Link woke the next morning to find Spoone as his only company on the bank. The healer was already awake and intent on repacking his satchel despite the early morning light. He noticed Link rising, however, and greeted him cheerfully.
"Slept well, did you?" asked Spoone happily. "So did I! Those Zora are jolly good at putting the old noggin at ease despite all those filthy Ganonspawn laying about. And I see our ailing Mei is well on her way to a full recovery!"
Link followed the doctor's nodding head to the river, where most of the Zora cavorted happily among the water's deepest and strongest currents. Mei was among them, and though wet dressing still covered the gash upon her crown, her wounds did not prevent her from merrily dunking her husband below the water's surface.
"Extraordinarily recuperative, Zoras!" Spoone exclaimed admiringly. "Near torn to ribbons one day and playing with her water chums the next! Those wounds of hers are healing twice as fast as a Hylian's, and that's a fact!"
"Good to hear," Link replied absent-mindedly while still eyeing the jovial Zoras. Good to hear and good to know, he thought to himself. Depending on how many of their people remained, the Zora could very well be key in halting the evil threatening to drown Hyrule. Hylia let it be held back long enough.
"What was that, Master Link?"
Link shook himself out of his reverie, only then realizing he had spoken his last thought aloud.
"Nothing, Master Spoone," Link answered with a dismissive hand. "Just talking to myself."
Reflecting on his thoughts, however, forced Link to realize that he had privately turned to Hylia much more often - and willingly - since his encounter at the spring. It had not been a conscious change, but it was a change nonetheless. What was it Impa had said the first time they had spoken?
"You are much changed from the young man I knew. We will see how much remains changed as you begin to remember who you once were."
Was this part of who he truly was? A man of faith as opposed to one without more than a name to his memory? How much more of himself would return, unbidden, before the end?
"I see you are deep in thought and I apologize for my intrusion, Master Link, but we must speak with you of tonight's endeavor."
Again, Link was brought back to the present, but this time by a Zora. Fronk's now familiar form crouched a modest distance away so his yellow-eyed gaze could meet his own. The full contingent of Zoras, save those still keeping watch at the camp's perimeter, had joined him. All of them were still dripping from their play in the river, but their expressions were calm and focused now. With a rueful smile, Link rose to his full height in order to allow the ebony-skinned Zora to do the same.
"No apology is necessary, friend Fronk," Link reassured him. "Time is short, so let us not waste it."
Smiling gratefully, Fronk nodded and motioned for his companions join him. As they gathered around him, Link noted that Bazz looked no friendlier than he had the previous night. There was no trust in the ebony Zora's eyes, only simmering suspicion.
"We are all of us ready to leave," Fronk began. "As I told you last night, I will find you at the eastern side of Mercay. Do you have those things you wish us to keep for you until we meet again?"
For answer, Link hefted the large, heavily tied pack Epona had carried. He had only needed to remove two small pieces of it for the time being: the small bundle of Sheikah clothes and a money bag Impa had thoughtfully included among his supplies. His cursory glance at the latter's contents had revealed no small amount of green, blue and red rupees, with even a silver one thrown in for good measure. Link had mentally thanked the Sheikah elder; he would need to buy a good meal at the stable before setting out tonight.
"It's not that I'm ungrateful," Link began as he handed the pack to the young green Zora sitting next to him, "but won't some of my supplies be useless after going underwater?"
"My husband told me we are truly strangers to you," Mei, who stood at her husband's right, said kindly. "When we carry stores not meant for water, we wrap them in drycloth. Rest assured that your belongings will be safe with us."
"I thank you," Link said gratefully while inclining his head slightly.
"It is we who thank you," Mei returned warmly. "First you save my life, then you offer your own to my people. It is only our duty to aid you however we can."
"Speaking of which, are you quite sure you won't have one of us accompany you across the wetlands?" Fronk persisted. "An extra spear would surely help should the lizalfos discover you."
"And a spear less will help make sure that doesn't happen," Link answered, albeit with a smile. "As Cado said last night, stealth will be my best ally. A full-grown Zora is welcome in battle, but not for remaining unseen."
"And that," Mei added while placing a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder, "is why we will be ready to help you across the river as quickly as possible - with more of us waiting to ensure your escape."
Fronk nodded in momentary resignation, then reached out to grasp Link's forearm.
"I will see you tonight, Link," the Zora vowed, his yellow eyes gazing determinedly into Link's blue. "May Hylia swim with you."
"And with you, Fronk," Link replied firmly.
With that, the Zora returned to the river's edge, stopping only to ensure Link's belongings were safely wrapped in the brown drycloth before taking to the water. In a trice they were safely hidden by the water's depths, with nary a ripple betraying their presence.
"Well then, that's that and the day awaits us!" Spoone declared. "I must assume, good sir, that you intend to leave your noble steed at the stable before setting out to evade the jaws of death this night?"
Link nodded. "Indeed I do, Master Spoone. That and a good meal beforehand is all that's left to be had. I would ask you, of course, to keep the nature of tonight's endeavor to yourself."
"But of course, old boy!" the healer assured him enthusiastically. "Call it doctor-patient confidentiality! I'll not breathe a word of your derring-do to a soul, on my oath as a healer I will not! I'm much too eager to see these woebegone days done with, and if my silence helps, so much the better!"
Grinning at the man's gregarious commitment and commentary, Link mounted Epona. The chestnut mare looked no worse for wear despite the previous day's exertions, and he patted her on her strong neck to show his appreciation for them. Epona whickered, perhaps in affectionate forgiveness for having been forced to carry a being twice the size of her owner.
Spoone, meanwhile, had mounted his own donkey that was laden with oddly shaped bags and packs. Securing his satchel around the saddle pommel, the healer pulled up alongside Link as the two began the short trek from the riverbank to the stable.
"Was that your first encounter with a Zora, Master Spoone?" Link asked with curiosity.
"Oh yes, and a jolly good encounter it was!" the healer brightly replied. "I'd studied theory on the Zora - or Zorana Hyrulea, as is their proper name - but I'd never had the pleasure of meeting them, much less treating them. A pleasant people, I must say! And they seem to have taken quite a shine to you, I might add!"
"I suppose most of them did," Link murmured, thinking of Bazz.
Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of two patrolmen, one of which Link recognized - the young man whom Kazul had sent to fetch Yolero and Spoone the day before. The other was a grumpy-looking Hylian with a ragged beard, and it was he that greeted the new arrivals.
"That you Spoone?" the patrolman grunted. "You done treatin' the fish? Some new wounded that just come in. Been lookin' for yeh."
The healer sighed in a long-suffering kind of way. "Zora, my dear boy. Zora. And yes, I have concluded my business with them. I will be happy to attend those in need of my assistance. Master Link here, of course, is already a welcome guest to the stable. I expect you to afford him every courtesy, such as it is."
Another grunt from the patrolman greeted Spoone's expectations, but he did not argue. He and his companion started to continue their circuit, but not before Link stopped them with a question.
"Where did the wounded come from?" Link asked. "More from the north?"
It was the younger one who shook his head in response. "The south. Word is the Riverside Stable is naught but ash."
The elder patrolman cuffed the younger on the head. "Why you goin' 'round tellin' people that!" he barked. "Gonna start a panic, you will!"
The younger patrolman ruefully rubbed his crown and shrugged in reply. "Only told a healer an' a swordsman. Doubt they're the type to panic. 'Tis the farmers who needn't know, though they'll know soon enough."
The two continued to argue as they made their way to the nearby woods, but Link was no longer listening. Stables to the north and south destroyed. Cado's description of the wetlands' plight was all too real. Ganon's jaws were closing in from both sides of the wetlands, ready to devour the surviving Hylians and seal off Zora's Domain in one fell blow.
"Well, I suppose I shall be rather busy over the next few days!" Spoone said bracingly. "If there's one thing we medics appreciate, it's steady business!"
Link issued a forced laugh at this, but it died as they came to the rise just south of the stable.
At least half as many people again as there had been the day before milled en masse around the tent. Most of them had clearly arrived in haste, their travel-worn clothes muddied and torn. It was nearly impossible to separate the cacophony of voices.
Nearly.
"Teebo!" cried a woman's voice. "Has anyone seen my Teebo? He's a little boy with lenses! Please, please help me find my Teebo!"
"Meghyn!" bellowed a man over the hubbub. "Are you here Meghyn? It's me, Agus! For the love of Hylia, Meghyn, answer me!"
"Mama!" a girl's voice sobbed through the crowd. "Mama, where are you? I can't find my mama!"
"I say, steady on there, chap. You'll do them no good with the old eye juice. Chin up and stiff upper lip and all that!"
The last was spoken by Spoone, and it was only then that Link realized tears were streaming down his face. He hurriedly wiped them away before the duo reached the main throng.
"Thank you, Master Spoone," Link muttered. "I wasn't prepared for… all this."
The healer nodded sadly while stroking his blonde mustache. "Looks like a right mess, doesn't it? Speaking of which, I'd best get cracking on my part to clean it up. Why don't you see if you can cut through this lot to the stable and settle in while you can?"
Bidding Spoone a fond farewell, Link remained astride Epona to force a path through the throng. Questions rained on him from those seeking loved ones, news or reassurances. He forced himself to press on without answering. I can do nothing for them here, he told himself. Not now. Not yet. He almost believed himself.
Finally, Link broke through to a small open area that was being painstakingly maintained by those employed by the stable itself. The series of wooden stalls appeared completely occupied by stock of various quality. Stablemen scurried to and fro on various errands, all of them directed by a portly man with only wisps of hair remaining on his large dome.
"Spinch!" he barked. "Grab another hand and fetch ten more sacks of oats! Sharp, now! Toma! Kazul's patrolling tonight, so be sure to have his beast good and ready! Whoever's not mucking out the stables, get on it!"
Link dismounted and approached the full-throated taskmaster, who finally noticed his new customer.
"You look a patrolman, but I don't know you sir!" he greeted just loud enough to be heard above the surrounding din. "What can I do for you?"
"A good home for a good steed, and for a few nights at least," Link replied as loudly as he dared.
The stableman eyed Epona thoroughly, then nodded in approval.
"Good stock, this one," he said appraisingly. "Necludan or I'm a horse's arse. More than a night or two'll cost you. Twenty rupees, and more to come if you leave her here more than five days. Lean times and fat need if this gaggle of refugee geese didn't already tell you that much."
Link nodded in understanding while handing over a red rupee, which the stableman gave a quick cursory review before stuffing it in a bulging moneysack at his waist. Meaty hands formed a hallow around his large mouth as he called to one of his underlings.
"Teli!" he yelled. "Got a fresh one! Get her straightened out and do it right, lad!"
A tousled stableboy of no more than twelve years sprinted to take Epona, who allowed herself to be led away willingly. Link watched her go with a pang of regret. How long before he would ride her again?
Dismissing the depressing thought, Link thanked the stableman and started toward the main tent. The swirling sea of people still ebbed right up to the horse stalls, alongside which a narrow stream of stablemen ran to and fro en route to various tasks. Link shouldered his way along, feeling the collective filth and unease from the masses press up against him.
Not being overly tall, Link was forced to at least fleetingly take in the crowd through which he struggled to walk. It was the faces that struck him most. Those at Hateno had been content at happy. These were the opposite: strained, flustered and fearful most of all. The eyes were especially distinct, different in shape and color, but similar in their fatigue and fear. Round blue eyes and hooded green eyes and off-center brown eyes and narrow grey eyes and-
Screams erupted as Link whipped out the short Sheikah blade from his waist just in time to meet the half-moon blade of Garill's sickle sword. The resounding clash of metal on metal immediately sent those nearest the combatants scrambling to get out of the way.
Garill snarled in rage and struck again, his long arm seeking to rip his weapon through Link's throat. Again Link parried the blow with the blackened Sheikah blade, but the curved sickle hummed right back toward his middle. The man - the Yiga - was unbelievably fast. Sweat beaded on Link's face as he strained to turn aside the unrelenting attack.
Garill began to spin his parried momentum into another strike. Almost of its own accord, Link's vacant hand smoothly drew the sword sheathed on his back. He did not wait to meet the half-moon blade. The longer weapon severed Garill's swordhand at the wrist in the blink of an eye. The Yiga shrieked in agony as his weapon - along with most of his forearm - fell to the ground. He dropped to his knees, clutching his bloody stump as Link held both blades against the attacker's throat.
"Who sent you?" Link demanded coldly. His eyes were narrowed chips of blue ice, hard and unyielding. "Speak and you will have earned a quick death."
"It is your death you have earned this day, Hylian filth!" Garill spat toward Link's boots. "Whether it is by my blade or another's, my master has already sealed your fate!"
Link never got a chance to reply. The wind was knocked from his body as the weight of three men bore him forward and into the ground. Another small group did the same to Garill, who snarled furiously as he tried in vain to wriggle free.
It wasn't until he regained his breath that Link was able to crane his head enough to see a furious Yolero standing above him.
"Bloodshed!" the equerry screeched. "Chaos! When I get to the bottom of this, you will curse the day you set foot at Wetlands!"
"You don't understand!" Link shouted desperately. "He attacked me! He's a Yiga!"
"More idiocy!" Link could not believe the registers Yolero's voice reached. His face was nearly purple with rage. "You claim the right to draw arms on the basis of a tale meant to frighten children! Whatever hopes you had of leaving here are now slim indeed!"
Link opened his mouth to answer the charges but again found himself painfully winded, this time by a large fist to his side. The sharp bristles of a beard raked the side of his face as a heavily accented voice whispered into his ear.
"Keep yer bloody trap shut!" Kazul whispered urgently. "We'll find the truth o' this soon enough, but yeh'll do yerself no bloody favors talkin' back now! Shaddap while we get this sorted!"
Link only just obliged, his thoughts scrabbling like a caged animal. He could not afford even half a day in justice's confinement, no matter how well-intentioned. If he failed to cross the wetlands tonight, would the Zora think him dead? Or worse, that he had reneged on his promise? And if they believed the latter, would they ever allow him near Zora's Domain, let alone the opportunity to board Vah Ruta?
"Take them both to the cells, and make sure that one is kept from dying!" Yolero said in an only somewhat calmer voice. He was obviously desperate to restore a modicum of peace to his stable. "Once that's done, round up as many witnesses as possible. Hylia knows whether anyone saw what really happened, but we'll take as long as we need."
This did nothing to improve Link's hopes as he was hauled to his feet. It took all his willpower to keep quiet as the patrolmen took his sword and - more importantly - the small bundle containing his Sheikah clothing and slate. Would they be recognized for what they were?
Link could only watch as blade, slate and bundle were carried off by an especially smug-looking Leekah. And though he felt that Kazul, at least, was still somewhat on his side, the patrolman did not spare any strong-arming while guiding him to the forest's northern edge. Garill had apparently resigned himself to his fate, his breath hissing between his teeth as he endured the pain of his severed arm. Blood dripped steadily from a cloth that had been hastily tied around it before they were escorted away.
Trees began to obscure the midday sun. The patrolmen were not especially careful guiding Link and Garill around roots, rocks or bushes. By the time they reached their destination, both of them boasted several bruises and cuts. In a small clearing Link must have missed during his journey with Mei, a cluster of iron cages lay waiting with two more patrolmen standing guard. Two of them already bore occupants: men whose ragged clothes and thin faces forced Link to assume they were refugees whose desperation had run them afoul of the stable's laws.
The patrolmen unceremoniously thrust the two newcomers into cages, each on the opposite side of the clearing. Again, Kazul spared no force in front of his comrades, but did manage to whisper a message while securing the lock on Link's cage.
"I'll get back to yeh as soon as I can, lad," the patrolman assured him gruffly.
With that, Kazul left with his fellows, leaving Link to lean back against the bars of his cage and wonder how he could possibly reach the Zora that would be waiting for him that night.
Brushes of orange and purple streaked across the evening sky, their lights softly glancing off the trees and forest floor. A chickaloo chirruped nearby, interrupting the softly constant run of the nearby River Hylia.
The beauty of the scene was lost upon Link, whose mind had spent double its normal energy to make up for his body's inertia. The guard had changed twice since he and Garill had been caged, but none of the patrolmen had felt the need to communicate with their prisoners. They simply kept moving on their slow circuit, clearly more concerned with potential raids from outside the camp than their charges within.
It appeared as though Yolero would keep his word concerning the thoroughness of his investigation. If there was an update to the possibility of his being freed, it had not been communicated to Link. The only new information he had obtained was what the sky told him, and right now it said his time was quickly waning.
The thought set Link's thoughts scurrying anew for some shred of a solution. What would Fronk do when his Hylian was not waiting for him at Mercay? Would he assume Link had died trying to traverse the lizalfo-infested wetlands? Worse, would he go looking for him and meet his own doom? What of this prince of his, who was preparing to receive him?
Link could not even pace out his worry. The cage was too short for him to stand and too narrow to allow for even a full stride. He sat, unable to move or act on a night that clamored for him to do both.
Movement to the far left side of the prison camp caught Link's eye. It appeared as though the guard would change again. Link's heart leaped when he recognized Kazul as one of the two newcomers. The patrolmen currently on duty went to meet them, huddling to discuss only Hylia knew what.
"Hoping your friend will save you? I shouldn't be surprised after you let your princess fight the Great Master in your stead a century ago."
The words, shocking both in utterance and context, jolted Link out of his inward frustration. He turned to see Garill's uneven eyes locked on him, a mocking smile playing on his face. Link felt a fury rise in him that he had not known since awakening.
"There will be no one to save you, Yiga!" Link grated, his hands twisting the unyielding metal bars in rage. "My fate lays before me, but yours is already sealed!"
"Is it?" Garill taunted, his sickening smile pressed up between the closely spaced bars of his own cage. "The rumors are true then. You remember nothing. You know nothing. You are a babe, mewling in the dark for comforting arms to hold you. Instead you will feel the embrace of death that should have been yours a century gone. I? I will be free, glorying in the age of the Demon King that has waited far too long for its coming."
"Chopping off arms one minute and chummin' the next?" Kazul sarcastically interrupted as he strode into the middle of the encircled cages. The patrolman casually swung his huge battle axe at Garill's cage, causing the blade to rebound off the bars with a jarring clang. The Yiga snarled at his bearded guard but scrunched as far back into his enclosure as he could. Kazul eyed him distastefully before turning to his younger companion.
"Why don't yeh start yer circle, lad?" the patrolman casually suggested. "Looks to meh like these two need remindin' of the good manners we require o' law-breakers, here."
The younger patrolman saluted, then started towards the far side of the encampment. Kazul strolled to Link's cage, but did not bend over to speak until his companion was out of earshot.
"I do no have good news for yeh, lad," the patrolman informed him quickly. "Yolero's takin' his sweet time with this little lot, an' he do no feel badly lettin' yeh sweat it out here until he's done. Best I can do fer yeh is a bite an' a swig."
Link gratefully accepted the loaf of bread and waterskin from the patrolman. The day's forced inactivity had only emphasized his hunger and thirst, both of which were now at a fever pitch. Between mouthfuls, he questioned his newfound ally.
"Is there any way you could convince Yolero that I'm innocent?" Link asked. The bearded man shook his head in reply.
"I've nothin' to go on with that argument, lad," Kazul admitted. "Hylia blind me if it's true, but are yeh sure that piece o' work there is a Yiga?"
"He is sure, patrolman. As am I."
Kazul whirled about, battle axe up and ready to swing, as Cado emerged from the forest's inner depths. The Sheikah was fully clothed and armed in the manner of his people, but he raised empty hands to show he meant know harm.
"Who the devil are yeh an' what're yeh doin' here?" Kazul demanded, his large arms easily wielding the axe in front of him. "Answer me quick, laddie. I've no patience fer playin' peekaboo with armed intruders."
"He is a friend, Kazul," Link desperately explained. Cado's arrival had sent hope, threaded with urgency, shooting through him. "More importantly, he is a Sheikah, and he knows whereof he speaks."
To Link's relief, Cado's dark eyes above his balaclava did not convey anger at being thus announced. Like him, the Sheikah understood that time no longer allowed for subtlety. The patrolman, however, did not appear convinced.
"So yeh say, lad," Kazul grunted through the side of his thick beard. "I like yeh well enough, but I can no take yeh at yer word an' leave it at that."
"Then turn and see for yourself, patrolman," Cado said calmly while pointing toward Garill's cage.
The Yiga's oddly placed eyes were now as wide as they could go, his face drawn taut in a mask of hatred and - was it Link's imagination, or was Garill afraid as well?
"Sheikah cur!" the Yiga spat, flecking spittle from his mouth. "Hide in your pit of cowards and fools and ask your filthy goddess to spare your pathetic lives!"
Kazul appeared taken aback by Garill's verbal assault. The Yiga strongly reminded Link of an animal at bay, desperately making a last stand in hopes of driving away a predator.
"Well, there's no love last b'tween the two of yeh," Kazul slowly remarked. "I suppose I could fetch Yolero an' get this mess sorted out."
"My apologies patrolman, but time is against us and I dare not let this man live a moment longer."
Time seemed to slow down. Link saw the Sheikah smoothly unshoulder his horned bow and nock an arrow to its string. Kazul started toward Cado in some shocked attempt to stop him. Garill screamed defiantly from within his cage. A bright yellow light flared around the Yiga, accompanied by a puff of smoke and sound. Cado's arrow pierced the cloud within the cage - and flew unopposed through both sets of bars before thudding into the forest floor on the other side.
The pen was empty. Garill was gone.