Chapter 2 - The Birthday Guest
Four years later…
"Okay, I do believe that's enough for today's lesson." Isha clasped her textbook shut and looked out over her small gathering of students, all groaning in disappointment and begging her for five more minutes of stories.
A faint smile lifted the corners of her lips. "If we keep going, we won't have anything to study for tomorrow!" she chided, walking past each student and collecting the handwritten scrolls she'd passed to them at the start of their lesson. "Besides, your parents all miss you terribly, I'm sure."
If there was one thing she enjoyed about her position as teacher, it was passing on the myths and legends of old. She loved storytelling - very much a trait of her father's - and took delight in painstakingly writing and rewriting her favorite legends on scrolls to be shared with her students. It filled her with joy to see the younger ones eating up the story with such vigor.
With a hug to each of her eleven students, Isha stood in the doorway of her small little school and waved goodbye to each child. Once they'd passed the front gate, she stepped back inside and closed the door.
Isha released her hair from its updo and leaned back against the door, her smile fading. The solid oak felt cool and smooth as she slid down and buried her face in her hands. Her rosy-blonde hair fell over her shoulders and clung the tears that raced down her flushed cheeks.
Four years, she had dreamed over and over of passing this job on to someone, literally anyone else, and walking out of the canyon in search of adventure and foreign lands. And for four years, she could not find it in her to abandon the hopeful faces that soaked in her words and knowledge and looked upon her as some sort of wise-woman, despite all her knowledge just being that which she could glean from old, dated textbooks resold by traveling merchants. She could not bring herself to turn her back on the school and home that held her in place in this town, both products of countless hours of labor and sweat and love given to her upon her coming-of-age.
Any normal young woman would be thrilled at such a gift, she'd reminded herself time and time again. Any normal young woman would feel to be the luckiest in the world, handed a stable job and a respected position in the community and a roof over her head at such a young age.
Isha, however, was not normal. She knew she wasn't.
She couldn't stand to wear the stuffy attire that "respectable adults" wore, with their flowing skirts that tangled up in her legs and their many layers that shielded her from the warm, bright sun and caused her to sweat as though she were living in an oven. The "premium" fabric scratched and poked at her skin, and every day she longed for the sun to reach its peak so that she could run home and change into more comfortable clothes - cotton short sleeve shirts that remained loose at the shoulders for better mobility and pants that clung tight at the ankles to keep the bugs out, and worn boots that shielded her feet against the rough stones that littered the canyon floor.
She couldn't stand to sit or stand still all morning in a dank room, little beady eyes full of curiosity begging her for more, more, more. More attention, more lessons, more knowledge, more. No amount of love and joy of sharing history or battle tactics could overcome the exhaustion that came with caring for children that were not even her own.
Isha gripped her hair in her hands and breathed deeply, attempting to ground herself. She wasn't sure how much more she could offer these kids or this town. Lands unknown to her called out to her on the wind and tormented her dreams, and the mystery of the night of her sixteenth birthday begged for further investigation.
Despite making the hidden spring cave her new practice arena, Isha had not seen the spirit Eldin again, nor could she get the ornate stones to glow as they had before. Her hand never once lit up again, and she wondered if the whole thing was just some strange way of the light spirit introducing itself to her, like some sort of handshake. She had been foolish to get her hopes up based on ancient tales alone.
Isha took a deep breath and pulled herself together, dusting her skirts off as she rose from the floor. Her mother would be expecting her at the store soon, and she needed to get a move on. No time to dwell on lost dreams or great disappointments. There was always something to be doing.
Nearly an hour later, with a fresh face bearing a kind smile, Isha burst through the door of Kakariko Trading Post, her mother's general store. She smiled and apologized as she slipped past throngs of tourists and made her way to the back of the store, where her mother handled her impatient customers with the same practiced smile Isha wore.
Her mother, Eva, was a natural when it came to dealing with customers, even during the difficult tourist season. Without skipping a beat, her mother waved in greeting and gestured to the counter next to her while counting change for the Zora couple that stood in front of her. One Zora clung tightly to a plush Goron, her eyes sparkling as she looked to her partner. The taller female grinned and said something that made both her and Eva laugh, then reached for one of the commemorative Eldin Rings that sat on a display on the counter. She attached it to one of the rings adorning her partner's headfins and passed another few rupees across the counter. With a smile and wave, the two left and a family of six Hylians quickly took their place.
"Goddesses, it gets worse every year," Isha mumbled to her mother as she gave her a quick hug before gesturing to the next person in line.
"Be grateful, Ina," Eva replied. "Because of this, your dear old mom won't be calling on you to pay for her groceries when she's too old to work."
Isha scoffed but smiled at her next patron - and blinked when she realized who it was.
"Gor Coron, you're a rare sight here!" she smiled a genuine smile.
The elderly Goron handed her a pack of arrows and shook his head. "Couldn't get the delivery boy down here fast enough, goro," he grumbled. "Needed arrows."
"Is everything alright up there?" she asked innocently. She never could resist gossip. "Sixty rupees, please."
He passed her a few ruby gems. "Nothing we can't handle," he grinned. "Give my greetings to the Shaman, goro." Without a word wasted, the elder Goron turned and barrelled back out of the store.
Isha sighed. Even when visitors from other lands came by, they rarely stayed long enough to chat. Ever since the popularity of extreme hiking in the Death Mountain region made headlines across the kingdom, their town had exploded with life and visitors from all over. Though very few of these visitors ever wound up staying in Kakariko, the steady stream of thrill seekers and travelers made the village feel more like a bustling city than a dusty old tourist town.
Her favorite visitors were the Zora, who were spiritually connected to Kakariko and were always thrilled to pass on tales of the royalty that were buried somewhere within the town's graveyard. However, most of them made straight for Goron Hot Springs instead of staying down at the base of Kakariko. Zora and dry, dusty towns did not mix well.
In fact, nearly all the visitors who spent any significant sort of time in Kakariko were Hylians from the mountains, who found the dusty canyon appealing rather than stifling. Unfortunately for Isha's adventurous spirit, these people did not have the most fascinating stories to tell.
Isha did her best to project an upbeat and can-do attitude for the remainder of the afternoon, quelling disputes between impatient customers and dealing with the occasional irrational dame who insisted that she deserved a discount for having to wait like everyone else. Though trivial, these moments were the only exciting thing Isha had to look forward to day after day, and she tolerated even the most abusive of customers for the sake of her hardworking mother.
With the setting of the evening sun finally came closing time, and the last of the customers dried up. With a sigh, Isha flipped the sign outside to 'closed' and looked out towards the Spirit's Forest, wondering if she'd have enough time for archery practice in the headwater cave she'd discovered years ago. An unknown treasure practically in her backyard, the cave had become a shelter of Isha's dreams, and a place where she tried and failed to work up the courage to resign from the school and leave town.
"Isha, you should join me for dinner tonight," her mother's voice was unusually sweet, putting Isha on edge immediately. "I feel awful for asking you to help out on your birthday…"
The young girl waved away her mother's words. "It's no different than any other day, mother. Only the village elders really care about my birthday, and only because I was the first."
Eva sighed and approached her daughter, pulling her into a hug. Isha couldn't help but notice the gray hairs that peppered her mother's once-vibrant crimson hair. At fifty, her mother still held a youthful look, the few silver strands the only indication that age was impacting her at all. Isha returned the embrace.
"I will always care about your birthday, my dear."
Isha sighed. "You know what I mean, mom. But if it means that much to you, then sure."
"Oh, goody!" her mother's brown eyes lit up. "Well, I'll let you run home and clean up!" Moving with a near unnatural speed, her mother rushed Isha out the front door and locked up behind them.
The young woman sighed as she made her way back home. Her "house" was really just an addition to the school, something she was still paying on and would likely be paying on for the next ten years. Though the villagers had given her the building, they had not exactly done much to the living space, leaving her to cover renovation expenses for the interior. She'd paid a bit extra for more secure and spacious lodgings, but every night spent soaking in her personal bathtub behind thrice-locked doors made those payments worth it.
She tried to ignore the intrusive thought that her mother had more than just a birthday dinner in mind. She groaned, wondering who the unlucky man or woman was that her mother had tricked into having dinner with them that night.
Since Eva's general store was the place to get Kakariko Canyon souvenirs as well as traveling supplies and a grocery store, she met an incredible variety of visitors on a daily basis. Any time she felt she found an ideal partner for her daughter, she'd invite them to a meal or ask them to stop by at closing time and force an introduction.
Isha hated introductions and found meeting new people in such a way to be incredibly uncomfortable. She hardly had any sort of idea of the type of person she'd want to spend the rest of her life with, and she felt her mother had even less of an idea. Of note, her surprise guest list included two retired soldiers who were nearly double her age, six different school teachers from other towns, four merchants, and even a burlesque dancer, who had so far been the only one Isha had shown even a lick of interest in. After a few weeks of quick lunches and night walks, Isha had found that she just did not have an interest in the woman, or maybe women in general. She did love to listen to stories of the places the dancer had traveled on the arms of important nobility, though, and still wrote letters back and forth with the young woman.
Bracing herself for her mother's latest poor traveler, Isha prayed that this individual would at least be interesting.
—
Dinner, much to Isha's surprise, wasn't a total disaster.
As expected, her mother had sprung a new guest on her as soon as she'd knocked on the door. Instead of Eva's smiling face greeting Isha, she was met with a young yet rugged face and steel-blue eyes. Sandy brown hair fell unkempt down to the young man's shoulders, and his lips were spread into a wide smile.
"Ah, so you must be the young teacher I've heard so much about," his voice was deep, pleasant.
Isha tensed and tried to return the smile. "Um, hi," she replied lamely. "Where… Where's my mom?"
As if on cue, Eva swept in front of the visitor and grabbed her daughter's wrist, pulling her inside. "Oh, there you are! Isha, I see you've met Koto, he's joining us for your birthday dinner! Oh, I love that you chose that dress, you look lovely. Come in, sit down!"
Isha could only allow herself to be dragged through her childhood home, directed to sit at the table as though she couldn't have found her way herself. Plates piled high with pork chops and fried beans were already set out for the three of them. Isha noted with some irritation that her mother directed Koto to take a seat next to her, while she sat across.
"I- I'm sorry," she stammered to their guest. "I don't know what all she said to make you visit, but-"
"Oh, honey, what's wrong with inviting new friends to dinner?" Eva cut her off. "This young man and I shared great conversation and I thought he might make pleasant company for our special dinner."
Koto laughed nervously. "I had asked where the best place in town to eat was, and she told me she was the best cook around, aside from her daughter. I just had to see for myself if it was true." He and her mother laughed together. "When I heard she was celebrating her daughter's birthday and offered me a plate, I couldn't say no."
Isha fought to roll her eyes. No, in fact she was a miserable cook, but her mother certainly was the best in town. As well as the best smooth-talker. "Well, thank you for joining us. I guess, um… What are you about?"
He gave her a curious look, and she shook her head, frustrated at fumbling over her words. "I mean, who are you and what is your story? Why are you here?"
"Isha…" her mother's tone told her that she'd once again said something rude, though their guest did not seem to mind her questions one bit.
"I'm passing through on my way to join the Hylian Guard, just like my father," he said proudly, pulling a photo from his jacket pocket and passing it to Isha. A faded scene of a strong soldier clad head-to-toe in shining armor holding a small, spindly young boy high on his shoulders greeted her. Though the photo was not in color, she could practically see the silver metal contrast against the red Hylian crest splashed across the breastplate. Despite herself, Isha took immediate interest.
"I don't know if mom told you, but my dad was a soldier, too," she said, passing the photo back. "That's… really incredible, I admit I'm jealous."
Her mother's foot brushed against her shin; a warning to behave, to speak like a proper lady and keep her childish whims to herself. She knew this routine and these warnings well, but ignored them regardless. How could her mother expect her to find a proper suitor if she could not even be herself?
"Jealous?" the young man swallowed a large bite of meat. "I don't know how glamorous training will be, but I can't think of any greater honor than protecting the people of my country."
Isha nodded. "I feel about the same for my village, to tell you the truth." The words came surprisingly easy. Okay, so he's won some small points, she mentally conceded. She knew her mother would pick up on the tone change immediately, and tried to remain distant. "Anything else? Or is being a soldier all there is to you?"
He laughed, a hearty laugh that almost surprised her. "Well, my entire life has been training and preparing to join the ranks," he admitted. "But my mom used to put me to sleep with tales of legendary heroes, which I've become quite fond of." He shot her a pointed glance. "I hear you're quite the historian - maybe you've heard of a few of them."
Isha smiled, despite herself. Her mother had retreated easily into the background, a pleased smile on her lips as she watched conversation unfold before her. I've definitely got it right this time, Eva thought to herself with pride. A goddess-blessed match, I'm certain.
"I'll start off with less obscure ones," Isha said. "The Hylian creation myth - the battle of Hylia versus Demise. You've certainly heard that one, right?"
"Like the back of my hand," came his haughty reply.
"And I assume the Minish Tales were a bedtime staple?"
He grinned. "I can't think of any Hylian who hasn't been told at least a few stories of the Little People of the Forest."
"Okay, what about the Tale of Termina?'
He furrowed his brows, his confidence stripped away in one question. "That one…. Um…"
Isha giggled. "It's a story said to be based off the fever dream of a soldier from around the time of the Hylian Civil War. It's not accepted as fact in any sense, but it's a fascinating and detailed account of a child hero who saves a town from a horrendous end in under three days. As the story goes, the soldier woke from this dream screaming about Termina and something called a Major Mask, and one of his bunkmates was so fascinated that he took notes and wrote an entire story around it. It won several awards upon its publication but, thanks to either someone's nefarious doing or, more like, their own idiocracy, a group of scholars became convinced that this Termina place was real, and dedicated a ton of research money to trying to locate it. They sent a team out across the eastern sea, but that team was never heard from again. A piece of their ship, named the S.S. Termina in honor of the tales, washed ashore on the west coast of the continent a year later, and there was this whole uproar over what had happened to these people. The entire thing was this huge controversy about thirty years ago, and ever since then, the story of Termina has carried this negative energy along with it."
Koto's eyes were wide and Isha blushed, realizing she'd rambled on for far too long. The soldier-to-be had cleared his plate in the time it took her to speak.. "I um… Sorry. I just find it fascinating…"
"Don't apologize," he assured her. "That's amazing. You just… know all these details off the top of your head?"
The young woman laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "I don't have access to a diverse collection of stories, so the ones I do have, I've read hundreds of times, and for the last four years I've built a curriculum around the true or believed-to-be-true legends. You could say I've had a lot of time to commit it all to memory."
Koto took her hand in his suddenly, his eyes shining. "I would love to hear more obscure tales from you, Isha. You don't understand, I live for tales of valiant heroes and legendary battles."
Her cheeks burning, Isha pulled her hand away gently and stuffed a bit of roll into her mouth, buying herself a few precious seconds to just not speak. She finally swallowed and took a breath. "I um… I mean, I'd be happy to share some of them…"
"Perhaps over lunch tomorrow?" he offered.
Isha glanced at her mom, who was sipping wine from her chalice and giving Isha a sidelong glance. "I suppose…" she said softly.
Koto grinned. "I leave for Castle Town tomorrow, but I can wait until the afternoon. It's not too far on horseback."
"I usually release the children at noon, so um… If you'd like to come by the school, there's a nice little cafe not too far from there." And I can freely speak with you without my mother giving me all sorts of looks, she dared not add out loud.
Their lunch date agreed upon, conversation lulled a bit and Eva stepped up to fill in the silence, telling Koto all about her late husband and his time in the guard.
With dinner and dessert finally finished, Koto offered to walk Isha home, but she refused, claiming she wanted to spend more time with her mother. Once he'd left with a final promise of lunch the following day, she braced herself for the conversation that was no doubt about to go sour.
"Sooooooooo…." Eva turned to her daughter, her brown eyes nearly golden with glee. "That went rather well."
"Mom, he is nice, yes, but-"
"I knew that if you'd just give things a chance, you'd find someone who catches your attention! Oh, you should have seen the way he looked at you when you walked in, Ina. I just knew there was something about him-"
"Mom, please," Isha fought to keep her voice level. "I know you mean well, but I am genuinely not interested in-"
"Oh, don't lie to me, Isha, Don't let your pride get in the way of a good thing," she chided. "You two hit it off, you share passions and interests, and he already seems to love Kakariko. He told me so at the store!"
"Mom, do you ever consider that sometimes, these people are just being nice?" No, she was fully aware of how the young man had looked her up and down, the way he sized her up before even getting to know her. She despised these talks of match-making. She knew they were her mother's desperate attempts to get Isha married off and pregnant, which would surely put a stop to any dreams of adventure as well as give her the grandchildren she'd always dreamed of.
Oh, Isha hated it all so very much.
"Isha, your stubbornness is going to cause you to miss out on so much of life if you continue this way," Eva's normally calm voice dropped to a growl and she stopped cleaning the plates from the dinner table. "Koto seems to be a perfectly nice gentleman who shares your passions and interests. You even agreed to meet with him again tomorrow, so I don't see what your problem is."
"I don't want to be stuck in some backwater town raising these hicks' kids for them while my dreams crumble into dust," she snapped back, her temper getting the best of her. "Dad would have let me go. Dad would have agreed you're being ridiculous with all of this bringing strangers home to meet me and acting like my hopes and dreams are childish. You never were this way before you started hooking up with Renado."
"If you're going to talk like that, then get out of my house," her mother's voice was suddenly monotonous, and Isha knew she'd crossed a line. If there was one thing in this world her mother despised, it was being talked back to by her daughter, even though Isha was a grown woman herself.
"Fine, thanks for dinner," Isha snarled and made for the front door. "Love you, bye," she added before slamming the door behind her without waiting for another word from her mother.
Isha grabbed her bow and quiver from the hollow trunk she'd stashed them in and made for the cave at the spring, mentally replaying the conversation with her mother over and over, wishing she'd been better about standing her ground instead of storming out like a teenager.
By the time she'd reached the spring's headwaters, the moon was already high in the sky, framed by the opening in the dome-like ceiling of the cavern. As it had every birthday since her sixteenth, the orb of golden light representing the Light Spirit Eldin was waiting for her, floating high above the center of the spring pool down below.
"God, you again," she grumbled at the unwavering light. "Planning to speak tonight? Or are you just going to float there and be useless?"
As usual, no answer came. "Not even a happy birthday." Isha rolled her eyes and began setting up her targets, prepping for her nightly practice. Though the presence of Eldin's light irritated her to no end, it did enough to fight back the darkness of the cave and allowed her to hone her archery skills even in the dead of night.
In this cave she remained and shot targets, endlessly adjusting the strength of her bowstring and the balance of her arrows as she sought to make the unbalanced equipment more reliable. Though she could purchase a better-built replacement off any of the traveling arms dealers, she couldn't find it within her to part with her old bow, a gift given to her on her ninth birthday from her father, who had made the bow himself.
Once the moon crept into the western sky and disappeared from the view of the cavern, Eldin's light began to fade and the ceremonial stones lit up blue once again. As she had on her last few birthdays, Isha took this as a sign that Eldin wanted her to leave, and she followed the stones back downstream, disappointed at yet another night ending with no further answers from the light spirit who had called to her all those years ago.
—
"What's troubling you, really?"
Koto's question surprised Isha. She was under the impression she'd been hiding her inner feelings rather well, putting on the face of the pleasant schoolteacher for the duration of her luncheon with the young man.
She held his gaze and let out a sigh, her smile dropping. "Listen, Koto, you're really nice. In fact, next to Clara, I'd say you're probably the best guest my mother has dragged over for dinner. But what she wants for me and what I want for me are two completely different things." She buried her face in her hands. "I don't want to find a partner, I don't want to go on dates or get married or have kids, I don't even want to be a teacher. I want to travel, to go on adventures and meet amazing people I could only dream of, and see places I've never heard of. I want to take up my bow and fight off monsters and bandits from small settlements while I make my way across the world and learn history other than my own. I want to make history for myself, and I want to witness it." Her voice cracked as she spoke.
Koto leaned forward and laid a hand lightly on her arm. She peered over her fingers, green eyes shimmering. "Hey, I get it," he said. "Though I'm a little embarrassed to hear that I'm just one of many guests," he added with a light tone.
"I-I'm sorry," was all she could say as she dropped her hands to the table. "I mean it, though, conversation with you is pleasant and I am pleased to meet someone with so much love for history, but a romantic relationship is not what I want."
He smiled. "I can't fault you for wanting adventure. After all, why do you think I want to join the royal guard?" He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "The idea of traveling and saving those in need… I suppose I was influenced by my mother's stories more than she realized."
Isha laughed, relieved at his understanding. "Fancy yourself a hero, do you?"
Koto flashed a wide grin. "Maybe someday. Is it wrong to dream?"
"Ask the village elders around here, and they'll tell you so…" she replied wistfully. "To tell you the truth, I'm surprised they appointed me as a teacher to the children. The elders here believe in pacifism, and rely on the Hylian soldiers and the Goron tribe to provide protection. Weaponry is banned here, though you'll still find things sold by traveling merchants, and one of our residents owns an entire bomb factory, though his business is mostly with the Gorons. When my father started training me on the bow, I really thought they would run us out of town."
"That's… certainly their choice to make, I suppose," he said carefully.
"I don't share their opinions, obviously," she continued. "I train daily with my bow, even now. My father also taught me basic fighting tactics using a staff before he passed, and I make sure to keep those skills honed, as well. Even if nobody else will stand to defend this village or teach future generations how to defend themselves, at least I will be able to protect myself and my mom."
"And that led to you becoming the town's teacher?"
Isha fought back a groan at the memory of her sixteenth birthday, a disaster in every sense. "I used the kids as an excuse to get out from my mom's watchful eyes. When I was with the younger kids, she assumed I'd stay out of trouble and felt more comfortable letting me out of her sight. The kids just enjoyed playing, especially when I started showing them how I can use the staff, and that somehow turned into me being their babysitter. When I came of age, the village surprised me by rebuilding the old schoolhouse and appointing me as the teacher, and another girl close to my age as a junior instructor. She's also the shaman's daughter, though, so she's rarely around to help…
"Oh, gods, I'm sorry, I'm rambling again," Isha said suddenly, clasping a hand over her mouth.
Koto laughed and waved away the apology. "No, no, I'm enjoying learning about you." At the look she gave, he added, "Just because you aren't interested in a partnership doesn't mean you're not a fascinating young woman."
Isha blushed, unable to hold eye contact suddenly. "Thanks for…um…thinking so."
Koto stood and turned to her, extending his hand. "You know, you'd make a great addition to the archers or cavalry in the Hylian army. Why don't you come with me to Castle Town and apply?"
Isha shook her head, but allowed him to pull her to her feet. "I couldn't abandon this town…" she replied sadly. "The townspeople have done much for me, especially since I've aged into adulthood. The children of this town deserve to have someone who can guide them through their formative years, and someone who would be willing to teach them combat skills, should the village ever need defenders. Even if they're never more than a citizen army for the village, I feel like it's the very least I can do to repay the village that raised me, despite everything. I just…can't run out on them."
They walked together arm-in-arm down the thoroughfare, towards the inn where Koto was staying. The knight-to-be took over the conversation, sensing that she had tired herself out already. He regaled her with tales of his father's exploits, including the rescue of an old woman's thirteen cats from her burning home following a Bulblin attack. The horned, sickly green creatures had raided her home in the dead of night over seemingly nothing, setting fire to her shack and then disappearing as quickly as they'd appeared. His father had been on patrol that night, and saw the smoke from a great distance. His horse carried him across Hyrule field in mere seconds, and all lives - human and cat - were saved that day.
Just as he'd seemed to run out of stories, the town inn came into view. Koto turned to Isha and took her hand, raising it to his lips.
"Isha, I do hope to see you again someday."
She blushed and let her hand fall to her side, eyes glued to the dirt at her feet. "I appreciate the sentiment, and it has been a pleasure to meet you."
He lifted her chin and held her gaze, his eyes nearly gray in the shade of Kakariko Canyon. "I mean it. I intend to pass through here again once I finish my training. I'd love to see you again, if you'll allow it."
With that, he stepped back and turned away, leaving the blushing young girl standing at the side of the road.
"Though, to be honest, I truly hope the next time we meet will be out on the road somewhere," he added with a smile over his shoulder, and then disappeared inside the inn.
Isha released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Yes, he was certainly a nice guy. She felt that, perhaps in another life, he may have held her interest.
Her love for adventure, though, would always be second to none.