Chapter 44: A Long Journey To Walk Alone

He made it. Days of climbing and walking and he was finally on level ground. Turning around, Link looked back up the mountain. It was almost hard to believe that he had scaled all of it. A smile tugged at his lips. He'd beaten Death Mountain. He'd reached the summit, fought in a battle, then faced a monster, and made his way back down.

How many could say they did the first part, much less all that came after?

His legs still ached from the climb. So he found a decently sized rock, covered in moss, and sat down. It was already getting somewhat late. About the time he usually found a place to nestle in for the night. But for now, he just wanted to rest and stare up at the mountain.

The lowering sun had cast much of the top of the mountain in shadow. But not all of the mountainside was equally dark. Link squinted up near the top. Something was burning. Or, at least, it looked like something was burning. At first Link thought that perhaps the last of the Goron's bombs had been ignited. But the massive fire had no smoke, and if anything it made the area around it look darker, not the spout of orange and yellow flame that came from the bombs.

Whatever it was, Link did not like looking at it. The black fire looked wrong, some ugly beast that had latched onto the side of mountain's splendor. And yet he continued to stare at it. At the very least it did not look as if the flames were growing larger. Whatever it was, Link could be thankful the black fire was contained to that one section.

A wheel creaked up from behind him.

Link spun around, his hand to his sword. But it was not a lizard or enemy. A wagon was making its way along the road. It was still a ways off, but Link could just make out the red hair of the driver.

Another Gerudo. It had to be.

Link slid from his rock and scrambled off the path of the main road. Stupid of him. He had found the main road as he descended and followed it, since it would be the easiest to travel. But of course that would mean that anyone coming up would pass him by. And he did not want any Gerudo to see him.

He found a pile of rocks that would cover him well enough and ducked down. Laying down as flat as he could on the uneven ground, he dared to peak out every few moments to keep sight of the wagon and its driver.

The horses came into view first. Two nice and majestic looking animals, perhaps not as well maintained as the horses on Lon Lon Ranch, their coat looked scruffy from travel. One of them had a limp to him, but the other had a steady gait. Other than the limp, they looked well fed, at least not abused. But that would change if the driver forced the lame horse to keep carrying the wagon for much longer.

Then came the wagon and the driver, it took only a glance for Link to confirm he had been correct. She was certainly a Gerudo, with her bright red hair, though her skin was perhaps not as tan as most of the women he had fought beside.

"Hold there, boys," the woman said as she pulled back on the reins. The horses ambled into a stop. The woman stood up from her seat and looked up the mountain, her hand shadowing her eyes. "That's as far as I want to get today. We'll start the trek up the mountain proper, tomorrow, how does that sound?"

The horses did not respond, though one of their ears did flick about as the woman was talking.

The Gerudo's eyes turned from the mountain and landed straight to Link. "And what do you say, thief? Stopping here for the night. That sound good?"

Link gasped, and ducked down behind the rocks.

"There's no point in hiding now," the woman continued. "I already spotted you."

"I'm not a thief," Link shouted without looking up from the rocks.

"Fine, fine. What are you? A little girl?"

"I'm not a girl!" Link finally looked up.

"Ahh, little boy then. Why are you hiding little boy if you're not a thief?"

Link swallowed. He couldn't tell her it was because she was a Gerudo. "Roads are dangerous."

"With a war on, that's true enough," she sat back down on her wagon. "Come on now, I don't feel like shouting to talk to you."

"Alright, I'm coming." Link untied the sack that hung at his hip and tucked the Ruby deep into the rocks. He put his hand on his sword and walked up to the lady.

"There, that's better. Well, little boy, you come from up the mountain?"

Link held his tongue. Why does she want to know? He looked the woman up and down. Not a warrior, at least not like Bethmasse and Nabooru, no armor, no weapons on her and a round friendly face. There was something a little off about her eyes. All the Gerudo he had encountered had yellow eyes, hers seemed just a little darker almost orange.

Her wagon was packed with boxes and barrels and a tarp. Definitely a merchant by the look of her.

"Look boy, I was going to share my dinner with you if you're willing to give me information. But if you're going to be boring all night you can go back to hiding on your rocks."

"I don't need your food," Link said, but that was a lie. He had only grabbed a few morsels when he left the Gerudo camp and that was all gone. For the last few days he had survived off using his sling on small rabbits and birds. But trying to hunt, then clean and cook had slowed him down more than he liked and so he missed most his meals.

"If you say so," the woman went into her pack and pulled out what look to be dried pork. She took a deep bite ad pulled it away with her teeth. Making a big show of smacking her lips as she chewed.

Link's stomach growled loud enough for the woman to hear. She gave a wide smile as she took another bite.

"I have so much of this stuff," she said as she chewed. "If only I had someone to share it with."

Link stepped toward her, holding out his hand. "Alright, please, if you have anything to spare, I-"

She pulled the pork away from him. "Information first. You came from up the mountain, correct?"

Link sighed. "Yes."

"How far up?"

"What?"

"Are you thick, boy? It's a simple question. Did you reach the Goron tunnels? The cliffs of Varongo? The Crown?"

"Most of the way," Link said. It seemed the easiest answer. It wasn't a lie, but it wouldn't give any information he did not want to give. Or at least, he hoped it didn't. He was sweating. Even after his time with the army, he never liked this whole sneaking about and lying about things.

The woman sighed. "You'll have to do better if you want any of my food. I need some information, boy. Look at you, bruised and scabbed over. Were you at the Battle for the Crown?"

His stomach growled again. "Yes," he whispered.

"There we go. Easy as breathing, yes?" She ripped a piece of the dried pork and tossed it to him.

He plucked it out of the air and shoved the food into his mouth. It was salty and so tough it was near painful to chew. But when your hungry, anything offered tasted like sharing one of the cakes of the Sky Festival.

All too quick the little piece of pork was gone. He looked back to the woman, she nodded and smiled a wide wicked smile Link did not trust.

"Good, yes? I'm willing to offer more, but I'll need more from you."

"What else is there?"

"What happened in the battle? Things have been silent coming up to the mountain. A woman can't rightly trade her wares to a dead army can she?"

"Your people and the Gorons won. But… it was messy. People died. A lot of people."

"That does tend to happen in battles, I'm told." She tore off another piece of pork and held it up in the air. "Anyone important die? The Gerudo King? The Goron Chief?"

"No, Ganon- your king is still alive. And Darunia, he's-" he stopped. No he couldn't tell her what he knew happened to the Goron. This stuff was so confusing. He hated it. He just wanted to speak plain and go on with his life. Why was it so difficult? "Darunia and King Dodongo fought each other, and they're stuck in the Crown. At least- that's what I heard."

"Darunia, aye?" The woman laughed and tossed the other piece to him. "On first name basis with the Goron chief are you?"

"No! That's not- I mean- Chief Darunia, that's what I meant."

"Worry not, boy. I won't go tattling on you to the chief, letting him know how over familiar you are." She laughed. "I doubt he'd know who I was talking about if I did."

"Hmm."

"Well, thank you, boy. Now get you gone. That's all I have need for you."

"Oh," Link looked to her cart and then to the night sky. "It's about to get dark."

"So it is. Which means I best be getting a night fire going, and caring for my boys. And you better go off to wherever it is you're going."

"Couldn't I stay? There's not much fire wood out here. I could tend to your horses. I know how to-"

"I said 'get you gone' where I'm from if an elder tells you something, you do it without these ridiculous questions. Go."

Link's shoulders slumped. It was getting too dark to try and find bird or beast to catch. Those two bites of pork would have to do for the night. At least his jaw felt as if he had chewed a full meal. Perhaps that would trick his stomach, though he doubted it.

"Wait," the merchant said as he headed back toward the rocks. "You know anything about horses?"

"Yes," Link said. "I'm pretty good with them."

"Buck's been limping. You fix him, and I'll let you have a meal and maybe, if you do a good job, I'll let you sleep under the wagon for the night."

Link nodded, and headed toward the horse that was obviously uncomfortable walking.

"It's... yeah, that's the one," the woman said. "Don't spook Buck."

Link went up to the animal and started to pet him. Even for a small horse, it was quite a bit bigger than Link. "Do you have anything for him to eat? Horses tend to be calmer when they're distracted with food."

Together Link and the woman unhooked the horses from the wagon, but with nowhere else to tie them, the merchant simply maneuvered them to the side of the wagon and tied them back up. At least they had enough room to meander around without a yoke over their shoulders. Link paid extra attention to the one called Buck as it moved. The problem seemed to be with one of the back legs.

Once the horses were tied up and feeding bags of grain draped over their muzzles, Link went to Buck's side. Even though the horse seemed calm, it was best not to stand directly behind it. He had watched Ingo shoeing a couple of the horses and was going through the steps in his head.

"I checked the shoes, yesterday," the woman said. "I didn't see anything wrong."

"You forced it walk on a wounded leg all day?" Link glared back at the woman.

She shrugged. "I've walked all day with a limp before."

"You're not a horse!" Link scratched the horse's side as something of an apology for its treatment. "Alright, Buck, I'm here to fix it. Alright?"

The horse swayed a bit at that. A good sign, hopefully, at least it didn't seem likely to kick. Link grabbed the back leg, this was the most dangerous part. He made certain his head was well away if Buck would react aggressive and lifted the leg.

But Buck seemed a good horse, and didn't budge. Once the leg was lifted and he was certain the horse wasn't going to kick, Link straddled the leg so his weight would keep it straight. The shoe was still there, but it wobbled at Link's touch.

And Buck did not like when Link touched it. The animal sputtered and Link could feel as it shook, not too hard. Buck was smart enough to know that Link had its leg pinned in and being too wild might hurt it more than Link. But definitely enough to let Link know it was displeased.

It was not hard to see why. The hoof had split, cracked right at the nail on the shoe.

"See?" the merchant said. "Shoe's still there."

Link grunted as he looked all about the hoof, rubbing at it as gentle as he could. But no matter where he touched Buck's reaction was the same: an angry quiver of pain. He walked all day like this? And likely most of yesterday as well. Link thought back to when he once got a splinter that jammed under his fingernail and how much that hurt. Buck must have been feeling something like that with every step he took.

He'd only seen Ingo clip and shoe a few hooves. What would Malon do in this situation?

"Do you have another bag, like the feed bags? Or twine? Or anything that we can use as a cushion?"

"Uhh? Perhaps?" The woman went back into the wagon and moved some things around. As she picked through her belongs Link tried to assuage Buck.

"It's alright, this won't take much longer." The horse stomped at the ground with one of its front hooves. Link did not know what it meant by that, exactly. Perhaps it was nothing, just one animal stretching and moving as it could. But it made him uneasy. Ingo or Talon may have been heavy enough to keep a horse from bucking. But if Link upset Buck now, even though it wouldn't be able to kick him directly, it could still toss him about if the horse really wanted to.

"Here's what I have." The woman jumped down from the wagon holding a bag that smelled of turnips, some Gerudo style clothes, and a bit of rough twine.

"That will do, hand them here." Link first pressed the clothes to the horse's hoof.

"Those are my clothes!"

Then Link took the bag and wrapped the whole hoof up, bringing it about a quarter of the way up its leg. He tightened and smoothed the sack as best he could, so the shirts wouldn't move about as the horse walked. When he was satisfied that everything was in the best position he could get it, he wrapped the hoof with the twine. Spinning it around the leg, under the hoof, keeping the proper shape as best as he could make it.

He tightened it into a knot and finally let the horse's leg go.

He did not know what he hoped for. Some whinny of approval, or the horse to look to him and nod in satisfaction. But Buck did not do any of that. The horse simply placed his hoof down and continued munching on his feed.

But it looked as if he was putting some weight on the leg now. That was something.

"And that's it?" the merchant said. "That will hold him up the mountain?"

"What?" Link said. "No. That might last a few hours. You need to bring him to a farrier, or a farm, or if you have no one else a blacksmith or something."

"So you didn't fix him. And I'm down a shirt."

"If I remember right there's a village not far from here. I think I saw smoke that way," he pointed in the direction of the closest village he avoided when he first tried to climb up these mountains. "Take Buck there in the morning and get him fixed up properly. If you don't he could get hurt."

The merchant frowned. "I'm late already and the best you can do is going to make me even later."

"Late for what? The army is going to be coming down this way anyhow? What does it matter if you sell them things a day later?"

"Don't pretend you know a thing about business," she said as she set up a fire and prepared a meal for the two of them.

She was not much of a companion, if Link was being honest to himself. The food served was little better than what was offered with the army. And she kept asking questions, but when most people ask questions of you, it feels like they're trying to get to know you. She never gave Link that feeling, far more that he was simply a vessel to squeeze information out of.

The questions were mostly odd details about the battle, or asking what was done by one important person or another. Several he knew. When she asked about Bethmasse, Link told her everything he could.

"She was the one your king placed in charge of the line during the second part of the fight. She fought really well."

"Did she take a wound or anything?"

"Nothing serious. Even when she jumped on top of a Dodongo during the fighting, she was still up and moving after the battle was over."

"And what of Dembugi?"

"I don't know who that is."

And so it went through the entire meal and well past the time their little cooking fire was only cinders. Only when she was yawning between most of her sentences did she call an end for the night. True to her word she let Link sleep under the wagon. Not as comfortable as she seemed to be resting on the wooden floor. But at least it blocked some of the wind.

Through the night he dreamed the same dream he'd had for the last several nights. He was back on the lines, struggling to keep up with Bethe as she fought. Squeezing between and under the other soldiers. He felt his sword thrust into Lizalfos and Dodongo alike.

The battle was fought all around him. It was terrifying and horrible. And yet he found he could not turn away from it. He could not stop it. Behind him, somewhere safe from the destruction stood Malon and Saria, the princess, and the other children of the forest.

The more he fought the more people filed behind him. Navi led Talon, the Princess' quiet bodyguard, Yadunby, Rosa, and even Chief Darunia. After them came even more, Ingo and Mido, the man that tried to cheat him at the slingshot game, and a thousand faces and shadows of people he hardly knew.

They all stood behind him, but they couldn't fight. It was only him and the other soldiers at his side. But what aid he had was failing. His fellow warriors were falling, dying, wounded by a thousand blades and countless enemies before them. Until there was only him. Only him to stand between the monsters and all those people.

It was impossible. He could not defend them all alone. But still he fought, until blood splashed all over his arms and down his front. Until he did not know if his arms ached from wounds or from how long he hacked at his enemy with his sword. He fought until the blood had grown so deep and so high it filled his mouth, covered his eyes, and all was darkness.

The creaking of the wagon woke him up. The wheels rolled, right past his head.

"Hey!" Link said as he scrambled out from under it. "I was still sleeping! You could have run me over!"

"But I didn't," the merchant shouted.

"Hey, hey! Wait!" Link grabbed at the blanket he slept under and ran to the side of the wagon. Thankfully the horses had not yet started moving yet. "I need to ask you something."

"No, I'm not going to give you a breakfast. You wanted more food you should have actually fixed my horse."

"Not that. You're a merchant you know the roads around, right?"

"Well enough."

"I'm trying to get to the Zora's Domain. Can you tell me how to get there?"

"Isn't that where the army is headed next?" The merchant pursed her lips. "If that's where you need to go, why wouldn't you just stick with them?"

"Please, just tell me, how do I get there?"

"Huh," her eyes flickered over him, as if she was just now seeing him. "Follow the Royal Road back as if you're heading toward Hyrule Castle. In a few days you're going to get to the bridge that crosses River Zora. Don't cross the bridge, take the road that follows the river East."

"Past the Kokiri Forest?"

"Tell me, boy," she pulled her horses into a stop. "I thought you were a simple Hylian bumpkin from the fields. Someone who perhaps stole something from the army and was running away."

Link didn't know how to respond to that. He hadn't stolen anything, and he wasn't entirely certain what a bumpkin was, but it did not sound like something nice.

"But what Hylian from the fields doesn't know of Zora River but does know about a name for the Lost Woods that hasn't been used in a century?"

"I- I don't know. It just-" Link felt his face going red. "Oh, I'm sorry now. I, uhm, I remember the river. I just forgot, for a moment."

"Of course," her eyes bore into his own and her jaw set. Definitely a deeper redder color than any Gerudo that Link had ever seen. He looked away in discomfort. She knew. Would she tell Ganondorf? What if he sends someone after him? What if the next morning he wakes up with a sword at his throat? Could Link fight his way out? His hand reached for the pommel of his sword.

"Well," she said as she broke the stare. "Good luck on your travels, then. Alright boys, get a move on!" The horses stepped forward and the wagon lurched after it.

Link watched them go, his hand still hovering over his sword until they were a good distance away. When he was certain they were too far to come back, he went to the rocks, collected the Ruby and continued down the long road. Glancing over his shoulder with every few steps.

The knoll did not look like much changed since last he had been there. Still a bright healthy green grass. It was a pretty place. That was good. Navi deserved to live in a place that was pretty.

Link swung his pack to the ground. It bounced against the grass, and he quietly scolded himself. He should be more careful with the bag that held the Ruby. He put his hand on the bag as if comforting it would make the stone would feel better about his carelessness.

He sat down beside the bag just to get off his feet. Days of walking on the rough side paths had taken its toil on him. His feet ached and if the merchant was telling the truth he would have a long path still ahead of him. But for tonight he would stay here. Just until morning that was as long as he could wait.

"I know you don't want to talk to me," Link said. "But I need to warn you. Ganondorf knows about you. He had a fairy that he captured. I released her, but I don't know if she made it back to you or not."

The grass didn't answer. The hill didn't move. Nothing opened up before him and no fairies flew through the air.

Of course they wouldn't come. Navi had made it clear that she did not want to speak with him ever again. Why would they come to him now? But he needed to get the message across.

"There was a battle," he said. "The Great Deku Tree was right. Of course he was. People I knew died right in front of me. I was terrified. And I thought, for a bit that there was nothing that I could do. That this whole thing was pointless, just like he said. Those silly dreams of making a difference, that I could somehow fight my way to fixing the problems. But, in the end I did. Does that make sense?"

He shook his head.

"Of course it doesn't, I'm not explaining it very well at all. But I saved two people's lives. That has to be worth something. I like to think that the Great Deku Tree would like that, even if I had to use my sword to do it." He sighed. Navi wouldn't care about that. He needed to stop babbling. "Ganondorf survived the battle. Of course he did, I don't think anything going to get in his way. He fights like nothing I've seen before and he has magic with him. Strong magic. Whatever you're doing down there, you need to prepare for him. If he knows where you are and that you have the Emerald he'll be coming for it now. I don't know, do you want me to help you fight him off when he gets here?"

The only response was a bird chirping somewhere above him.

"Well, that's all I have to say. I miss you, Navi. I hope… I hope whatever you're doing done there, you're happy."

He stayed there, lying on the ground staring at the rise of dirt and grass he knew hid the fairies and their fountain. Until day went to night when he should have gone to sleep for the next day of travel. But when he shut his eyes he found sleep would not come to him. Try as he would, his mind would not let itself fall to dreams.

After giving up on rest he told the fairies his message once more, just in case they missed what he had said the first time. Then he pulled out his ocarina and played the night away.

All the songs he had learned back with his family in the forest. Fun songs and slow songs, songs that Navi taught the children to help them learn the alphabet or their numbers, songs that were simply celebrating the joy of living, or the pain of sadness. By the time he finished all he remembered the sun was starting to rise.

He stopped and just watched the sun come up. Alone. Then wiping his eyes clean of his tears, he picked up his things and headed toward the Zora Domain.