Shorter chapter, but a lot earlier for it. And still quite a lot going on in it…
Chapter 47
Link
Link did not have much time to react to the harrowingly grim looking reception committee… but at the sight of drawn steel and so many furious looking Rito eyes, his mind and body snapped instantly to maximum focus.
In the time it took for Zelda to gasp with shock, he had already assembled a concept of their disheartening odds. Seven warriors, their curved, slim shortswords poised in an unmistakably aggressive way, at least three more, hidden between roots and behind vines, arrows nocked, bows at the ready to be drawn within an instant…
His eyes darted to and fro at a dizzying speed, his brain fuming with trying to find ways to break through, each more desperate than the last. In that one, heart-stopping second where time stood still, his infinitely heightened senses perceived every vibration of feathers on a tensing arm, every angry, combat-ready snarl, even the tiniest subconscious movements that might betray a sudden attack… including the minute flicker of one male's eyes to a point right above them…
The hairs in Link's neck instantly stood on end…
Letting his reflexes take control, he roughly pulled on Zelda's backpack as he jumped backwards, tearing her with him with a strangled yelp just as he heard the slightest noise from over their heads.
He felt something brush all too close by his back and not a moment later an ear-shattering clatter pierced the silence right where they had just stood. Wide eyed, he snapped around, shedding his pack and pulling up his shield in one fluent move, while looking, deeply startled, at what had just narrowly missed them. A heavy net, fashioned of thick rope and weighted with at least 12 fist-sized cast-iron balls tied to its edges… Eyes growing eve wider, he was suddenly painfully aware that this thing might not only have yanked them brutally to the ground, it also could have easily crushed their skulls, had they been less lucky… or a miniscule amount slower… With a sting in his insides, so sharp as if a knife had been driven into his guts, he imagined Zelda being hit by one of the cruel weights, collapsing, going limp, never rising again…
The world turned colourless as stunned shock turned to ice-cold rage within a heartbeat…
The three Rito, the ones who must have dropped the terrifying contraption, swooped down not a second after the knee-rumbling shock of the impact. He saw that all three already carried a drawn knife in their fists… he also saw the smug grin on their faces that seemed to say "This will be over in a flap"… Obviously they were confident that they would succeed where their trap had failed… Three weathered warriors against two Hylian children, the boy surely quaking in his booties from all the cold iron around him… easy pickings!
Link gritted his teeth until they audibly crunched. They would have preciously little time to understand just how mistaken they were… and he would end this before he ever found out whether they aimed at restraining him… or whether the knives in their hands were meant to be bloodied today.
The first one didn't fly at him directly. He presumably wanted to zip around to get at him from behind… he let him pass… for now.
The second dashed for his torso, hanging impossibly, almost motionlessly in the air to Link's eye, winged arms outstretched to ram into him… he would be the first.
His mind both seething and brutally, coldly calculating, he reached to draw his sword… His muscles were already flexed, but a millisecond away from freeing his death-bringing steel, his boiling blood a reflection of the hot aggression he sensed from his three opponents, when something, some fine, final splinter of sanity, of mercy held him back… a miniscule ray of light in the place of near complete dark he was in… and he had no doubt where this timely saving grace came from… or rather, from whom… Shifting his grip but a tiny bit, he drew his sheath together with his sword from his belt… The sheer cold that had taken his heart had been warmed, but the unforgiving steel in his soul remained. He would not allow these bastards, who had so casually endangered her life, to lay a hand on her… or him for that matter.
With the unfathomable speed that he was given for reasons still unknown to him, he crouch-stepped, almost casually, under the diving birdman. Then, with his jaw grimly set, he bashed his shield upwards, hitting its flat surface right into his attacker's chest and stomach with a clangorous thwack.
Never stopping his forward motion, he greeted the third approaching foe, whose superior smirk, in satisfying, anticipating slow-motion, turned to startled bafflement. Twisting gracefully out of the suddenly doubtful bird's flight path, he carried out a swift downwards strike, little more than a rap, across the guy's shoulder blades, enough to drive out any fighting spirit, without actually injuring him.
Using his momentum for his turn, he spotted the first assailant, who had just finished his hairpin curve and now looked suitably confused because his prey had inexplicably vanished… His glide, now unexpectedly not interrupted by the weight of a certain young Hylian, carried him back forward… right where said Hylian waited. The look of sudden terror lasted only a fraction of a second before Link's blessedly sheathed sword smacked against the frightened poultry's wing as he tore past, turning the already precariously fast flutter into an uncontrolled, twisting plummet… right towards the remaining seven, aghast warriors who had had no time to react thus far.
Two more strides and Link was back at Zelda's side, completing an unbroken, elegant circle of fluent, lightning quick movement.
His hot, briefly flaring rage momentarily appeased as the three would-be attackers had received swift judgement, the normal flow of time returned along with the world's colour just as he raised his shield in a defensive posture. The effects were immediate and almost simultaneous… He had, in fact, been so fast that none of his three opponents had, as of yet, finished their trajectory… The first was actually speedy enough that he reached his seven colleagues, three of which where bowled over as they painfully broke their comrade's fall. The second, the one he had hit from below with his shield had been lifted high into the air, had passed over their heads through the arched doorway and now landed heavily, far into the dragon-room. The third had already splatted flatly onto the bosky ground, his momentum grinding him a few feet over it to finally stop right at their feet…
Astonished, Link did quick mental math how quick he must have been, but snapped back into reality as he had to focus on other, more pressing things. The remaining battle-ready Rito closed ranks at once, clearly a lot more wary than two seconds ago…
Link swallowed heavily. The sudden, near overpowering bloodlust at having narrowly escaped grave injury, then seeing three armed attackers descend recklessly upon them was thankfully gone… but it had left a filthy aftertaste. If that one flicker of light hadn't struck through the dark thunderstorm of rage… the thought of what he had been so dreadfully close to becoming worried him so much it nearly made him retch. Thankfully, he had instinctively reached for the light like a lifeline… and had been shocked back to reason.
The feathered warriors had rallied exceptionally… they must have been well trained. Determination still strongly visible in their stances, they seemed ready to approach… He could feel Zelda behind him tense up even more, as if she intuited more incoming hostility. Link knew he had to do something… and fast!
"Halt, all of you!" he bellowed, still angry at the unwarranted, misguided aggression. "I am knight-aspirant Link Andrésson and I have no quarrel with you! You attacked us without warning and I defended myself. Don't make me do so again!" He hoped that the bare steel in his voice would be enough so he wouldn't have to use the one in his hand. Judging by his protégée's nervous fumbling at his tunic, she wasn't convinced that his approach was the right one… and neither was he… But he understood that their opponents currently saw them as nothing but enemies, for reasons he wasn't yet completely sure of. So, to have a chance at diplomacy, he first had to make it clear that they might have to pay with more than they might be willing to, should it come to arms.
Whether they were impressed or not, he couldn't say… For now he was glad enough that they seemed to pause at his direct appeal. For an endless-seeming moment, no-one moved or spoke and as it dragged on, became almost certain that his attempt had failed.
"Hold." one in their ranks finally barked. A relatively young one, one of the two that had picked themselves back up after their comrade had crashed into them, with dark red plumage and an expression that betrayed his deep displeasure at having to parley. His next, hissed words, only strengthened this first impression. "Your title means nothing here, Hylian!" he all but spat the last word. "You crept into our domain, you stole one of our relics and you defiled our home and don't you deny it!" The sheer, saturated hate that was flung at him made Link flinch… This went far past the mere trespassing they had, admittedly, committed. There was much more festering beneath…
Still, he was not about to graciously accept such preposterous allegations. "I do deny it! I understand we are not welcome here, but we have committed no crimes against your people." he stated, calmly but with the proper emphasis.
"We would never do such a thing!" Zelda cried, clearly appalled by the idea.
"You dare lie in the face of such evidence, groundling?" the young captain fumed, waving his sword around wildly in enragement. "You came out of the hallowed temple inside the Ancient Guardian, maggot! How did you enter, if not with the key which you stole?!" He scraped his clawed foot over the earth, throwing it up behind him… the Rito gesture equivalent to spitting in your face. Combined with the smug 'I-got-you-now-grin' he sported, Link had to take a deep breath to keep his own temper in check.
"We have no key. I opened the portal simply by touching it. Besides, how would we have stolen anything from the flying folk, groundlings that we are?"
"Your answers are as dubious as your intentions. The key we'll get back from you, one way or the other… but where is Tamali? What have you done with him? Speak, you lying filth!" he spat, taking a step forward and glaring at them with nothing but hatred in his eyes.
Link swallowed as a cold shiver ran down his spine… "I don't know of whom you speak." He answered truthfully enough, as he did know beyond doubt whether they were referring to the rooster they had encountered in the tree. "We have not-"
"He followed you into the tree to retrieve the key you sto-"
"We did not steal anything, you pea-brained pigeon!" Link roared, taking a very combative step forward. He'd heard enough foolish accusations from this imbecile and would tolerate them no longer! It pleased him to see the dolt jump back in line hurriedly, and to find the others twitch uncertainly before his rage.
"And neither do we lie! If we were the enemies you are so ready to see us as, why have I spared the three chickenshits who assaulted us with no provocation?! How would we have reached your nest all the way up there?! Why would I even try to parley after having suffered your hostility, if not to persuade you of our innocence?!" Zelda at his back gripped his tunic and made a miserable little sound in pure tension. He knew she would have tried to solve this differently… but these weren't politicians, they were warriors! Worse… angry warriors… She could show her diplomatic prowess once he had gotten them past bare steel and murderous intent.
To his slight relief he spotted a few hesitant faces, a few questioning glances at each other in their ranks.
"Of course you would try to talk your way out of this! You know resistance against all of us would get you nowhere!" the leader squawked stubbornly, but even he now lacked the unthinking, dangerous conviction he had had just a moment ago.
Still, Link decided that enough was enough… enough pointless allegations, enough mindless insults. His gaze turned hard, like a predator ready for the kill. "If you keep trying me, I'll show you just how much I can resist…" he spoke, slowly, darkly… not threatening… merely promising.
"Link… stop… please!" Zelda whispered pleadingly from behind, touching his arm as if to hold it back. He nearly recoiled… the imploration and anguish in her voice had startled him deeply. It took all his self-control to keep himself from turning around… and half again as much not to show his unease and surprise at how… sinister he had sounded. That black fire that had so very nearly engulfed him previously still smouldered, it seemed… It filled him with profound disgust… even more so with shame as he saw that fear had suddenly taken hold on the Rito's faces. He now understood just how frightened they really were, even before their clash… They had been attacked in the one place they thought they had to themselves… their sanctuary, their safe haven… Veneli had mentioned how every smile flickered… every feather quivered…
Making a choice of questionable prudence, he slowly lowered his shield, exposing himself completely while making sure he was still protecting Zelda with his body. They were not the enemy! The foolish leader of this flock was helpless, desperate... he wanted the two Hylians to be the enemy, just so he could do something, hoping against hope that that would solve everything, make everything well again… He pitied him…
"I don't want to fight you…" he said, calmly, as he purposefully relaxed his stance, standing up straight and taking a measured step towards them. "I never wanted that. The Rito are not my enemy." He couldn't take back his words… and frankly, he didn't regret them, no matter how much he loathed how he had nearly lost control… twice… But they had served their purpose. They had stunned them into a brief silence, had stopped the blind raving of their leader, which had been nothing but a frantic attempt at justifying his next, doubtlessly violent orders… both in front of his warriors, and in front of himself… The nasty assurance Link had given had perhaps shocked a little sense back into them… and he was going to use it!
"We could possibly not have done what you accused us of… and we have no reason to. Don't let your emotions turn you dishonourable! I am sure the noble warriors of the Winds would not want to turn into butchers who killed two innocents without even hearing them out…"
"Please listen to him!" Zelda implored, her high, clear voice making their opponents twitch. She stepped to his side before he could stop her, extending her hands off her side in a gesture of openness. He hated how exposed she was now… easily visible for the three or four warriors who still had their bows aimed at them… but he knew that if anyone radiated sincerity and veracity it was her. "All we want is to speak to your chieftain, to explain ourselves! Please, I beg of you, help us to redeem our names!"
He knew immediately her heartfelt plea had tipped the scales… served as the last drop that swayed their hearts away from unthinking revenge and back to sense… and compassion. Still, it took a long, eternal moment for them to consider…
"What do you propose?" the leader asked, his voice strained.
The wave of relief that washed over Link made his feet go numb and his head feel light… no more violence would occur here… Zelda and he were safe from their desperate fury… and they were safe from him.
A moment later he shivered as if he felt cold. The staggering madness that had so very nearly taken place here made his skin tingle as if it were exposed to icy wind… A single errant movement, one word out of line… and it could have led to horrific bloodshed. And this terrifying black fury within him… useful, maybe… but at what might it have cost him, had he given in?
"Link… what do you propose?" Zelda asked softly, gently shaking him by his arm.
Blinking a few times, he tediously wrested himself back into the present. As hard as it was, he suppressed his guilty thoughts, pulled himself from this ponderous paralysis, so that he could focus on the task at hand.
"I propose the following…" he began, recollecting himself. "I will lay down my arms. I do not expect you to do the same, though I would greatly appreciate it, were you to sheathe them. As my companion has said, we urgently need to speak to your chieftain, not only clear our names, but to explain our presence here altogether."
"And to offer our assistance in whatever way we can!" she interjected. He glanced at her for a moment. She had that fierce look she got whenever she was determined to lend aid to all that were in need of it... no matter that they had only moments ago been fixed on assaulting them. Smiling faintly, but lovingly at her miraculous character, he turned back to them. "Aye, that too."
"What makes you think we depend on the help of two Hylians?!" the captain asked snappily. Oh, that blustery Rito pride… thankfully, Link had expected such a reaction.
"We don't. We are merely offering assistance, should it be wished-for." he answered with an audibly warning undertone, cautioning against careless provocation.
"Hmph!" the warrior hmph-ed, but made a visible effort to dam his roiling emotions. "Remember that you are not welcome here, Hylian. If the grand chieftain wants to see you and you fail to give him or my people the respect due, I will kill you." He spoke calmly now, much more like a diligent protector than a rabid avenger, even though his words had no lack of aggression… He now had the bearing of someone Link could understand and adapt to, someone who wouldn't lash out in a surge of emotion… and could therefore be reasoned with. The first step to true victory, as Sir Alistair would have said…
"I understand." he replied concisely and Zelda followed up with "I give you my word, we intend no discourtesy. It was not irreverence that made us come here, but urgent and honest purpose!"
He eyed her for many seconds, trying to find the deception in her words. "We shall see…" he mumbled, when he, naturally, didn't detect even a flicker. He turned towards the woman to his right. "Tell the grand chieftain what has happened here. Tell him we have captured two Hylians who might know what happened to Tamali. Off!" he commanded and the addressed ascended immediately.
"You, male! Step forward with both of your weapons and place them upon the ground!" he barked, using his shortsword to point at a spot halfway between him and his 'captives'.
Link nodded, then nodded again at Zelda's questioning glance. He forgave the young captain his abrasive tone, as it bothered him no longer. The guy had basically lost this entire encounter, as he, by allowing them an audience with his boss, now had more or less admitted his overextension with this matter, if not the fallacy in his actions. Letting him show what a tough ol' bird he was would keep him comfortable and, therefore, under control.
He waited until she had unfastened her rapier, then brought it, together with his blade, to the indicated spot, stepping around the unconscious body of the third attacker, and placed them down gently. He then unclasped his knife from his belt and put it down as well. The back of his neck tingled from being scrutinized by so many tense eyes… He felt their lingering anxiety, bordering on fear at having him so close when he had proven how quickly he could move. A seasoned commander would have ordered Zelda to bring both their arms forward, and not him… still he was glad she didn't have to stand in the middle of all attention, centred in a circle of frightened hostility.
He looked back up at the fidgeting captain, giving him a cool stare. "From warrior to warrior, I ask you, personally, to ensure that our weapons are well taken care of. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the importance of an intact blade in these dangerous times…" he requested, keeping his tone level and respectful, like one man at arms talking to his equal.
The internal struggle within the young captain was clearly written on his scrunched up face. Obviously, he wanted to tell his captive where and how deep he could shove his plea. Yet that would inevitably mean, by the complex logic of Rito honour, that he forsook his moral high ground as the warrior of the Winds he had been addressed as. The only way he could escape this predicament was if he denied Link's status as a fighter to be taken seriously… which would, in itself, appear downright childish in front of his men and women, seeing how decisively the short altercation between the boy and his men had ended. A rather devious trap he'd set up… and Link was quite proud of it.
"You have my word…" the defeated soldier finally uttered, glaring at him.
"I thank you." he replied, standing back up straight and moving away from the pile of sharp metal. "Now, I suggest the two of us step over there and you can collect your two colleagues. There are basic medical supplies in that backpack over there. You are welcome to them, if you need them." He knew this act of charity would irk them, but once they all had time to calm down, they would, hopefully, see it as more proof of their amity. Besides… his lingering bad conscience at having to neutralize them so harshly demanded that he at least offer their help.
As a few of the Rito moved past to collect the one that had been catapulted into the dragon-room, he tried to gauge the hasty glances they shot him. Wary, mistrustful… but, if he was any judge, more curious than hostile. They sure weren't happy about them being here, and even less so that he had so easily dispatched three of their friends, but… instinctively, they probably felt that these two Hylians, so little more than children, were not at the root of their troubles.
The three beaten warriors were soon nursed back to consciousness and, thankfully, they all seemed to have gotten away with just bad bruises. A tentative proposal from Zelda, offering her help was curtly declined.
Little later, the hen who had been sent to inform the chieftain returned, bringing his permission that the captives may be brought into their nesting grounds.
The captain snorted something about 'Hylians in our sanctuary', but ultimately had to submit.
"You two! Pick up your packs! You will not leave your litter at the gates to the temple, understand?" he snarled, trying to maintain his tough-guy act, but it was obvious how relieved he was that he now had clear orders and wouldn't have to make a momentous decision.
Eager to move, the two complied. Both were vividly aware that, while they tried to exonerate themselves, important as that might be, the fiendish woman inside the Deku Tree had free rein to do as she pleased… The thought, clearly communicated through wordless, worried eye-contact, chilled them both to the bone. But, given their hasty retreat from the tree's inside, they suspected that they would require the Rito people's aid… And who knows? Maybe the act of helping each other would lead to mutual trust, or even friendship?
"Right, now follow! Oh, and I want you to remember…" the young captain lowered his voice as he addressed Link directly. "There will be arrows aimed at you at every moment… from more directions than one. Make no mistake about how serious we are about defending our home, Hylian." The old aggression was, for a brief moment, back in his voice and sombre determination radiated from his eyes. They both felt his sincerity prickling on their skin… a passion stemming from the fervent wish to see his homeland's peace restored.
Had they been friends, Link would have grasped the man's shoulder in a firm grip and promised to do his utmost to see this wish fulfilled… That he, in this idiotic situation of enmity, could do nothing to offer even the slightest consolation, filled him with sorrow… especially since their interests were, beneath all moronic antagonising, so closely aligned. "We both understand more keenly than you can imagine, friend." He answered, letting heavy, mournful honesty reverberate in his tone. "It is for the same reason we began our quest…"
A curious expression crossed the man's features, his perceived enemy's dolefulness echoed in his soul… but he rallied quickly and curtly ordered the men not supporting the stricken three to form a loose circle around them as they walked.
They escaped the thicket of roots and vines, resurfacing to the spectacular vista of the Guardian in the setting sun. Looking up its mighty trunk, Link still felt a bout of dizziness. He could just about spot the few huge branches along the southern side that carried the peculiar, round huts of the bird-people, now tinted in fiery oranges and reds.
So far up… two hundred metres at least! How would they be brought up, he wondered.
They walked for another five minutes, their escort always very close, hands never far from their weapons… Their tension was palpable.
They reached a spot in the vast clearing around the Deku Tree, special only because of what had been placed on it. A large thick cloth, spread out on the ground with a number of thick ropes going off radially. The middle patch, about two by two metres, seemed thicker than the rest.
"Lie down in the middle! Quickly, I want you out of my feathers!" the captain crowed. "We use it whenever we have to transport something heavy… crates, barrels, firewood… and many other manner of rubbish!" he added snidely, earning a snicker from the others. "Hope you're fine with heights!"
Link let the poorly veiled insolence bounce off of him and, feeling both eager and queasy at once, lay down as instructed. Judging by how it felt, it appeared to be a wicker mat, sewn into sturdy cloth. He noticed the straps all around the middle… this was clearly no simple means of shifting goods, but a contraption to safely transport other Rito when they were too wounded to fly by themselves.
Zelda seemed to grasp its use at the same time. "Use it to first bring your injured to safety! Their need is more urgent than ours at the moment!" she insisted. Prudent, as she always was, but ignoring a glaring error from a tactical standpoint…
"And leave you here, virtually unguarded? Bah! You have to try harder to deceive us, Hylian wench!" he huffed.
Whether it was the baseless accusation, the, in her eyes, unforgivable carelessness with his subordinates, or the downright suicidal use of the word 'wench', now it was her whose temper had been kindled. "I am not trying to deceive you, you pompous fool! For the final time, we are not your enemy! How can you be so blind?! Anyway, his arm is clearly broken and, from the way he walks, he might have a cracked rib or two. So make an attempt at being a real military commander, and get your men the attention they need first!" she fumed, pointing her elegant finger at the poor bird's face regally.
Link's face twisted in another sting of guilt… clearly he had not judged how much damage he had done correctly… or hadn't wanted to. Though now that she had said it, it was pretty obvious… How easy… how dreadfully easy it was to do harm, to destroy…
Still, he had it better than the young captain… The poor guy looked as if he had been slapped. It wasn't easy standing up to Zelda's rage… despite her small, petite frame, the sheer force of her personality and her ability to find precisely the words that stung the most was enough to make grown, hardy men feel like they are children, getting scolded by their mother.
"Th… you… how… I-I have my orders!" the Rito rallied as gracefully as he could. "And besides, don't you dare underestimate the strength of my comrades! They know their duty."
"I don't doubt that! Do you know yours?!" she countered, sharper than any weapon in Hyrule.
"Listen, you little-"
"Enough!" Link interrupted, his voice calm but forceful. He knew he had to interrupt before something escaped the Rito's beak that might force him to do something… unwise. "My partner is correct in her assessment, you should think of your injured first. I swear, by the Three, we will sit here and will not move a muscle until you return. You can bind my hands and feet, if it makes you feel better."
He could see him thinking furiously, weighing the truth in his perceived antagonist's words with his fears.
"Fine!" he finally spat. "Mokli, bind him. Notts and Halvi, make sure he doesn't try anything while she is busy. The others, get them back home!"
So it was done. The youngish girl tied his wrists with trembling hands, then made him sit down so she could do the same to his ankles. Nevertheless, she did a decent job… he was sufficiently immobilized and hoped the captain's return didn't take too long, as his fingers already started to tingle.
"How are your hands?" Zelda asked, concerned, as they sat back to back. He could feel her fidget and sensed how much composure she had to expend to not turn around and check herself.
"They'll be fine…" he replied, looking at their three nervous guards in turn.
"…How… how are you feeling?" she questioned hesitantly.
He tried to glance over his shoulder to catch a glimpse at her expression. There had been something in her voice… something was troubling her…
"I am fine… why do you ask?"
"Mmh… I… never mind… later…" she responded enigmatically. Now he was worried…
In the end, it only took about ten minutes for the warriors to return. Link politely asked that he be untied and, somewhat to his surprise, they consented. It put him in a hopeful mood… maybe they had already more or less convinced them of their innocence?
Zelda and he were ushered to lie in the middle of the cloth.
"Let's see how Hylians take to the air!" the young captain laughed derisively, but even this maliciousness seemed hollow. Still, Link noticed his beloved's slightly cramped expression and, uncaring of what their 'captors' might think, placed his arm tightly around her to grab one of the straps on her other side. Her brief, thankful smile flickered with the same worry he had sensed in her voice… 'Later', she had already said… any word from her was as good as a promise, so he refrained from pestering her out of respect… despite how much the questions itched on his tongue.
Six Rito grabbed the ropes that extended outward from the cloth, then began fluttering upwards until the fabric around them rose until taut, making them feel caught in a strange tent. Link braced himself, and just in time. At a barked command, the six, as one, ascended in a sudden gust of wind, so abruptly that he felt the air being pressed out of his lungs. The bird-people's powers over the winds might have been fascinating, but they did not lend themselves to comfortable travelling… Each beat of their wings sent a mighty shiver through the suddenly very flimsy-seeming contraption, shaking them up and down and from side to side… Before the take-off, he had regretted not being able to see through the thick cloth, but now he wasn't quite sure if that would have actually been a good thing… He suspected that their hosts might currently be taking rather less than optimal care about providing a smooth flight for their honoured Hylian guests… so seeing what sort of aerial acrobatics they were performing with them dangling in this precarious net might have had certain detrimental effects on their sanity… not to mention the contents of their bowels.
He couldn't say how long their time in the tent of horrors actually was… five minutes? Ten? In any case, they felt themselves placed surprisingly softly onto a creaking, wooden ground. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief, then swore heartily under his breath. "Everything alright, dumpling?" he asked carefully as he couldn't see her face under her golden mane of hair. To his sweet surprise she raised her head and awarded him a radiant smile, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. "That was strangely fun!" she giggled. All he could do was snort a little laugh in disbelief and shake his head, grinning. No day passed without a surprise from his little angel.
The sides of the cloth were lowered and they immediately spotted the young captain waiting impatiently. It amused Link tremendously to see his sardonic smirk wither and die at seeing his captives' levity.
"Get up, you! Oh, and better don't look over the edge. I can guarantee you, none of my men will dive after you, if you fall over…" he squawked grumpily.
"I can assure you, neither of us will put your words to the test." Link replied levelly as they stood up.
"Pity. Follow! And if I sense any hostility from you, Hylian... my archers need only my signal." He threatened, clattering angrily with his beak.
The accosted only nodded. He could feel their captor's anxiousness and that, despite his overextension with the situation as a whole, he would fight to the death to defend his people… He could respect that.
In general, he sensed a distinct air of tension… despite it being early evening, there was no movement anywhere in the village. Possibly, they had all been ordered to stay in their spherical huts, as potential aggressors needed to be moved through… He couldn't really say, but he got the impression that many nervous pairs of eyes were watching him right now through cracks and slits, whispering among themselves concernedly. He threw a sidelong glance at Zelda and saw his suspicions confirmed. Her expression was clenched and sorrowful… If he already felt the reproachful suspense in the air, he had no idea what storms of emotion must churn inside her beautiful soul… compared to her, he was as responsive as a brick!
Resisting the urge to pull her into an embrace so he could tell her that they would find a way to appease these people rent his heart in two… But a quick, clandestine squeeze of her fidgeting hand he couldn't, and wouldn't, refrain from.
With deep regret, Link found that he currently had no mind for the exotic beauty of this place. They had landed on a, for this village, rather wide platform, which clearly had been built for these kinds of transports. It was fashioned on the farthest parts of the mighty branch that seemed to support the majority of the peculiar, round huts in their many colours. One branch further down and two smaller ones further up, all offset so they didn't rob each other's sunlight, were also developed like this, though to a slightly lesser degree. They each were connected with the occasional narrow stair or hanging bridge, just as there were walkways criss-crossing between the different nests, sometimes forking off, going slightly up or down to connect every building to the main 'road' that was the Deku Tree's branch. It all seemed… grown… like another large organism, living in harmonious symbiosis with the Guardian… Normally this one sight alone would electrify him, but he diligently curbed this impulse, as there were things to be done.
He hoped, with all the power of a bright-eyed child's lust for exploration, that he would have time, and permission, to detect all the little wonders of this place, to find all its hidden vistas… and to share every last impression with the magnificent girl he wanted to always be at his side.
Over narrow, wobbling and creaking planks of wood they made their way closer to the gigantic trunk. The word 'humongous' seemed to creep up in his mind, seeming to describe best the dimensions that seemed so indescribable… But, with a slight smirk on his face, he knew that she would wrinkle her nose at that colloquialism.
Of course, neither of them could resist the temptation of looking down for more than a minute… It was a fascinating view, so much nothing right under one's feet… at least that's what his mind thought… his stomach had quite different things to say… Still, all queasiness aside, a spellbound smile grew on his face. Sadly, it was short lived, as the Rito behind him gruffly pushed him to get on with it.
Meandering through the strange, but nonetheless eye-pleasing huts, they reached a sort-of plaza, made of wooden planks affixed to the branch below, already quite close to the trunk. This wider space was also surrounded by many of these nests, big and small… this was clearly a meeting place, maybe even a market, judging by the many crates and few stall-like constructions about. Their armed procession moved towards a relatively tiny sphere that, differently than the others, seemed rough and unadorned. The rickety-looking door was opened and inside it was completely dark.
The young captain pointed rudely at him, then towards inside. "You, male! You will wait in here until the elder is ready to see you!" he cawed.
Link frowned. Instinctively, he shot a glance at Zelda, who seemed just as taken aback as he felt.
"No." the Rito answered harshly before he could even be asked. "You will be separated. We will not have you colluding Winds know what before we're convinced of your intentions. In there, now!"
He squared his shoulders, feeling his temper rise once again. He had already taken a deep breath and opened his mouth when a tender, warm hand grasped his wrist. "I will be alright, Link!" she tried to soothe him. "We don't mean any harm… and we want them to believe us. We too have to show some trust, don't we?"
He knew her words were true… and he would have done the same, were he in the Rito's position. But nevertheless, letting her out of his eyes in a place that, regrettably, was not well-disposed felt like a terribly frightening idea!
He gazed into her eyes… those big, sky-blue eyes… and saw the conviction in them. So, despite it going against all his instincts, he decided to trust her on this.
"Take care, Rito…" he said, still looking deeply into those eyes he could look into for hours on end. The thought that this might be the last time he saw their sparkle… his head snapped to face the addressed, and he could see how something in his gaze made him go pale in a second. "Take very good care…" It was little more than a whisper, but there was no need for any more.
Without another word, Link allowed himself to be escorted into the small room, which he quickly identified as a storage-chamber. It made sense, he thought… these people, until now, probably never had any need of something like a prison…
Dark and dusty… the air tickled his nose and he had to move carefully or he would bump himself against shelves or crates in the gloom. He sat down heavily on the closest box, working his back a bit, which still smarted from the pelting it had received in the tree.
…again he had conjured that dark anger before he'd had even time to think whether it was warranted… The stunned look on the young captain's face didn't want to leave his head… just like the other Rito's faces when he had nearly lost control back on the ground. What terrible, black wrath was festering within him that could so quickly, so uncontrollably break forth to taint his thoughts?
The dark, the silence and the fact that he had nothing to distract himself lead him to pondering. This wasn't like him… was it? He had just reacted to first the mortal danger inside temple within the Guardian, the fact that every centimetre of his body ached so much he wanted to weep, thanks to the silver Rito's attack… the fact that the reckless dropping of that cursed net had nearly killed both him and her, then the instant, murderous follow-up attack… His aggression was understandable, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!
The creak of the leather under his vice grip, the heavy weight of the sword on his arm, the tempestuous, violent rage in his heart as he saw the three warriors approach with drawn weapons… and the almost liberating feeling of the blade already leaving the scabbard, ready to do the darkest deed on his command… He covered his face with his hands in a futile attempt to block out the memory. But it wouldn't go away!
By the goddesses… he had nearly killed them all! If that tiny splinter of light hadn't pierced the blackness… He had killed before… Hylians… Agents of the Threat… But these Rito? These- these people, these fools who honestly wanted nothing more than to defend their homes and families? And he had come so close to denying them any future… He felt hot tears well up in his eyes and he was nearly unable to keep himself from sobbing in sudden, vicious desperation. If only his mind would stop replaying that moment… over and over…
But the worst thing had been Zelda's anguished imploration for him to stop… the quaver, the urgent pleading in her voice… He didn't have to ask what she had meant, when she had asked how he felt… he already knew…
Goddess above, he hoped he had just imagined the pain in her eyes! Or… He swallowed heavily… Or had it actually been fear? Of him?!
Heavens he was so tired… For the first time in weeks he couldn't go to her, couldn't talk to her… The one person who made all this madness so much more bearable had been denied to him.
Why now?!
Why, in this one moment when he felt so lost, when he feared all the angst, the pain and the constant fighting might be turning him into the very thing he set out to combat, wasn't she here?!
…but did he want her here right now? What if she, indeed, had become afraid of him? What if he, the next time they were alone, tried to find that glimmer of hope in her peerless eyes, but instead found dread?
He didn't believe it… He didn't want to believe it… But how could he know if she wasn't there?
All time seemed lost in this dark chamber… and for many minutes that seemed like hours he waited and quietly wept.
Too dark? I don't include these sort of chapters because of any desire for gratuitous angst or edginess… that is absolutely not what I'm after.
Instead I really think that these sort of thoughts would, occasionally, break forth from someone in this kind of situation… especially someone as thoughtful and empathetic as the Link I'm trying to depict…