Chapter 4
The stables and inns along the way to Hateno Village were not as exciting as the ones between the desert and the castle. There, they housed more wanderers, nomads, and the occasional questionable-looking fellow. But east of the castle, they were more pitiful. The stables were closer to the castle ruins, the broken outpost towers, and the deserted ranches in the fields. Everywhere Link looked, it was a sad sight, as if dusk had come onto the settlements and they were never lit again. People had run away or died from the Calamity, and had never returned to reclaim their lands. Link's heart was heavy as he traveled through the fields and forests on his route. Past the Dueling Peaks, he debated turning north at the crossroads toward Kakariko, just to see if the ghost king was right. But at the last minute, he continued eastward.
The Plain near the Dueling Peaks stable was an even more sorrowful sight. A great battle had taken place here, as evidenced by the dead Guardians littering the ground for acres and acres. Trees had been felled, branches broken and leaves long gone. Even the grass had barely recovered after one hundred years of death. The sight of horses roaming about gave Link a bit of hope, but the clouds overhead dampened whatever good mood it might have put him in. Was he in that great battle? A golden light flashed in his mind again, and he pictured himself in the throes of fending off guardians, and then... falling. Did it hurt? He didn't remember.
Just like his memory in the library, this one left just as quickly as it came. Link sighed in exasperation. When would he get some decent hints? While he wanted to get to know this Shara person and respect her memory, it wasn't her memory that frustrated him. It was his own, or lack thereof. He longed for the day he could actually recall his past—his friends and family, his hopes and dreams, his adventures. But now there was nothing, only tiny glimpses that barely counted as memories.
The sky turned darker than before, and Link realized it was going to rain soon, and a deluge at that. In an ideal world, he would find shelter and wait the storm out, and he doubted he'd be lucky enough to even find a cliff overhang to hide under. But there was a stone gate of Fort Hateno just ahead, so he jogged there, eager but not thrilled to sit under a gate for hours. As he got to the gate, he looked past and saw a small house with some manmade honeybee boxes lingering outside, covered with bees. He could see the shadow of a man through the window, and took his chances and walked over to the front door. Standing at the threshold for a few seconds, he gathered his bearings and knocked softly, not wanting to disturb the bees behind him.
He heard a grumble from inside before he heard footsteps. The door opened, and—
Daren stood in front of him. The Yiga quickly poked his head out, looked left, right, up, and every direction in between, and beckoned Link in.
"How on Hylia's green earth did you find me?" Daren asked, brusque but with a tiny tremble. He closed the door and lit a candle, the second in the one-room dwelling. "I'll have you know I'm a master of disappearing, yet here you come, putting my reputation in upheaval. What am I supposed to do with that?"
"I'm... sorry?" Link said, his voice hoarse from having not spoken for almost a whole day.
Daren gestured to a seat at the table in the kitchen area. "Have a seat, then. I guess." He ran a hand through his hair, perplexed.
Link shrugged and did so. Before he could say anything, the Yiga spoke up. "I was serious about my question, though. How did you find me?"
"It... wasn't hard. I was traveling this way and needed shelter. It's going to downpour soon, and I didn't want to get caught in it. This house was just... there. I wasn't even trying," Link replied. It was the longest string of words he'd spoken since waking up. Before now, he'd only said a few words at a time, interacting with innkeepers. It wasn't usual, that was certain.
Daren's shoulders dropped in acceptance. "Oh."
"What are you doing here?" Link asked, turning the question back on Daren. He didn't enjoy being cornered. But did anybody?
Lightning flashed outside, light blaring through the windows, making it look like daytime inside, but even more intensely white. Daren eyed Link, contemplating how much he should say. Before he could speak, a roll of thunder pounded deafeningly above them. "I have business in these parts."
Minutely nodding his head in understanding, Link looked at the darkness outside and waited for the rain to come. "Fair enough."
Another bolt of lightning dazzled the sky, thunder clapped, and it finally started to rain. Slowly, at first, and then it became a downpour. The patters danced on the thin wooden roof of the house, and Link wondered if it would hold. He certainly did not look forward to being crushed by a soggy roof.
The Yiga paced around the main living space, scrutinizing Link almost the whole time. "You're not going to ask any more?"
Link shrugged and tapped his hand on the kitchen table to the rhythm of a forgotten song. For some reason, he found a certain musical quality when it was raining. Something from his past, perhaps, was telling him that there was a song in the air, and while he didn't know it, he could feel it. "It's not my business."
At this, Daren stopped pacing and sat on a cushioned wooden chair on the other side of the table from Link. "Why did you say had lived in the base? What were you doing in the desert?"
Not knowing how to answer that, Link hesitated. How much truth should he reveal, and how much should he withhold? And did he really even know anything? "I woke up," he began, careful with his words, "about two months ago, from some sort of coma. I don't remember anything about who I was before that, though I get weird flashes of memory every once in a while."
Daren didn't answer, letting Link speak. Now this had been the most he'd spoken.
"I believe I used to live in the desert. I believe I used to be part of the Yiga clan. But I don't believe Kohga was my master."
At this, the other man quirked his eyebrows and rested his chin on his palm. "Curious."
Link feared what the answer might be, but he had to know. "Why?"
"Because Master Kohga has been the chief for over a decade," Daren replied. Then he looked at Link quizzically. "How old are you?"
The rain stopped suddenly, then soon started up again with a slow tempo. "I don't know. As I said, no memories. I also don't know how long I was out." He knew that much, but he didn't want Daren to know that he knew. The more he learned about who he was, the less he wanted to trust others with that information, even if Link might consider those people friends in a different life.
"Master Kohga called you the Hero," Daren said thoughtfully. "What makes him say that?"
Link's heart stopped for just a second, but it seemed like a lifetime. He turned away to watch water droplets glide down the cheap glass window on his right. "I don't know how he could have known such a thing. I have never met the man before that night, and don't plan to again. What's the Hero to him, anyway? Why did he want to kill me?"
The Yiga turned his head to watch the same window. "That's just how our clan is. That's our purpose. Or, one of our purposes. We—hm," he stopped, wondering if he should continue. "We exist to aid Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, we helped bring Ganon back to Hyrule, and one of our objectives was to stop the Hero. When the Yiga Clan finally found out who it was, it was too late. He was already dead. Or, he should have been." He trailed off, watching Link again, trying to figure out who he really was. Well, he would have a hard time with that if even Link didn't know. "Ever since I've known Master Kohga, he's always believed the Hero would come again, and Calamity Ganon would be vanquished. What's your name, friend?"
Link folded his arms close to his chest, defensive. "Link."
Daren nodded. "I was afraid of that. The hero from one hundred years ago... was that you?"
"It's probable, though what I said before was true. I remember almost nothing of that time, or who I was before I woke up two months ago. I think I was part of the Yiga Clan, though. I have... visions of who I might have been." He still didn't want to say whose memories he was watching. He didn't want to implicate Shara if she didn't have a part in his being the Hero. No need to expose her, especially since it looked like she might have defected from the clan. "I remember... Master Gehrik. And a Captain Jero. But no one else. I think I went out on an assignment and never came back home."
Daren stood, scooting his chair back. "That's right. And even if you had, you would not have been welcomed back, I can tell you that."
"I know," Link said, resigned.
The Yiga suddenly vanished from Link's sight and reappeared on the other side of the room. Link swung the chair out from under him and braced himself for an attack. His heartbeat quickened, letting him know his body was ready to fight. But he didn't have a weapon, just a measly butter knife an innkeeper near the castle had given him.
There was a poof of orange glow surrounding Daren, and then he silently appeared two feet in front of Link. Link didn't back away. He slid his butter knife from the small pocket in his satchel and held it up. He would not go down without trying to survive.
The Yiga stepped forward and attempted an uppercut, which Link only barely dodged. The air from the fist whipped past his cheek, making Link's hair fly away from his face. Link ducked and braced himself and tried to do a sweep with his leg, but Daren stepped back with a short hop. Predicting this, Link balled up his own hand and hit his opponent's knee with the soft side of his fist. Daren grunted, stepping to the side and regaining his balance.
Not wanting to use a weapon against a weaponless opponent, Link put the knife on the table, and kicked the chair into the Yiga. Daren deftly swept it off the floor with its own momentum and held a leg as he swung the backrest at Link's torso. Link held up his forearm and let the chair hit him. A shockwave of pain burst from the middle of his forearm, but he ignored it for now, knowing it would bruise later. The joints between the parts of the chair made a cracking noise as it hit, and Link predicted the chair would need to be replaced. He grunted from the impact, then quickly grabbed in between the slats of the back and yanked the chair out of Daren's hand.
They were stuck in a tug-of-war for only a few seconds before they both let go, causing them to both fly backward. Link caught his footing, but Daren was thrown against the wall behind him with a thud. The sky chose that moment to flare up again, illuminating both of them with an acute white glow, eliminating all the room's shadows.
Daren massaged his wrist with his other hand and watched Link, grinning. "That was fun."
"You attacking me out of nowhere? Sure. Yeah. Fun," Link said, turning his arm in front of him to see if there was damage. There was a red scrape now, but tomorrow it would be sore, and bruising. And it would take forever to heal, and it wouldn't be pretty.
"I almost wish I knew you in your prime. You seem like an able fighter. I'd hate to fight you in your younger days. You know, since you're basically an old man now." Daren gestured to the chair, now bent and forgotten on the floor. "You're sturdier than wood, and smarter, too. Resourceful."
Link assumed he was being complimented, but something still troubled him. "If you fought me in my prime, you wouldn't remember it, you being basically a child now."
Daren laughed out loud. "I see how it's going to be. You and me against the world, and against each other, forever dancing around the fact that we both have the know-how to kill each other yet choose not to." Then he held out a hand, and Link shook it. Daren patted Link's outstretched arm with his free hand and gripped it, a sign of truce if there ever was one.
Except it was the arm that was hit with the chair, and Link winced.
The Yiga jerked his own arms back, apologetic. "Sorry, friend. Too soon, yeah?"
"Yeah," Link said as he massaged his arm. "Just a little."
The rain outside increased in intensity again, pounding on the roof like a herd of horses in a chaotic race. Link walked over to the front door of the house and opened it, letting the night air in. He'd gotten all worked up in their fight and needed to cool off. The water sparkled in the night, and even as nature reared up its indomitable head, Link sighed in relief. There was something ethereal about being outside, out in the wild.
"Going out in that?" Daren asked from behind, raising his voice through the rain's roar.
Link simply shook his head. He knew better than to trust that nature was on his side.
Then the Yiga was beside him. "How do you do that?" he asked in wonder. "How do you stay so calm?"
"It's because I know I don't belong here. This isn't my original time, so every moment I'm alive is an intrusion on the world. And it lets me live anyway. That is a gift to be grateful for." Link's voice remained soft over the clatter outside.
Daren grunted, and Link closed the door, dampening the noise.
"I can teach you to shadow crawl," Daren said, out of the blue. "How we disappear and reappear somewhere else. It's one of the more recent techniques of our clan. Master Kohga came up with it. That's how he earned his title."
Link spun, trying to gauge Daren's words. So that's what that disappearing technique was called. He hadn't seen it until today, and if he were honest with himself, he wanted to learn it. He'd wanted ways to connect his past to his present, but since Kohga wouldn't welcome him into the Yiga hideout anymore, Link was therefore rejected by the Clan. Any honorifics or achievements he'd gained in his past life were void now, and all Link really wanted was to be known and loved again. When he'd ventured into the desert, he'd wanted to have a family again, a place of belonging. He didn't have that now, but perhaps with Daren's offer, he could still have a kinship with the Yiga, even if Kohga didn't know about it. Remembering Shara's memories, he knew he wanted to be with the Clan again, because at least there he would have comrades, and there would be fewer strangers in his life. He would have a purpose. A twinge of regret coursed through him as he remembered the ghost king's words about him defeating Calamity Ganon and rescuing Princess Zelda from malice's grasp. But could he do both? Could he be a Yiga and still save Hyrule?
Link knew the answer. They contradicted each other too much to be plausible. The thought nauseated him just a little. Had he truly considered that? Link was truly alone, and the only company he knew was Shara's memories. But she had been rejected by her clan as well. In that, they had a kinship of their own. So, to respect her memory, he decided.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. I'd hate for you to feel the shame of giving away the Clan's secrets," Link answered.
Daren shrugged. "You said you were a Yiga once. What harm is there in learning?" Then his words drifted off and a look of realization pierced Link. "You don't want to be Yiga anymore."
Link had to look away. "Ever since I woke up, I wanted to belong somewhere. But the more I've looked into my past, the more my past doesn't want me. If the Clan can't accept me as I am, then I wouldn't feel right learning its secrets anymore. If you were in my place, would you want to be a part of a group that didn't want you? That's unsatisfying at best. I'm sorry."
Daren contemplated this, folding his arms across his chest. "I see," he said bluntly.
"You're one of the only ones who has cared, and for that I consider myself lucky. Unfortunately, I fear that now that I'm a target, I need to watch my back from now on. I have enemies now. I hope you don't become one of them." Link picked up his things and made sure his satchel was tight, and listened to the rain die down. Hopefully for the last time tonight.
The Yiga shook his head and didn't speak for a few moments, letting the silence speak the words of disappointment. "I don't plan on becoming that. I've helped you out, but don't expect much more. The Clan has its objectives, and I serve the Clan. I can't promise anything."
"I know. You don't have to. I knew the codes once," Link replied. Then, he didn't know why he did it, but then he said, "Remember the codes. Because sometimes, after everything ends, they're all you have." Then he hefted his pack on his shoulder. The rain had totally stopped now, and it was time to go. He headed for the door. "I need to go."
The Yiga watched as Link opened the door to the outside. It had gotten even darker, without the shine of the rain. "Good luck," he breathed.
Link nodded, then walked out into the night.
