The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

The Visitor (Part 5 of 6)

Brown pushed his spoon around in his empty soup bowl, watching the Heroes at the adjacent table cheerfully carry on. Mini, Green, and Engie were all showering Wind and his grandmother with praises for the delicious elixir soup he had brought to share with everyone; a sentiment Brown certainly shared, though something else seemed to be on his mind as he stared at their table.

"Hey, Brown," said Duo quietly from beside him, "something wrong?"

The newest Hero looked back and shook his head. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong. It's just," he looked back at the four small Links, "I haven't been here very long compared to the rest of you, and those guys - well, I still have trouble telling them apart, especially when they're all together like this."

Duo chuckled bashfully. "Yeah, they do look really similar, don't they?" He smiled. "Even their Hero's clothes all look alike."

Across the table sat the Spirit, who had been silently enjoying his soup and recalling the pleasant memories he had shared with Wind of his family. When he overheard Brown's dilemma, however, he sat his spoon down and turned his attention to him.

"It really is not very hard to tell them apart, Brown," he said, "once you look past their superficial similarities."

Brown blinked at him. "Really? How?"

"Well, for one," said the Spirit, motioning to the group at the other table, "look at their heights; even when they're sitting, you can see that Green is the tallest, then Wind, then Engie. Mini is the shortest."

Duo laughed. "Don't let him hear you say that, Sir! Mini hates being called short."

Though he had asked Duo not to call him "Sir", the Spirit paid it no mind. "Oh, I know," he said with an amused smile. He placed a hand on his chin and continued. "They have different eye colors as well. Though Mini and Green have blue eyes, Wind's are dark green, and Engie's are brown. You can see the difference better when there's more light."

"I didn't know that!" said Brown, amazed. "I guess I never really looked at everyone's eyes before."

"They say they're the windows to the soul, Brown," the Spirit said, "you'd do well to pay better attention to them."

Duo chimed in. "They may seem pretty similar now, but once you really get to know them like we all have, not only do they start to look different, but you also begin to see just how different their personalities are."

"Duo's correct," said the Spirit, folding his arms over his chest. "Take Mini, for example - he was always an adventurous spirit, always curious and wanting to try new things. He's what you'd call a bit of a thrill seeker, and he's quite impatient because of it."

"That explains his thing for fast vehicles," said Brown, "like mine carts and Engie's train."

"Yeah, he keeps wanting to borrow my pegasus seeds to use on the train again," said Duo, scratching his head nervously at the memory of their little incident.

"Now," continued the Spirit, "Wind's greatest strength is his devotion and loyalty, to his family and to his friends." He smiled sadly. "But perhaps that devotion made him worry too much; he was always fretful and easily stressed."

Brown snickered. "He's pretty easily startled, that's for sure."

"As for Engie, he's very industrious, honest, and hard-working; those qualities helped him become a royal engineer at such a young age. ...Though he never did learn to think before acting on impulse."

"But you could argue that if he played it safe, he never would have succeeded in his journey," said Duo.

The Spirit laughed. "True enough. Anyway, as I'm sure you know by now, Green is - how do I put this - one of our more 'gung-ho' incarnates. His personas are all different facets of his personality; Red's eagerness and spontaneity, Vio's cunning, Blue's short fuse, and, of course, his own courage."

Brown's eyes widened at the in-depth description he gave. "Wow... how the heck do you know all that?"

"Because," he replied, "I was them. I was all of you at one point or another; I know your stories and share your memories." He glanced at Brown. "I know that you, Brown, were a born explorer with unmatched wanderlust." He grinned. "I also know that you were scared of the dark."

"What!?" Brown cried in a flustered fit, "Th-That's not true at all!"

"Oh, that explains why he was always using candles on his quests!" said Duo.

"You shush!" spat Brown, pointing at Duo with his spoon, "It's a lie and you know it...!"

The Spirit laughed again, shaking his head. "Denial doesn't suit a Hero of Legend," he chortled.

"Neither does telling embarrassing stories about me," replied Brown.

"You're right," conceded the Spirit, "my apologies." He returned to his meal, his apology only half-sincere as he amused himself watching Brown vehemently try to hide his embarrassing little secret.