Chapter 3 - The Failed Rescue
Two weeks past the disastrous birthday dinner, Isha and her mother found it difficult to move on from their fight. Isha had refused to tell her mother anything about the lunch with Koto, which ignited Eva's fury as she believed her daughter had intentionally sabotaged things in order to spite her.
Despite this, the young woman still attempted to make amends with her mother and joined her for dinner every night, enduring lecture after lecture about how she wasn't getting any younger, how Isha was well past marrying age, how she would be a lonely spinster if she didn't square up…
But her patience was wearing thin with these repeated conversations that had no resolution in sight.
"When did you stop caring about what I want out of life?" Isha finally asked her mother one evening.
"It's not that I don't care, Isha, I just want better for you than the path you're heading down." Isha hated that condescending tone her mother carried. "What will you do when I'm gone? Without a husband or child, you'll be so lonely…"
"Stop acting like you're so old," the young woman scoffed and slammed her fork down on the table. "I hate it when you talk like that."
"I hate the idea of my daughter spending her life alone. No self-respecting Kakariko woman should live her life alone."
"I'd rather be lonely than flipping one man to another when the first one passes." No sooner than the words had left her mouth than she wished she could snatch them back.
Her mother's face twisted with anger. "How dare you say such horrible things!?"
"I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't-"
"You know, Renado and your father were actually incredibly close friends, and he has been a part of our lives for a lot longer than you have. Of course he isn't your father, but he is willing to step up and take on that role–"
Isha snarled. "You know you never asked me if I wanted to replace Dad. You just made that decision yourself and expected me to live with it. Renado is just as foolish as the rest in this town, preaching pacifism to a dangerous degree and disarming the townspeople as though that will somehow protect them from the hell that's out there. It's because of people like him that dad died! They have Dad's blood on their hands. If we'd had more warriors able to fight those kargaroks, then-"
Smack.
Isha was stunned into silence, her face stinging from the slap delivered by Eva. "You may be an adult, but you will not disrespect your mother," the older woman hissed. "Your father's own foolish bravery is what killed him. You cannot blame people who choose to live in peace for the tragic stupidity of warriors trained to live and die by the blade. I want better than that for you, is that so wrong?"
Isha couldn't stand it when her mother spoke of her father in such a way. Her father had been a great and noble man, rushing into battle as a one-man army, desperate to defend his home village from a swarm of Kargaroks that had tried to prey on one of the younger children. He'd saved the kid and deterred the monsters, but fell to their power shortly after pushing them back to Hyrule Field.
The image of her father's bloodied corpse lying just outside of the town gates, his hands still clutching his sword and shield as though he would get up and rush back into battle, rushed to the front of her mind, and Isha felt her stomach turn. It had been over a decade, but the image was as fresh as if it happened mere minutes ago.
"I'm going home," Isha managed to keep her voice steady, storming out the front door before she heard any more from her mother.
She knew her mother was just angry. Angry that her husband had put his life on the line and lost it. Angry that he'd left her to raise Isha alone. Angry that they did not live to see their golden years together. Her mother and father had loved each other deeply, and his death changed Eva forever. What used to be quiet encouragement in battle training turned to chastising screams forbidding such things. Her father's weapons were sold at the store and his armor thrown out. After a few years, she and the town's shaman began seeing one another, acting as though they had not both lost their loves years before. Eva fell full-force into the Kakariko way of life and tried to drag Isha with her.
A cold wind swept Isha's hair across her face as she once again grabbed her bow and quiver and made for the spring, perhaps the only place in town now where she could find her inner calm. As she walked and replayed the conversation in her head, her anger and frustration grew and grew. The harsh words stabbed her mind over and over again. By the time she reached the headwater cavern, Isha's rage was boiling over.
She threw her bow and quiver to the ground and faced the spring below her. "You're supposed to give blessings to travelers and adventurers, aren't you?" she called to the spirit who still eluded her. "Well how does it make you feel knowing that your people actively discourage such things? Does that not bother you at all? Or are you just happy to sit your lazy arse in your spring and hide away from the world?" Tears stung at her eyes, which she wiped away with her sleeves. "Why won't you talk to me? Why did you call me here so long ago? Why do you show up on my birthday and say nothing? Why get my hopes up for some sort of wild adventure or quest or just something interesting and then leave me in the dark?" She picked up a rock from the ground and threw it as hard as she could at the waters below.
"You stupid, useless light spirit! No wonder the town's forgotten about you!"
"Isha…" that voice again. Though it had been four years, she could not forget the sound of the bells accompanying otherworldly speech. A blinding light flashed from the spring, and Isha fell back in shock, shielding her eyes against the sudden light. She briefly wondered if her mouth had finally gotten her into divine trouble.
Once her eyes adjusted, her jaw dropped as before her was not the usual orb of light, but instead a massive, golden bird that shimmered with every movement. Its feathers lay smooth as glass against the massive body, shining wings spanning the entire length of the cavern and brushing the rocks along the ceiling. In its talons the spirit held a brilliant orb adorned with the same symbols that coated the ceremonial stones surrounding them.
"What the f-"
"Beware… The monsters approach…"
The voice was so much louder than it had been before, as if Eldin had only been whispering in their earlier interactions. It rattled through her bones and buzzed within her chest, and the chiming bells clattered in her ears. Had she not just cursed the deity out, she might have been driven to bow down to such a holy being.
"The… what?"
A sinister, bellowing horn sounded from somewhere beyond the canyon walls, and Isha felt her heart drop. Though she had never heard such a sound before, something within her immediately told her this was the threat, and she sprang to her feet.
No, no, no. Her feet moved before she could think, and Isha barely noticed the ceremonial stones once again lighting her way back out of the cave as she flew by them, heart pounding in her ears. Her rapid steps echoed about the cave. The horn sounded again, much louder this time, bouncing around the valley and making it difficult for her to determine just how far away they were. She made for the nearest lookout tower, a derelict structure that hadn't been used since her father's passing. She prayed that the decaying ladder would hold her weight as she scrambled up to the first level, giving her a good view of most of the main road.
Below, lights flickered on in windows and doorways opened as townspeople searched for the source of such an awful noise.
"Get inside, all of you!" Isha screamed as loud as she could, praying her words would reach them. "Prepare yourselves! Please, get inside!"
Those closest to the tower seemed to hear her, and neighbors began directing each other back inside. Shudders were closed and latched, and lights were put out. The town had not been so dark since her childhood.
Isha waited with bated breath for the next horn call to come. When she focused her hearing, though, the sound of thundering hooves rose to meet her ears. They sounded nothing like any horse she'd known, and the distortion of sound made it difficult for her to determine how many of them there were. Whatever the creatures were, they were large. Sweat dripped from her brow as she readied an arrow.
The horn sounded again, so loud she nearly thought she'd turn around and find its source just over her shoulder. The thundering grew louder and louder, and from the southern road she could just make out a cloud of dust rising to blot out the stars.
Goddess, protect us…
A great beast rounded the corner, a truly massive black boar clad in shining dark armor and carrying two Bulblins, disgusting little troll-like monsters that frequently harassed travelers on the open road. One carried a bow and the other a massive club. Behind them appeared several more, including an even larger blue boar ridden by a particularly rotund Bulbin. No doubt a leader of sorts. On the backs of two of the boars, the young woman spotted several young children, and her fighting instincts took over.
With calculated timing, Isha leapt from the platform, bow and arrow drawn and aimed directly at the unwelcome intruders. She felt as though time slowed around her as she took aim and loosed an arrow directly into the skull of the club-wielder on the first boar. The creature fell with a blood-curdling shriek into the dirt and did not move again.
Before the bow-wielding monster could react, Isha ripped out another two arrows and launched them towards the creature. One arrow found its mark in the beast's shoulder, and the other pierced the poorly-made bow in its hands, shattering the weapon. She fell onto the boar's saddle, but her left foot missed the stirrup and she lurched sideways. Thinking quickly, Isha grabbed her bow at one end and swung it at the monster archer, who was still clinging to the saddle and trying to dig the arrow from its shoulder. Her bow collided with its neck and she used the leverage to push herself back up, sending the creature off balance and into the dirt where it was trampled by another galloping boar.
Her eyes scanned the saddle for any useful weapons, and found only a few arrows that were just as poorly made as the bow she'd shattered. Frustrated, she grabbed the reins of the beast and steered it into the riders who'd pulled alongside her. She didn't even glance into their glowing red eyes as they fell from their beast.
She urged her stolen mount back towards the rest of the monsters, who'd slowed their progress at the sight of their comrades being thrown beneath their hooves. She kept her body ducked close to the saddle, enemy fire flying directly over her. The biggest bulblin gave her a disgusting smile and gestured for her to come to him.
She snarled at him and turned her focus to two bulls at his side - the ones that held the terrified kids. They were all alive, at least, and looking at her with hope and fear in their eyes. She observed that their hands were bound to one another, and she supposed they were somehow tied to the saddles, as well.
Isha heard human voices from behind, and dared to turn her attention back to see who was foolish enough to come yell at her at such a time. Much to her surprise, though, she saw several men dressed in Hylian armor, and felt relief at the sight of more capable fighters joining the battlefield.
Wait, I saw their horses at the tavern earlier… She yanked on the reins and directed the boar back around, back towards the soldiers who'd called to her. She prayed they had not drank themselves into a stupor, prayed that trained soldiers would be smarter than to let their guard down so much.
Choosing to put her faith in their support, she extended her hand to the group of soldiers. "One of you, with me! They have children captive!"
A short and stout woman ran to grab her hand, her size making it incredibly easy for Isha to pull her onto the saddle. The woman introduced herself as Racha and brandished a spear. Isha thanked her and directed the boar to charge once again at the monster horde that had stopped and formed a defensive wall around the largest - who she assumed to be their leader. The captive children were now behind the boars, set between the defensive wall and the lead Bulblin. As if they intended to use their captives as some sort of human shield.
Isha passed the reins to Racha, with instructions to charge straight into the wall of Bulblins, and to not let up until the boars were nose-to-nose. The woman looked at her as though Isha had grown wings.
"You're absolutely nuts," the woman slurred, confirming Isha's fears. If she's drunk, they're all drunk…
"Just do it," she yelled, gathering her legs beneath her in a crouch on the point of the saddle.
"We have to get to the kids, and you certainly aren't going in there in your condition."
Hearing the disappointment in the fierce woman's words, Racha fell silent and did her best to hold her spear steady while keeping the wild boar beneath them running in a straight line.
The distance between them and the monsters closing fast, Isha drew a deep breath and braced herself for possibly the stupidest thing she'd ever done.
Racha's spear made contact first, slicing through the thick skull of one of the boar mounts with surprising ease, a spray of crimson blood immediately coating its riders, Isha, and the monsters to either side. The creature reared and fell into its death throes, letting out a horrid screech and rolling into the beasts beside it.
As soon as the spear head disappeared into the beast's skull, Isha leapt with all her might over the heads of the monsters, grabbing on to one of their raised clubs and throwing her weight forward, ripping the club from its wielder and giving her just enough extra push to land on the ground in front of the terrified captives. Armed now with a close-range weapon, Isha prepared to defend herself against the leader of these monsters, and looked up into its dark eyes with a scowl on her face.
To her surprise, the beast did not move, but instead stared back at her, as if sizing her up. Behind her, the sounds of battle continued, yet none of the monsters seemed at all bothered by her proximity to their leader. Not breaking eye contact, Isha grabbed for the unattended children and pulled them all as close to her as possible. The head monster continued to hold her gaze, but did not stop her. When he did not act, the scowl on her face dropped and she straightened up.
He gave her a disgusting grin, revealing rotting, pointing teeth in his mouth. "You," he finally moved to point at her. "Deserve one." His finger moved to point at one of the children, a young brown-headed boy who appeared no older than ten.
"I," she gestured to herself, "am taking them all."
The monster scoffed. Behind her, the cries of human and monster blended together, and she dared not look to see which side was winning.
"Two," grunted the monster again, holding up two fingers and then pointing to the youngest captive, a toddler who looked like he'd just learned to walk last week. The sight of such a young face clouded in unholy terror lit a fire in her stomach, and she took a step forward towards the beast.
"All," she hissed.
"None!" the boss shouted back, finally lifting his weapon - a massive spear that was currently being used to carry a flag that was clearly stolen in some long-forgotten fight.
Isha ducked and aimed for the legs of the blue boar the monster road on top of. She brought her club down hard against the creature's unguarded knee, and a disgusting crack echoed off the walls of the canyon. The creature reared and fell sideways, throwing its rider off guard. The boss creature tried to swipe at her with his staff, but swung too high and instead struck a monster on a boar behind her that had tried to come to his master's aid.
Amidst the chaos, Isha immediately got to work freeing the children, tearing at the knots that confined their hands behind their backs. The children were crying, thanking her over and over, but she tuned them out as she tried to work fast. That massive creature would not stay down for long…
"Girl, over here!" Racha's voice called over the sounds of battle, still atop the boar that Isha had stolen for them. She fought her way over to them, and Isha began loading the children up on the boar.
"Come on, let's go, let's go guys," she repeated to the children, ushering them as quickly as she could.
Finally, Isha could take a moment to assess the captives, who she realized were tied to one another as well. They would need to be detatched before they could be moved.
The youngest, the toddler, she freed first. Following him was an older boy, the first one that the boss had pointed to, who she presumed was the younger boy's older brother from their near-identical faces. Then, she freed the youngest girl, who was sobbing so hard Isha found it difficult to load her onto the back of another boar. Once she'd worked the young blonde boy free, who she surmised could not have been much older than eleven or so, he immediately rushed to the young girl's side and tried to comfort her with a tight hug.
Finally, Isha turned to the last hostage, a much older girl with short, blonde hair and kind eyes. Unlike the others, she held a determined and thankful expression, and held still as Isha tried to work her bonds free. As she worked, Isha realized that this girl was also bound at the feet, a heavyweight chained to one of her ankles. She ducked down and started untangling the ropes and chain.
The girl suddenly screamed something incomprehensible, startling Isha. The giant leader had finally risen to his feet and pointed his weapon at the two girls. In her desperation, Isha's fingers failed her and she struggled to make any headway with the knot that bound the young girl to the heavyweight.
"Come on, come on," she growled to herself.
"Run, please!" The girl's terrified words finally hit Isha's ears, and she looked up only to be met with blinding pain in the back of her skull. The young girl screamed again, but Isha could not make out her words. Her vision was quickly fading, and she knew she'd been struck.
No, come on, I am so close… She begged her fingers to move, but could feel her body failing her. In a last ditch attempt, Isha tried to shove the final captive towards Racha, but did not realize that the soldier had already retreated with the captives she'd managed to free.
Isha's knees finally gave out from under her, and she had no strength left to even catch herself as she fell face down to the earth. The sounds of the battle faded around her, and she embraced whatever awaited her in the coming darkness, her failure to save the last captive tormenting her until she slipped into unconsciousness.
—
"...beasts….children…..looking for…."
Faint, distorted voices reached Isha's pointed ears and pulled her from the dark abyss she'd been swimming in. As she came to, she coughed and sputtered, choking on the stifling air around her. Her head pounded with every cough and she felt like her brain was about to explode.
Her limbs heavy, Isha forced herself into a sitting position, feeling soft fabric beneath her stinging hands. Her joints ached and screamed, as though she'd been through a rigorous training regiment the day before.
She forced her eyes open, fighting the blurry vision of a long slumber as she attempted to recall where she was.
It was not her bedroom that greeted her. The room she was in was far smaller, far more cramped, and far less decorated. She lay upon a small bed that took up a majority of the room, a table to the side of her, with an untouched glass of water next to it. She immediately snatched up the glass and drank heavily, welcoming the cooling liquid to her parched throat.
She strained to listen for the voices that had awoken her, though nothing but silence met her ears. She realized there was no window in this dark room, and felt panic swell in her stomach.
Where am I?
Her head throbbed and she reached up to cradle the problem area. She flinched as her fingers touched not her long, silky hair, but instead the soft linen of a bandage wrap. She gingerly felt around her head, finding the bandage to extend down to over her brows.
She also realized with disgust that she felt dirty, dusty, and sticky. Her hair was matted behind her head, something sticky coating the back of her neck.
Gods, what happened…
"Oh my gods, you're alive," came a young voice from the dark doorway. Isha jumped, having missed the sound of any doors opening or any footsteps approaching.
She turned to find Luda, a woman just a few months her junior, standing in the doorway with her mouth open. "I… we really thought you weren't going to wake up, Isha…" she breathed, rushing to the young woman's side.
"Luda…" Isha's voice was hoarse and weak. "What happened?"
The shaman's daughter turned her eyes downwards. "I am not sure that I am the right one to tell you, Isha…" she replied quietly. "But, if you're open to it, you have some people who have been dying to meet you, and they may be able to fill you in…"
Isha blinked, her headache subsiding slightly. "Who-"
"She's awake? She's awake! Beth, Malo, Colin! She woke up!" a young boy's voice sounded from the hallway beyond her room, cutting off Isha. Four young faces appeared in the doorway, huddled together as if looking to one another for the strength to enter this dark room.
Luda smiled and stepped back. "These children-"
"Oh my god, the kids," she gasped, the memory of the monster raiding party washing over her suddenly. "The kids…the kids…" She couldn't find the words.
She had saved them. She had done it. Except…
A fifth face came to mind. Eyes as green as the lush summer grass, filled with hope and intensity that betrayed her otherwise soft features.
"Wasn't there one more of you?" Isha asked.
The children exchanged worried glances, and she saw it in their faces. She had failed one of them, and that girl was still unaccounted for.
"Gods be damned…" she swore, burying her face in her hands.
The young boy who'd cried out earlier - one she later learned was called Talo - approached her bedside. "Ilia will be fine," he told her with unexpected confidence. "She kept telling us we would be saved. She kept us calm when we were with the monsters… She's going to be okay."
"I know Link will save her," a young girl named Beth spoke. "He's going to come for all of us, just you wait."
The blond child, Colin, offered a smile to the other children. "Beth is right. He saved Talo from those monsters in Faron. He'll save us and Ilia, too."
The young toddler, of course, said nothing and hid behind Talo's legs. Talo moved to introduce the youngest as his baby brother, Malo.
Isha took a shaky breath, unable to get the name of the unaccounted for girl out of her head. Ilia. Ilia. Ilia. Did she have a family back home, eagerly awaiting her return? Was she scared? Did she have any sort of combat training? Would the monsters even let her live after Isha's attack? The kids mentioned someone who would be looking for them - how could they still have hope when he clearly had not shown up?
As if she could sense the panic attack growing, Luda put a reassuring hand on Isha's shoulder. "They speak highly of this Link fellow." Gods above, it was like the woman could read her mind sometimes. "He is supposedly a goat herder from their town with a penchant for the sword. They have so many good things to say, I find myself believing in him, as well."
Isha blinked, keeping her eyes on the young children gathered at her bedside. They looked up at her with awe, and she imagined she must have been quite the terrifying sight in such poor shape.
"Luda… do you think I could have a bath?" she finally asked. She could not bring herself to speak to the children, to ask the thousands of questions swirling in her mind.
"Well…. It's not going to be like what you're used to…"
Isha shot her a strange look. "What in the world are you talking about?"
—
Isha was swiftly becoming fed up with the way everyone dodged her questions.
She had managed to work out that she had awakened in the catacombs deep beneath the Sanctuary, a shelter for crisis situations that also functioned as a hospital for the severely injured. She had managed to save four of the five captive children, all of whom had come from a mountain village outside of Hyrule Proper called Ordon and were all together at the Light Spirit Ordona's spring when the monsters attacked. Isha was beginning to believe that Light Spirits were not quite the divine powers they'd been said to be in ancient legends, considering that Ordona did nothing while literal children were kidnapped from his spring.
Isha also knew she'd sustained a horrendous head injury during the battle, and found that unfortunately two of the soldiers lost their lives in the skirmish. Luda told her that as soon as she'd fallen, the leader bulblin had approached her and examined her hand, though his reasons for this action were unknown to all. Immediately following, the monsters gathered up their remaining hostage and bolted, as though Kakariko were nothing more than an inconvenient stopover on their journey.
She also knew that she'd been knocked out cold for three days straight, which explained her horrendous physical state. Every step took an embarrassing amount of energy, and Luda did her best to support Isha, though she was a fair bit taller than the young shaman-in-training.
What Isha did not know was why Luda avoided answering any sort of questions about the state of the town or where everyone else was. Nor would she tell her anything of what happened in the last three days, merely responding that they'd been "hiding." Her avoidance worried Isha greatly, but Luda pleaded with her to not concern herself with anything more than her own healing, claiming that such a mental load would only hinder the healing process, and she felt Isha would need her strength before going back above ground.
Despite her pride, Isha allowed her childhood friend to help her undress and lower into the bath, which was little more than a metal wash tub filled with lukewarm water. Isha squeezed her legs to her chest while Luda gently removed the bandage from her head. What happened to the plumbing? She wondered, but knew asking would be a lost cause.
The bath continued in silence, interrupted only by Isha's teeth chattering as the water quickly lost its meager warmth. She had endured far colder waters, she reminded herself, and this was at least a beneficial soak instead of an accidental tumble…
Cold water rushed over her head, pulling the dirt and blood from her hair and skin, staining the water beneath her. She scowled down at the disgusting water and felt embarrassed that anyone had seen her in such a state.
"Oh my, we're going to need more water…" Luda commented, rising to her feet.
Isha reached for her arm, stopping the young woman from leaving. "Don't make me sit here in the cold any longer," she pleaded. "Just do what you can."
The pitying look she received in return nearly made Isha recoil, but she settled for dropping her hand from Luda's wrists.
"Isha… Things aren't good," Luda finally said quietly. "There are worse things out there than those boar riders."
"My mom," she breathed. "What about my mom?"
Luda just shook her head. "As soon as those creatures appeared, everyone went into shelter. Considering we survived just fine, we can only assume the same for the rest of the village. Unfortunately, it's not safe to leave yet. That's why you're here."
Isha exhaled slowly, allowing herself to hope. Hope that her mother was fine. Hope that her village was fine. Hope that her students were fine…
More cold water covered her head, and Isha felt a weight melt from her shoulders along with it.
They were fine. They had to be fine.
—
[ Thanks for the follows/reviews. Let's get this plot rolling, shall we? ]