The Next Next Day...
When Link and Zelda eventually woke up the second day after Link had broken his leg, they were absolutely starving. Link tried to get up to cook...
"Link, stop! I have got breakfast under control...you rest! Your leg absolutely needs to heal!"
"But I don't want to make you do everything! C'mon, let me do SOMETHING!"
"Your leg will not heal as fast if you are still using it, Link! And we need it to heal up as fast as possible!" Link, realizing he was not going to win this argument, opted to stay in bed...Zelda, meanwhile, set about roasting some bird drumsticks in a cooking pot in Goron City. The town's name is misleading...it is not a very large settlement. Goron City consists of various stone buildings and metal bridges over some rivers of hot spring water, the last of which made Zelda uneasy. Once Zelda was done roasting the bird drumsticks she brought half of them to Link.
"Eat up, Link...I made sure to salt them enough this time." Link tore into the drumsticks without saying anything, and they were gone within two minutes...he then smiled brightly.
"You did an excellent job, Zelda! Nothing for me to complain about. Thank you for cooking this morning..." Zelda smiled back.
"Thank you, Link...I am going to go speak to the goron chieftain now. His name is Obsidian...I will try to get the last map piece from him."
"Good luck...you're going to need it. What are the chances he is going to believe this stranger who busted his leg two days ago is the Hero?"
"I will give it my best shot, Link...just keep resting for now." Zelda then went to speak with Obsidian, whose house is on the east side of Goron City. The house is irregularly shaped, more like a cave than a traditional house, and dark gray with a distinctive symbol on it (a yellow rhombus with three triangles jutting off the top, vaguely reminiscent of a foot). Obsidian himself was a dark brown goron with a long gray beard...he was sleeping on a throne inside the house when Zelda approached.
"Excuse me, Sir Obsidian?" Obsidian jumped awake.
"Who goes there, and why do they dare disturb my nap?!" Zelda pulled back her hylian hood...
"Oh, Princess Zelda! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you to our fair city today?"
"I am seeking your piece of the map to the Lost Woods...I found the Hero and we are trying to acquire the Sword That Seals The Darkness." Obsidian seemed excited.
"Oh, oh, I have been waiting for this day my entire life! Where is he, lassy, where is he?!"
"He is in the inn...unfortunately he had a paragliding accident two days ago and is currently mending a broken leg." Obsidian seemed disappointed.
"Curses...I was eager to test him for fitness!"
"I am so sorry, Obsidian..."
"You know what? Bring me to him anyway. I would love to meet him even if he's on the mend." Zelda led Obsidian to Link, where the old goron looked him over...
"Looks like the Hero type...but of course I won't know for sure until his leg heals up. Have an estimate when he'll be ready, Zelda?"
"A few weeks, I believe..." Link did not say much to the old goron chieftain.
"Very well...I will wait a few weeks before putting him through his paces. In the meantime, Zelda, make sure you take good care of the lad...if he really is the Hero Hyrule depends on his continued survival."
"I absolutely will, Obsidian." Obsidian returned to his home to continue napping while Zelda spent the rest of the day tending to Link...eventually Zelda prepared vegetable soup for the two of them, ate, and went to bed.
The next three weeks were much the same...breakfast, tending to Link, dinner, bed. Occasionally Zelda would go to the Southern Mine to mine for gemstones to fund their extended stay in Goron City...it took her a few days to adjust to the immense weight of the iron sledgehammer she used to mine, but she eventually became proficient with it. As time passed Link was gradually able to begin walking again with the help of crutches produced from a soft stone found near Goron City...by the three week mark Link felt it was time to abandon the crutches and attempt walking normally. Link was indeed able to walk mostly normally (he now sported a noticeable limp from the bones not healing correctly), but he soon discovered that the vigorous physical activities which being a Hero required – running, jumping, etc – were still painful.
"Give it another week, Link," Zelda told him. "Your leg is almost there...just do not try to push yourself too hard too soon."
"Alright," Link reluctantly agreed. Link rested for another week before they met with Obsidian again...it was raining hard the day they met with Obsidian. He was kind enough to let them meet in his house, but even so they looked like drowned rats by the time they arrived.
"I am most pleased to see you have recovered, young lad!" Obsidian began.
"Can we just get this over with?" Link interrupted. "I've been stuck here almost a month longer than planned...Hyrule doesn't have time for any lengthy speeches." Obsidian looked offended for a few moments, then laughed.
"Quite the impatient one, I see! Very well...follow me to the center of town and we will discuss your trial there." They proceeded to head out in the rain towards the center of town...however, someone was waiting for them when they arrived...
"We meet again, sister..." Obsidian and Zelda were visibly horrified by the Dark Prince's presence. Link was simply angry.
"YOU!" Link barked out.
"Clearly blocking the route to Goron City was not enough to stop the two of you from seeking that worthless map, so now I am going to have to be much more direct. Behold!" The Dark Prince held his hand up into the air...suddenly, from a cloud of purple smoke, a massive fiery spider appeared on Death Mountain!
"The gorons are highly resistant to my Plague, so I may as well blow the volcano's top and wipe them all out instead of futilely trying to steal their power...heh heh heh..."
"What kind of sicko are you?!" Link blurted out.
"I don't care whether or not I am 'sick', as long as I can bring my mother back before I die!" The Dark Prince disappeared in sickly blue flames as Link, Zelda, and Obsidian began booking it towards Death Mountain. They took a circular path around Goron City before crossing Stolock Bridge, a large metal bridge crossing directly above Goron City; once across the Stolock they passed the Goron Hot Springs before continuing east towards Death Mountain. Death Mountain was perilously close to erupting due to the spider stomping all over it...
"Death Mountain has not erupted in centuries!" Obsidian observed. "If it erupts now the consequences will be disastrous!"
"You two stay here, I'll squash that wretched spider!" Link yelled out.
"But Link!" Zelda began to yell back. As Link ran across the Bridge of Eldin to Death Mountain Obsidian held Zelda back.
"Hold on, lassy...here is Link's chance to prove he is the Hero! If he falls then you can intervene...but for now he needs to prove himself!" Zelda did not like this idea at all...
But he is still running with a limp! Is he able to fight like he used to?!
Link hurried up Death Mountain to engage the Burning Arachnis in battle. The spider quickly attempted to bite him, which Link dodged with a quick hop to the side. Link tried to counterattack the spider, but it simply climbed up the volcano and avoided his attack, at which point it began spewing fire at Link. Link ran up the volcano to avoid the flames and then began chasing the Burning Arachnis as it climbed up the volcano; when he got close the hideous spider tried to crush Link with a giant clawed foot, forcing Link to somersault out of the way of the attack. All the while the spider was staying out of reach of Link's sword...
How am I going to take out this damn spider?! Oh, wait...my bow! I forgot my bow! Link laughed as he pulled out his bow and opened fire on the Burning Arachnis. The first shot struck the beast's head, sending it crashing onto the Death Mountain Trail and buying Link time to deal major damage with his savage lynel sword; when it got up it climbed back up the volcano and shot a fireball at Link. Thinking fast, Link struck the fireball with his sword, sending it back at the spider and injuring it further; it crashed to the ground again and Link wounded it further with his sword. When it got up the spider climbed back up the mountain and began violently stomping on it with its eight clawed feet, causing Death Mountain to shake as if it were about to erupt...Obsidian and Zelda were getting very nervous.
Finish it, Link...finish it! Quickly! Link shot at the spider one more time with his bow, striking it in the head. It uttered a hideous shriek as it exploded into purple smoke and disappeared...Death Mountain calmed back down. Having thoroughly proved himself, Link walked back down the mountain to greet Zelda and Obsidian.
"You did such a great job, Link!" Zelda called out as she embraced him. Obsidian was equally impressed.
"Well then, lad...you are worthy of receiving the last piece of the map. I will give it to you at my house...let's get a move on!" The three hurried back to Obsidian's house, where he relinquished the last part of the map to the Lost Woods...finally a complete pathway was visible on the map. It was a confusing series of steps that involved a lot of backtracking and circling...
"Since you are the Hero you will get this last night at the inn free. I will make sure of that!" Link and Zelda returned to the inn for one last night before leaving for the Lost Woods...it was already night by the time they got to the inn.
"We did it, Link! We got all the pieces of the map! The Sword will be yours in no time at all!"
"Will it accept me?"
"Of course it will, Link! You are the Hero! There is no reason for you to think it will not accept you as master."
"But I still feel like I am the same hot headed hermit as before...am I really Hero material?"
"Link...after all the times you have saved my life and the lives of many other people, I think you have nothing to worry about. I think you are just overthinking it...let us get some sleep. Maybe you will feel better about it in the morning."
"Alright. Thank you, Zelda." They then went to bed.
The Next Day...
Link and Zelda woke up early, prepared soup for breakfast, and then packed their things to make the trek down Eldin back to the Woodland Stable. Obsidian met them before they left...he was now wearing a secret stone on his stomach.
"Thank you so much for stopping by Goron City, Mr. Hero! I am not sure what we would have done had you not been around when that spider attacked..."
"It was nothing," Link answered. "I'm sure anyone could have dealt with it." Obsidian laughed.
"Awful humble this one is! In any event, we cleared out the debris from the cave on the route to the Foothill Stable, so you should have no trouble leaving Eldin. We also fixed your paraglider and replaced the wooden frame with a stone frame so it shouldn't break anymore. Have safe travels, you two!"
"Thank you!" Zelda called back. The two left Goron City - and later the Southern Mine - to much fanfare from the local gorons, to Link's visible irritation...they soon reached the vertical wall that had slowed them down four weeks prior and this time paraglided off of it without incident, after which they continued following the trail. Eventually the trail became fairly steep downhill as it passed through the cave the Dark Prince had blocked off almost a month earlier; they were occasionally accosted by fire keese (burning one eyed bats) and fire chuchus (burning jelly monsters that explode when attacked), but had no difficulty taking them out with their bows. When they reached the Foothill Stable they continued marching south until they reached the Zora River, at which point they veered west and continued marching west until they hit the Woodland Stable...or at least what was left of it.
"What happened?!" Zelda yelled out as they approached during the night. The stable had been razed to the ground and all of the horses - including "Coal" - were gone.
"The Dark Prince must've known we were coming this way...damn it!" Link barked out. "No rest for us tonight...we need to get the Sword now! Maybe in the Lost Woods we will be able to rest safely..." Zelda nodded, and they traveled north through the Minshi Woods until they reached the expansive Lost Woods, the largest woodland in Hyrule. The forest is an unsettling place, filled with trees with various creepy faces "carved" into their bark and a dense fog; should you take a wrong turn in the Lost Woods that fog will envelop you and drag you back to the entrance! Unsurprisingly Link and Zelda were quick to consult their map...it was a touch hard to make out what they were supposed to do, especially in the inky blackness of the night. When they did figure it out it was a long, rambling path with a lot of circling and backtracking...the tree's faces worked to their advantage, as the map specified certain trees they had to visit and they were able to recognize those trees by their faces.
After several attempts Link and Zelda reached the Korok Village in the center of the forest...there were no obvious buildings in the "village", just some green bean shaped lanterns, a massive tree with pink leaves and the face of an old man, and a podium in the form of the Triforce, that legendary set of three triangles that could grant any wish but which had long been lost to Hyrule. The koroks themselves, who were (and still are) abundant within the village, are small, mischievous forest spirits with leaves over their faces...most people cannot see koroks, but Link and Zelda could see them just fine. Embedded in the podium was a magnificent steel blue blade with a darker blue hilt vaguely resembling a pair of wings, crowned with a rhombus shaped gold jewel between the wings...precisely what Link and Zelda had been looking for.
"Link...it's time." Link cautiously strode up to the Sword and took the hilt with both of his hands...as he did so a flood of memories entered his mind. His childhood...losing his family fifteen years prior...everything he had suffered as a solitary hermit struggling to survive...his adventures with Zelda...but then something else, something most unfamiliar to him...
It was a woman, maybe in her twenties, in a magnificent blue dress with braided blonde hair and with green eyes. She looked disturbingly like the Zelda he knew...and she was weeping while holding the Sword. She was standing over that very same podium, during the day...
"Link...I am so sorry...I never...I never got to tell you!" Suddenly the tree spoke...
"Tell him what, Princess?"
"That...that I loved him...and now...he is gone...forever!"
"Princess...the Hero will one day return to fight evil. He is never truly lost..." Zelda looked back towards the ground, dismayed.
"But...but I will not be around by the time that...happens..." The Princess held her hand over her face as she cried...
"Zelda...I am not sure what else to say. What I can say...is this; leaving the Sword under my care is the best way you can help the Hero when he eventually returns to the realm of the living. I swear to you that I will keep it safe until the day he comes back for it..." "Zelda" tried to dry her tears long enough to answer...
"Alright...Great Deku Tree, can you please convey a message to him when he returns?"
"Alright...I will convey a message to him..."
"It...is this; I love you, Link...now and always...please...never fail to love my descendants...guard them with your life...I beg of you!" With that, using all her strength, the Princess drove the Master Sword into the podium and reluctantly left...
...and Link jumped back to reality, more confused than ever. The Great Deku Tree - the massive tree with pink leaves and a face - spoke.
"Ah...you saw Zelda's message...that can only mean one thing; you are the Hero of the Wild reborn..."
"I have heard this many times on this journey...but how can it be? I am such a hothead compared to him..."
"Young man...I believe that is entirely due to circumstances. I can already sense it...life has been far harder on you than it was on the Hero of the Wild. Now...onto the task at hand...you are here for the Sword That Seals The Darkness, correct?"
"Yep."
"Pull it with utmost care...the Sage of Time planted it into the ground so firmly that an unworthy Hero would die trying to pull it. If you aren't ready, come back when you have become stronger..."
"Oh, I'm ready!" Link replied. Link seized the Sword again with both hands and began to pull with all of his bounteous might...he heaved, he hoed, he grunted, panted, puffed...for a while the Sword did not budge; Zelda began to fear Link was not strong enough to release the Sword. But, eventually...
"CLICK!" The Sword budged a little, then rapidly came out of the podium as Link continued to pull on it. Link held the sword up triumphantly and laughed heartily...Zelda quickly embraced him.
"You did it, Link! I was so worried about you..."
"Listen carefully, Princess and Hero! The two of you will need to work together to stop the Dark Prince and his Plague. It is rapidly growing in strength...even the koroks I watch over regularly fall victim to it when they dare to leave these woods. The Master Sword will glow with a sacred brilliance whenever it draws near to one afflicted with the Plague or to one contaminated with Ganondorf's gloom...at that time its true power will be manifest. Hero reborn...please...save Hyrule and everyone in it! I am powerless to fight the Dark Prince...but the least I can do is bring you back to the entrance of the Lost Woods...brace yourselves." With that Link and Zelda were enveloped by dense fog...
So much for getting some shut eye...Link and Zelda both passed out...
The Next Day...
Link and Zelda awoke around noon the next day at the entrance of the Lost Woods, a touch dizzy and still quite tired. Link quickly realized he needed to tell Zelda something...
"Zelda...I had a vision before I pulled the Sword out...of your ancestress, the Sage of Time. She was lamenting that she never told the previous Hero that she loved him..."
"Does that mean...they did not marry? Then who did she marry?!"
"I do not know...but she said something else, words directed to me...'Love my descendants, Link! Love my descendants!' And that...that I am determined to do. She loved me...I will return the favor."
TELL HIM, ZELDA! NOW! Zelda's mind was screaming at her to tell Link her true feelings...but she still remained awkwardly silent.
"Zelda...do you...do you love me like...like your ancestress did?"
TEEELLLLLL HHHIIIIIMMMMM! Zelda still couldn't say anything. Link decided to let it go for the moment.
"At any rate the Plague is spreading like wildfire...I can feel it. We need to find the Seer, and fast!" They hurried south through the Minshi Woods, southeast around where the Woodland Stable had been, and then veered southwest at the Thims Bridge, passing between the Crenel Hills and Crenel Peak. After heading straight south for a while they veered southeast around the ruins of the Wetland Stable, skirting the Lanayru Wetlands before climbing Sahasra Slope. By the time they reached Kakariko Village at the top of that grassy hill the village had largely succumbed to the Plague, and Link and Zelda were forced to fight through the infected villagers to reach the Seer's tent, now at the top of a hill overlooking the village...it was quite late by the time they arrived.
"You have at last arrived..." the Seer remarked. "You did not disappoint, Hero and Princess! I will give Zelda her secret stone shortly. But first...Link, can you give us a few minutes to talk privately? I have some parting words of wisdom for the Princess."
"Alright." Link left the tent and stood a few feet away. The Seer began talking to Zelda.
"Zelda...it is time I reveal who I truly am. I...am Gereau. I was...I was a knight under the royal guard. I knew the Sage of Time more...intimately than most. We were married..." Zelda was most shocked.
"Surely you are telling me a porky!"
"No, I tell you the truth, Princess...and that is why I wanted to speak to you, one on one, without Link around. Zelda dearly loved her Hero...but she...she never had the courage to tell him as such. The Hero of the Wild just continued bravely defending her until the dreadful day he was assassinated by the Yiga Clan, just a few years after he struck down the Demon King...and Zelda forever regretted not telling him she loved him. We met not too long thereafter, and we married and had a few daughters...but Zelda was always telling me stories. Stories about his valor...how kind a person he was...how he saved her over and over again...I know for sure that if she could have lived her life over again she would have gotten hitched to that boy over me in a heartbeat. I think...I think those regrets eventually killed her. She died in her forties...and that is when she gave me this secret stone to pass on to her heir."
"What are you getting at, Gereau?"
"This...you are privileged to know the Hero. He has been reborn as a man and is now your constant companion...if you love him, like my wife did...TELL HIM! You never know when he'll pass on...his is a work most dangerous. That is my advice...take it or leave it." With that the Seer removed the secret stone from his right wrist...
"Take my secret stone, Zelda, and become the new sage of light...one who will banish the Plague and lead Hyrule into an age of prosperity. In my bags there is a dress once worn by the Sage of Time...take that as well and wear it into battle. Inspire the masses under your command with your godlike beauty...do not let me down." Zelda took the stone...moments later the Seer succumbed to old age and vanished into light. Zelda attached the stone to her right wrist, and her light magic was drastically amplified, creating a massive explosion of light that cured all of Kakariko Village of the Plague...Link quickly noticed.
"Zelda, did you get the secret stone?!"
"I will be out in a minute, Link! Just let me change!"
"Change? Alright..." Zelda shed her commoner's outfit and hylian hood for the dress her ancestress left behind. It was a magnificent white, almost glowing strapless dress with a gold breast band and a gold necklace with the Hyrulean royal crest (which vaguely resembles an eagle) on it...Zelda really did look like a goddess in that dress. When she came out of the tent...Link was stunned.
"Zelda...you...you look incredible..."
"Link...there is something I need to tell you..."
"Yes?" Zelda promptly put her thoughts into action, taking Link and boldly giving him a kiss on the lips. Link was now shocked and stunned.
"Zelda?!"
"Link...I love you! My ancestress may have never been able to say it, but I have! And I want you in my life forever!"
"You...after all the buffoonery I have done...you want to be mine?!" Zelda started to cry...
"You are not a buffoon, Link! You are the most courageous, valiant man I have ever met! You boil over with love for me! And I am going to do what my ancestress failed to do, and repay it!"
"Zelda..." The two locked gazes for a few seconds, Zelda twirling her hair as she gently smiled at Link. Then they kissed...boy did they kiss...it lasted about thirty seconds, at which point they fell to the ground, Zelda lying on her back, and simply held each other under the stars...
"Link," Zelda eventually whispered, "I want to go all the way with you. I want to marry you...make love to you...have children together...I do not care what Hyrule's nobles are going to say about me hitching off with a commoner, you are the man I want!"
"Zelda...thank you...I am no longer going to be alone because of you. No longer will I desperately, futilely, be toiling for a family to love and to hold...all we need to do is stop your brother, and then all our dreams will come true..."
"Stop your brother"...Daphnes, little brother, why have you ruined so much as of late?
"Link...it is really late. We should go to bed...tomorrow I will start gathering Hyrule's races to fight my brother. I have a plan to stop him...to the north of the Castle are a set of docks allowing ships to enter from Hyrule Castle's moat. We will have our allies distract the infected soldiers at the main entrance while we enter through the docks and fight our way to Daphnes..."
"Aren't you worried about the whole water bit?"
"I am...but it is a risk I will need to take. It is my responsibility to save Hyrule, at any price..."
"Isn't that my responsibility?"
"Oh, fine...it is a shared responsibility. Let us just go to bed, Link...love you..."
"Love you too..." They both passed out, now lying on their sides holding each other...