long day. His mind flicked over things, Saria and Navi, and yet his last thought before he fell to sleep was that Mido, his old bully, had apologised to him.

Maybe there was hope after all.

It was early the following morning when they began to move. Birdsong filled the trees as Din's Fire made the woods shine golden with the dawn. Perhaps following his thoughts from the previous evening, Link felt a strange burgeoning of hope in his chest. He remembered something Talon had said back at Lon Lon Ranch, that peace had been restored.

Smiling quietly to himself, he hoisted himself onto the back of his horse after he and Sheik had shared breakfast. The sheikah looked at him quizzically.

"Why the smile?" he asked.

"The Lost Woods in the spring time," replied Link, telling half the truth. "It's always made me smile."

His companion seemed to accept his explanation, and nudged his horse to a walk. They did not set any pressing pace amongst the trees, but it was not long before they had left the woods behind. Sheik set their course confidently, and Link trusted his direction. They were travelling northeast, not in the direction Link had travelled previously. By mid morning, though, a thought had grown in the back of Link's mind, and he questioned his companion on their course.

"From what you said last night, I thought we would do best to go straight to Kakariko Village," his enigmatic friend answered. "You might find a good few answers there. The fastest way is straight across the plains to the Hylia. We'll skirt around the hills and then should be able to pick up the river to Cumberlann. It isn't far from there to Kakariko."

"That route won't take us past Tarseth, will it?"

"No. We won't reach any sizable habitations for quite a while. There aren't a lot of towns or cities around here, and the shortest path to the Hylia doesn't go close to any. Tarseth is west of our path."

After a moment, Link continued, feeling some trepidation. "I need to go to Tarseth, first."

Sheik looked up in surprise. "Why do you need to go there?"

"There is an errand I need to run." He swallowed. Sheik said nothing but continued to look at him impassively. "Besides, it can't hurt to fill our packs, if it's going to be such a long time until we get another opportunity."

"Perhaps so." Sheik did not sound convinced, but he broke his gaze away and changed the direction of his horse. He increased their pace, as well. "We'll have to travel more quickly to get to Tarseth and then pick up our current course again," he said by way of explanation.

The rest of the day passed quietly. Neither was talkative, and for his part Link felt little inclination to speak. Since leaving the forest, he felt numbed from the loss of Navi; her presence had been with him, emotionally tied to him, for so long that her absence was alien. He did not feel quite like himself. He could no longer feel her at all.

He did not feel worried or hurt, though. Upset though he was, he accepted her decision, and his own resolution was now so firm that he would not allow this separation to upset him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, her name had been added to a sad litany: the Great Deku Tree, Saria, Zelda, Malon, and now Navi. So many people he had had to walk away from.

Around and over these thoughts, though, his newfound hope remained. He could not feel too sad with this new sensation in his chest, which had firmed his decision to go to Tarseth.

The day passed swiftly. They kept their northwest course across the plains, the long grass waving lightly in the breeze. It was one of the pleasantest days Link could remember in this region, between the Lost Woods and Tarseth. For the first time making this journey, he was not dogged by guilt and bad memories. Evening fell calmly around them, and Link realised they had gone further than he expected; already they were amongst the hills. Travelling on horseback had been much quicker than when he had come this way on foot, and he said as much to Sheik.

"Yes, we should reach Tarseth during the midmorning tomorrow," the sheikah confirmed.

They ate a small meal, which Sheik prepared, and curled themselves in their blankets to sleep. Reflecting on the day, Link couldn't help thinking that Sheik was very different to any of his previous travelling companions. For one thing, he was much quieter, and frequently seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Link's main thoughts, though, were reserved for what he intended to do the following day.

He awoke early, and looking around him estimated that dawn was not far away. Sheik still slept quietly, wrapped in his blankets. Link pulled himself into a sitting position, and when Din's Fire crept into the sky its rays reached down to him playing softly on his ocarina. As the sun rose higher still, Sheik stirred. His red eyes flickered open as he rolled to look at Link, who carried on playing. It was the tune Malon had sung to him at Lon Lon Ranch, during the winter, and he could remember playing it for her and Epona.

"You play well," said Sheik, when Link stopped.

The warrior dropped his head. "So I've been told," he muttered, humbly.

Sheik rose and began to pack their things, and Link followed suit. Less than an hour after dawn, they were in the saddles again and making their way towards Tarseth. Sheik chose to strike directly north, skirting around the hills, and they quickly came to the road Link remembered. Turning west with the road, they followed it with the hills on their left hand side. Link stared at them, thinking of the forest beyond, and the kokiri in their restored home, but said nothing.

Not long after reaching the road, it turned deliberately towards the north, and Link's keen eyes saw Tarseth ahead of them. Now, he felt as though his heart began to fail him. The determination of the previous day seemed to have waned. The sun still shone brightly, but somehow he began to fill a chill.

"Link, are you okay?" asked Sheik, looking at his friend with concern.

Link nodded, vaguely. "I'm fine," he said.

"May I ask, what is this errand that is so urgent?"

"Just someone I have to see," he replied, thickly.

"Can I ask who?"

He did not look at Sheik as they continued, and did not answer directly. "Once we're within the city walls, I'll leave you to get things for the road. You know better than I do what we need."

Sheik bowed his head. "Of course," he said, not questioning Link further.

His head caught up with what he was saying, and he felt his face colouring. "I'll give you money for it," he stuttered.

"No, it's fine. I have money enough."

"I'll pay my share," Link averred, stoically. Sheik nodded and did not say anything further. He seemed to read his companion's mood clearly. Looking at him from the corner of his eye, Link felt as if Sheik could sense what he was feeling as well as Navi would have been able to. A wave of sadness caught him as, for a moment, he longed to have the little fey with him, perched on his shoulder, reassuring him that he was doing the right thing. He worried that without her he would never find the right words. Perhaps she had spoken for him too many times.

These thoughts were still filling his mind as they entered Tarseth. They were able to leave their horses in the care of a groom Sheik knew, near the city gates. After agreeing when to meet the sheikah, Link set off along the main street. He did not move quickly, taking his time to look at the stalls that lined the street, before turning down a side road. Now he hurried quickly, until he was able to duck behind a stall, out of sight.

He watched as Sheik followed the same path, then slipped past him. He had a strange feeling that the sheikah had allowed himself to be seen, that had he wished to he could have continued to follow Link, but it was not something he wanted to think about. He was just glad to know he would be left alone for a short while.

Moving more quickly now, he hurried back to the main road and along it towards the big central square of the city, and the temple. He stood again before the portico, but this time he did not hesitate and examine the pillars. Seizing what courage he could find, he entered the temple.

It was like entering a different world, moving from the frantic busy-ness of the city into the quiet serenity of the temple sanctuary. Walking quietly towards the altar at the front of the chapel, Link forced himself to breathe calmly. As he approached, an old man emerged from a side door. Link froze.

The priest looked unchanged after seven years; he had the same big beard and small glasses, there were perhaps more lines to his face and his stomach was rounder, his silver white hair now thinner than it had been, but Link still recognised Archon immediately. This man had had perhaps more effect upon Link than either of them had realised, at the time.

"Why do you enter this place, wearing a sword?" asked Archon. His voice was cold, and imperious, his tone held a definite threat. Link looked down to the sword hanging at his side.

"In such dark days, is it so strange for someone to carry a sword?" he asked.

"Such times as these, you say. A sword may be used to defend, but all too often it is used to hurt, to maim, and to take from others. What do you seek here?"

"I came to seek an old friend,"

"A friend, indeed? And whom is it that you seek?"

Some sort of barrier Link had built up suddenly collapsed; something he had been holding onto since the moment he had awoken in Ganondorf's Hyrule seemed to be slipping away from him. "I was looking for someone who believed in me," he managed.

When Archon spoke again, some of the edge had gone from his tone. "Belief? Then perhaps there I can help you. Why do you need someone who believes in you, young one?"

"Because everyone who believed in me was wrong, and most are gone. I have not had time to tell them. I came here to tell you, I am sorry." Tears were filling Link's eyes now, but he blinked them away desperately.

"I do not recognise you, yet you say you have wronged me. These are indeed dark days when one man can wrong another before they have ever met?"

"We have met, long ago."

Archon seemed to study Link for a long moment, and then his expression softened, changed completely. "I recognised your face, but could not comprehend your size, so took you for a stranger. My friend, I am glad to see you, but I do not understand? Has the world changed so much that the kokiri now grow old?"

"I am not a kokiri. I am a hylian. I was never an ambassador of the Little People, I was an outcast sent back to his own." Link fought against the pain he had held inside for so long. Archon moved forward suddenly and quickly, and pulled Link into a tight embrace. Neither spoke for a long moment as the priest hugged the warrior. Eventually he pulled away, holding onto Link's shoulders.

"My friend, be welcome here again. I am sorry for my mistrust, but as you say, these are dark days. Come, let us share a cup of something warm, and I feel there is a story I must hear."

He led Link into the antechamber beside the dais, and into his own quarters. Link glanced around, recognising some things from when he had stayed here, though some things were new. Archon indicated a seat for him, while he bustled around setting water to boil.

"Well, it seems there is much that you have to tell. You tell me you were never an ambassador of the Little People and yet my memory contradicts that. Tell me what has changed your mind."

With pain grating his voice, Link told the story Saria had told him, how a woman had come to the forest, escaping the fires of war, how she had been mortally wounded, and how the Great Deku Tree had taken her child into his care. He explained how he had grown, believing he was a child of the forest, and only now learnt the truth. While he spoke, Archon put honey and lemon into two mugs and poured the hot water onto it, stirring it thoughtfully while he listened. When Link's stream of words ran dry, the priest put one of the mugs in front of him.

"And so you find yourself at a loss," he said. "You do not know who you are, for how could you? You are not the person you had been told you were."

"I'm not who you believed me to be, either," responded Link as he picked up the warm mug. He wrapped his hands around it, his calloused fingers stretching out of his leather gauntlets.

"So you said, but I disagree. I believed you to be an ambassador of the Little People, sent out of the forest by your guardian. Whether you are kokiri or hylian, you still played that role. Perhaps you were not lied to, after all."

"It doesn't matter," said Link, and he could hear how harsh and uncompromising his own voice was. "I came here to make you a promise. All the wrong that has been done to Hyrule, I will seek to put it right."

"Indeed? You are not one to aim low, my friend. Next you will tell me that you plan to do it by gathering the eight instruments of the sirens and summoning the Wind Fish to our aid!"

"I know I probably sound crazy."

"The way you speak may confuse some, but not me. And do not think that I mock you. You said you came here to find someone who believed in you, and if that is to be my part in this story I will play it willingly. I do believe in you, and if there is to be any salvation for Hyrule, though it be beyond my ken, I believe you will be the one to deliver it.

"But where does this resolve come from? Where have you been through seven years of darkness that you now return to my temple and tell me so openly what you plan to do."

Link smiled at the old man's speech. "I had a realisation a couple of days ago. A friend, she... She believed in me."

"And so we come back to that. Belief in yourself. It seems to me, Link, that everyone has faith in you but yourself."

"You don't know-" Link began, but he couldn't finish. You don't know what I've done, he had planned to say, but his heart failed him.

"No, I don't know what you've done," Archon said, understanding Link's unsaid thought. "But then, I don't believe I need to. I can tell you only that I believe in you, because you proved yourself to me seven years ago. You proved your desire to stand when called upon, you proved your courage to me."

"What if courage isn't enough? Sometimes courage has no answer to sheer power." There was a moment of silence as Link sipped from his mug, but in his mind's eye he watched as Talamin was thrown against the wall of Ganondorf's keep, remembered watching as the life was choked from the stranger. He blinked away the memories.

"You know the legends of the Triforce. Sheer power is fallible, if it is not tempered by courage and wisdom. I saw all three in you, but your courage shines through like a beacon. It gives me hope. Indeed, just seeing you gives me newfound hope, for I had long believed you dead. It was once said that there is only one thing worse than having no hope, and that is having hope fail, fall, feeling it ripped from beneath your feet. Perhaps that is true. But looking at you now, I choose to hope anyway."

The priest fell silent, and Link could think of no response to give. Quietly, he drank the sweet drink, then placed the empty cup on the table before him.

"I have to go," he said, and again his voice sounded cruel to his own ears. "My friend will be waiting from me."

Archon bowed his head, then led Link back into the sanctuary. When they came to the temple door, he grasped Link and pulled him again into another fierce embrace. This time, Link returned the hug, saying nothing but silently thanking the old priest for his words. As he turned to leave, Archon raised his hand in farewell. "May the Way of the Hero lead to the Triforce," he intoned. Bowing his head, Link turned away and headed back down the main thoroughfare of the city.

As he approached the southern gate, he spotted Sheik stood with their horses, waiting for him.

"Was your errand successful," asked the sheikah.

Link glanced up at him and allowed himself a half smile. "Yes, I believe it was," he said quietly. They climbed into the saddles, and Link allowed his companion to lead the way through the gates, and out of the city.