Born a Weapon
A Twilight Princess Fan story
Chapter 36
Return to Kakarikio
The cart sped into Kakariko, accompanied by the thunder of horse hooves, yet the loud rolling of the Gorons was easily heard even with so many horses. The stampede startled the few village residents, and they quickly ran to one of the many windows to see outside. Some of the kids, trying to be foolishly brave, attempted to run outside and investigate. However, Renado had learned from last time and intercepted them, ordering them to stay inside.
A heavily damaged cart sped past the inn, nearly crashing into it and coming to a stop just past it. Renado saw Link jump out carrying a zora when the cart stopped and took two steps toward the inn before falling to his knee. Renado threw the door open to see Link back on his feet, making his way towards him, followed by a frantic girl. The healer managed a single glance at the loud commotion to see a large number of soldiers and Gorons trying to hold off a wave of bulbins and close Kakariko's gate before the zora, a child he now realized, was shoved into his arms.
"Help him," Link gasped, out of breath and bleeding from several wounds. "He's dying, he needs help now!" Link exclaimed, noticing Renado's glance trailed to his wounds. The Kakarikan was very concerned with Link's health but would not ignore the dying zora in his arms.
"If those are Hylian soldiers, one of them will be a field medic! Find one!" Renado quickly ordered Link, and he sprinted inside the inn to the room he had set up as his infirmary. Once Renado was gone, Link began staggering towards the group of soldiers, stumbling but being caught by Ilia.
"Link, wait!" the Ordonian girl said, "they're still fighting!"
"Exactly," Link grumbled as he began staggering forward again, shrugging off Ilia's attempts to stop him. He drew his bow as he approached and steadied himself before sending an arrow into a particularly stubborn bulbin. Link watched as his single arrow did nothing to stop the massive tide of enemies. Fortunately, the army of Hylian soldiers was holding the tide back, but they didn't seem to be making much progress stopping it.
"Are you suicidal?!" Midna chided from Link's shadow, "If you die, who's going to get the last Fused Shadow?!" Link ignored her, grabbed his pouch from his belt, and fell to his knee. He dropped his bow, reached into his pouch, and pulled out a bomb and some rope. He wrapped the rope around the bomb as he drew an arrow, sliding it into the rope and wrapping the whole thing a few more times before tying a knot with his teeth. He reattached the pouch to his belt and fell over as he leaned to grab his bow. He clutched his chest wound in pain as he clumsily grabbed the bow, staining his hand and the arrow in blood. Small hands franticly dragged him to his feet, and his muddled mind barely registered it as Ilia trying to drag him away.
"You're too close," Link mumbled, trying to urge Ilia to back away from the combat.
"So are you!" Ilia snapped back. Even injured, Link was strong enough to break free from Ilia's grasp and use the last of his energy to spring at a building, vault off a box, and grab the roof. "Link!" Ilia cried, and Link rolled himself onto the roof and lay on his back panting heavily.
"I swear if you make me find the last piece on my own, I am going to someone bring you back to life and kill you myself!" Link grumbled in annoyance, using his heavy limbs to push himself onto his knees. Link could see the massive pile of bulbins from the roof, but only a small number could reach the gate due to the terrain. Link lit the bomb on his arrow and drew it in his bow, which he swore had somehow changed from wood to lead. Aiming for the largest mass of bulbins, safely away from the Hylian soldiers, Link waited for the fuse to burn before he released the arrow. The projectile flew into the crowd, and a massive explosion sent bodies, limbs, and blood flying far enough to coat Link as he clumsily tried to shield his wounds with his shield.
The remaining bulbins shrieked in panic as they realized their numbers had drastically reduced. Those who remained retreated, fleeing back down the path and leaving Kakariko in peace. Link stayed in place, kneeling on the roof, simply breathing loud, heavy breaths and staring blankly at the retreating horde.
"Are you done trying to get yourself killed?!" Midna demanded, snapping Link out of his daze, "Get off this roof and find that medic!" Link tried to stand and make his way back to the ledge and gently lower himself onto the box he jumped off, but his leg gave out, causing him to tumble off the ledge and crash into the side of the box, bouncing off it and onto the floor. The same small hands from before wrapped under his arms and began dragging him away, a trail of blood being drawn from where his discarded bow and shield lay. He faintly heard Ilia shouting for help while he struggled to reach into his pouch again, hoping to retrieve a bottle of spring water, but accidentally grabbed one of the red potions. He was unsure exactly what the potion did, but he knew it was some kind of healing potion, so he pulled the cork out with his teeth and drank it, and his other hand returned to his pouch. As the potion was finished, Link felt the pain in his body lessen, and the world suddenly came back into focus, the muffled sounds suddenly exploding in volume.
The shouting of soldiers filled the village, and all Link could make out was chaos when he looked their way. The mission had been a disaster. Link's distraction had not worked, and the soldiers suffered many casualties and injuries. The odds of a medic being able to heal Link without abandoning someone else were very low, and Renado was tending to the zora prince. Once Ilia had managed to pull him against a building, he propped himself up against the wall and started fumbling with his tunic.
"Help me get this off," Link grunted as he struggled to move with his injuries.
"What? But why-"
"Now!" Link unintentionally snapped, startling Ilia, who thankfully complied. With his tunic and armor now discarded, Link's bare chest was exposed, and he finally got a good look at his injuries. The stab he had suffered in his chest was bleeding dangerously and needed attention as soon as possible. Link poured some spring water onto his wounds, hissing in pain as he did before taking out the kit Renado had given him before he went to Lanayru.
"Oh gods, you're not gonna-" Link's shadow faintly mumbled. He opened the case and grabbed the needle, thankful he had the foresight to thread it when he first got the kit. Ilia's eyes widened in horror as she realized what he intended to do. She fumbled for some excuse to stop him.
"Link, wait! I'll get a medic! I'll-"
"They're busy. No time. You might want to look away." Before he could second guess himself, Link held the skin of his wound as close as he could and pieced it. Renado was right. The process was agonizing. Puncturing his skin was painful enough, but the feeling of the string being pulled through his flesh was something he had no idea how to describe. Gritting his teeth, Link forced himself to continue, piercing himself over and over while Ilia and his shadow sounded like they struggled not to vomit. After the agonizing process was complete, Link applied more spring water before trying to wrap the wound with bandages. When he struggled, Ilia grabbed the roll and began wrapping it around for him. She struggled to accomplish the task, but it was much better than what Link could have done in his state.
Once that was done, Link stitched his shoulder and settled for applying spring water and bandages to the rest of his cuts. Eventually, one of the medics managed to free himself and tend to Link, providing a breath of relief to the two humans and hidden twili.
I wanted to get this out yesterday for this story's anniversary, but I couldn't get on.
Wow. It's been three years, and I'm still not done. I'm trying to finish this without a years-long process, but there are so many things stopping me from writing.
