The throne room. More than a hall than a room. Before it hosted a modest group during the summons. Now it was packed with all sorts of people. From the servants to the noble lords and ladies of the realm. With them there, it was a lot more intimidating. Royal guards were posted at every entranceway; about four each. All the races of Hyrule showed themselves there, including the Gerudo.
Bato, Link and Saria hid themselves in the crowd. Saria's title as a lady was in name only. Other than the guards who she was cordial with, no one was paying attention to the stranger with two kids. Besides, the attention was being drawn at what was happening at the center of the throne room.
The king, with Lord Rarro took center stage. "We will now hear closing statements in regard to the farm on the outskirts of the city." Rarro belted forth the command: "Lord Rowan, Lord Cobn, present yourselves to the king."
Someone who Bato didn't recognize strode towards them. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, dark blue silk shirt and trousers with a black overlaid vest. His brown boots clicked on the floor, and he knelt before the king. "Darra Rowen presents himself to His Majesty." His voice was smooth but there was something disturbing about his smile.
Jofary whispered something to an officer. The officer saluted and Jofary made his way over, as well. Someone could look at him and not think he did crowd control. He knelt before the king. "Jofary Cobn presents himself to His Majesty."
The king acknowledged them both. "For far too long there has been discord among the nobility regarding this small plot of land. Normally, a judgement would have been swift, but because of the unnatural properties the ground has with the crop we are at this point. This day I will decide who will ultimately control this land. This will be your last opportunity to present your case before this court." The king turned his attention to Rowan. "Lord Rowan, you may proceed."
"Your Majesty." Rowan rose and addressed the crowd. "My fellows, over the past year, Lord Cobn stewardship of this plot of land has been plagued with accusations of mismanagement, threats of bodily harm, and inadequate protection from the monsters of the Lost Woods."
Saria rolled her eyes and huffed.
"Many people, the majority of whom work on these lands, have stated they raised their concerns with Lord Cobn but received an inadequate response. Though I knew I was overstepping, this was something I could not abide. Thus, with other members of noble houses, we determined that Lord Cobn is unfit to control this land and request that it be transferred to House Rowan."
"I remind you again, Lord Rowan, that these are some serious accusations. The Cobn household has proven themselves to be a loyal and trustworthy house."
"Evidence submitted to the council show otherwise, Your Majesty. Furthermore, their connections to the church and the commerce guild suggest bribery and corruption. This once noble house has fallen, indeed."
Bato could see Cobn, who was still kneeling, shaking in rage.
"I will say this, though," Rowan raised his arms, flamboyantly. "With all these concerns, there is one chief among them. The belief that the previous owner, Bato, will return. It has been a year, and much strife has happened because of this, and the mismanagement of this land. Let the memory of the farmer who would abandon his own lands, die. For the good of the people and of the kingdom, let House Rowan make use of this land so all may benefit from its abundance."
The crowd roared with condemnation, applause, and calls for justice. Rarro had to quiet everyone down before the proceedings could continue.
"Lord Cobn," asked the king. "Would you say anything in your defense?" Cobn dipped his head under his shoulders. "Do you or anyone else dispute these claims?"
"There's just one issue with that story. I'm not dead." The crowd turned to Bato, who revealed himself in the middle of the crowd. He walked towards the middle of the room. "Trying to steal a man's livelihood in front of him. Now, that's just bad comedy."
The guards were pointing their spears at him. Rowan looked at Bato, incredulously. Everyone's reaction ranged from confusion, shock, bemusement, or anger. However, most of the people turned towards the king to gauge his reaction. Some people saw a shadow of a smile on his face. Rarro was shaking his head. The king raised his hand for silence, then gestured Bato to approach the throne. Bato knelt behind the lords.
Rowan laughed, a bit obnoxiously. "Really, Cobn. Having someone to play the farmer to save face? Truly, you've hit a new low."
Before Jofary could respond, the king beat him to it. "Are you saying that the man before us is a fake?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty. This tactic only delays the inevitable."
"Perhaps if it pleases you to judge him yourself, Your Majesty," Jofary said, coolly.
The king agreed. "It would please me. Bato of Termina, step forward." Bato did as he was bid and stood forth in front of the throne. "One year ago, you were summoned to this castle. Do you remember what it was for?"
"You wanted to recognize the contributions of myself and others who helped Castle Town and the realm, Your Majesty."
"Did you travel with anyone?"
"Yes. A great young boy. Link." The boy hero blushed at this comment.
"Do you remember what reward you were given?"
"Yes. His Majesty had graciously awarded me a boon." The crowd started to murmur loudly.
"Do you recall the boon you asked for?"
"I asked that His Majesty would support any reforms that pertaining to the people." Now, there were some that were talking loudly.
"Silence," Rarro, commanded. The crowd went silent again.
"Anything else?"
"That while it was good to use the boon for the sake of the realm, His Majesty said to take some time for 'something personal."
The king was quiet for some time, and everyone thought there was something wrong. "Do you think that one year was more than enough time?"
Bato solemnly bowed. "I beg for your pardon, My King. I was…indisposed."
"Your Majesty!" Rowan cried aloud, standing up. "Surely, you must see this poor attempt at a-a ruse. He is-"
"The genuine article, Rowan," the king said, with an air of hostility. "He answered all my questions correctly. Only members of some minor houses, myself, and Rarro were the ones that attended. Are you saying that I lack the mental faculties of remembering people and events?"
"N-No, Your Majesty." He gritted his teeth and bowed.
"Now that we confirmed who you are, perhaps you can tell us where you've been for the past year. Why your disappearance caused such a mess?"
Bato bowed again. "Apologizes, my king. As I told you, I was indisposed due to a matter concerning the Lost Woods."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense. Speak!" The king was saying what everyone was thinking.
"The Lost Woods and the Kokiri Forest. Both were protected by the guardian deity, The Great Deku Tree. You heard that when the Great Deku Tree died, the forest became more dangerous and inhospitable. What you haven't heard that its death was caused by Ganondorf, who cursed the tree after he refused to help him." The people didn't have to know about the existence of the Spiritual Stones.
Some Gerudo delegation went slack jawed and most of them were whispering fiercely.
"Ganondorf took the tree away. I sought to bring him back."
"To what end?" asked the king.
"I have no idea, Your Majesty," Bato said unashamedly. There was a beginning of an uproar before he spoke again. "Maybe I don't like the idea of forest spirits without their guardian. Maybe I have a soft spot for the innocent, which the Kokiri are, certainly. In any case, I decided I wanted to help the forest by reviving the tree."
"What did you do to revive the tree?"
"I made a contract with the forest spirits, and they agreed to help by sacrificing their energy in reviving the tree." He hesitated for a moment. "In exchange, I became a living bridge between the material and the spiritual, also sacrificing a portion of my life force in the process." Link looked sharply at Bato, who felt his gaze hitting him. He was not happy. "Through this, the Great Deku Tree was revived. But there was an unforeseen complication. My body couldn't handle the stress of this process. Thus, I was interred for one year within the roots of the Deku Tree."
"And do you have any evidence to back up this fantastical claim?" Rowen asked with venom in his voice.
Unfazed, Bato gestured to the crowd. "Two can attest to my claims. One other I will have to summon."
"Summon?" Asked the King. The crowd was becoming restless again. Link and Saria took this as their cue to make their way to the throne. When they arrived, Rarro spotted them immediately and whispered something to the king. "Link. Lady Saria of the Forest, step forward." Saria and Link walked over to Bato and knelt.
Rowen looked at them with disgust. "Children? You would ask children to vouch for you?"
"They are no mere children," Bato said, defensively. "Link, as some of you would know, was the one that alerted His Majesty to Ganondorf's coup, thus saving the realm. Lady Saria is a resident Kokiri and representative of her people."
"Indeed." The king turned to Link. "Link, what can you say about Bato's words?"
He hesitated for a moment before looking at the king. "All true, my king. I saw the death of the Great Deku Tree after destroying the monster within it." He whispered, "I also saw Bato's power reviving it and his body laying with the roots."
The king wasn't giving up any momentum, for he went to Saria next. "Lady Saria?"
"The Great Deku Tree has been revived. My people thrive once more. The forest has become safer and peaceful again. He speaks true."
Rowan yelled out, desperately. "You cannot believe any of this, Your Majesty! Children posing as heroes and spirits?!"
"If you'd like, I can summon a forest spirit to attest to the claims, my Lord," Bato offered. He slowly took out his ocarina. "Say the word, my king, and I will summon him."
"Then, get on with it."
Bato played the 'Wind God's Aria.' A mighty gust blew forth from nowhere and almost knocked everyone out. The guards were pointing their spears and swords at a non-existent force. Fado appeared before the court. "Bato? What have you needed of me?"
"To confirm the claims of the death of the Great Deku Tree, the process of its revival and the result," Bato said.
"They…They would dare question your sacrifice?" Another mighty gale blew forth. Fado looked fiercely at the crowd, ignoring the king. "This man saved the forest from the darkness and willingly sacrificed his life force for us!" That drew another look from Link. Bato became fearful. This was the first time he ever saw Fado this angry. "How dare you-"
"Peace, Fado. We only wanted your word. You know the phrase: innocent until proven guilty. They just needed proof."
"Then they have it!" Fado exclaimed. "This man is the forest's savior!"
"Thank you, Fado. I give you leave." Bowing, Fado disappeared in a soft breeze.
Everyone started to slowly get up from the ground, then the talking started again. Rarro commanded silence from the court. The king looked at Bato with both exasperation and awe. "Bato," he said, slowly. "Who are you that controls spirits and wind?"
"I'm just a farmer, my king. That's all I've ever been." The king scoffed and shook his head at that remark.
Bato looked at Jofary. "There is one more consideration." Jofary took out the parcel and presented it to Rarro. "Contained here are testimonies, statements, and evidence of collusion between the various nobles and House Rowan to slander House Cobn."
That did it. The entire crowd was now in an uproar. Some nobles looked around nervously. The king slammed his fist down on his throne. At once, guards swarmed into the room and sealed every entrance. Rarro opened the parcel. There was a list of names of various nobles from the lower and upper houses, along with other damning documents. "Rowan," the king growled at him. "Do you deny these accusations of high treason?"
"I do deny them!" He yelled out. "Those documents have most likely been fabricated!" He pointed to Bato, frantically. "I will not allow my family name to be dragged to the ground because of this pissant!" Shock reverberated around the room with this outburst. Some people, even the king, rose their eyebrows in disdain.
"We also do have some witnesses to confirm the testimony, my King," Jofary replied. Just then, a group of guards came with some bandits from the attack earlier. They all looked suitably drained.
The king asked the accused, "what say you then? Are what the Cobns saying true?" Rowan looked like he was going to kill them. Each of them looked at each other, before one of the guards tapped on a bandit's shoulder. Immediately, he nodded his head. The others fell in line.
"You cannot believe this rabble, my king!" Rowan shouted over the crowd's murmurs. "I will not be made guilty by Cobn's false witnesses!"
The king turned to Rowan, "whether you will be found guilty will be up for a tribunal to decide." Rowan opened his mouth like a fish out of water, flipping between denial and omission. Finally, he sighed and smiled. He drew his sword and aimed it at Bato. "You ruined everything for me."
"It seems this particular issue falls within your sphere of responsibility, my lord. However, I'm happy to provide assistance, if needed." Rowan lunged at Bato, but Link quickly move to intercept his weapon. Hard steel clashed with one another. Link struggled to shrug the lord's blade off.
"Don't involve yourself with adult affairs, boy!" He parried Link's blade and took a fighter's stance. Link did likewise.
Bato put his hand on Link's shoulder. "That's enough."
"But he's going to kill you!" Link screamed at him.
Unnerved, Bato continued, "remember where you are. This is neither your time nor place to be livid." Link looked around to see the guards, the nobles, the lords, Rarro and the king looking at the beginning of a duel. At once, the Royal Guards rushed in and held their spears at his neck. Rowen dropped his blade. "Put it away," he whispered. Grunting, he sheathed his blade.
Bato knelt before the king, again. "Apologies, my king, for the breach of decorum. Link was simply defending me from my attacker."
"I find no fault in that," the king replied. "Rarro, go through that list." He addressed the crowd. "Everyone here will be questioned regarding your relations with House Rowan. No one will leave until this is all sorted." He waved his hand dismissively towards Rowan, "take him to the castle dungeon. His fate will be decided later."
"The throne was mine, old man!" Rowan shouted as the Royal Guard restrained him. "You're weak and everyone knows it! You couldn't even do anything against a bunch of dirty desert rats!" Suddenly, Rowan was punched in the gut by a standing Jofary. Slumping, the mad lord was dragged out. Jofary said nothing.
The king approached Bato and Jofary. "Court will be in recess until everything dies down. Jofary, assign someone to him. Make sure that this man," he points at Bato, "doesn't leave the castle."
"Yes, my King." Jofary bowed while the king walked away.
Rarro stepped forward. "The king will want to see you in his chambers this evening. Once again, developments are moving forward because of you. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not." An officer took the list from Rarro and started to delegate tasks to some other officers. The crowd started being herded into two camps. Names were read aloud. Screaming and crying nobles and retainers were begging the guards not to detain them or to let them go free. One of the parties had a strong contingent of guards looking after them.
Jofary bowed before Bato, "Rowan's predations have come to an end, and I can finally breathe again. My house and my name have been cleared, in no small part to you and the others."
"I owe it to you, my Lord. I have put you in that situation to begin with."
"After listening to your reason why, I don't know what to think about you." He gestured towards an empty part of the room. "I'm not the only one." Link was looking at a distance, wistfully. "I believe the two of you will need to have a talk. Take it from a father who knows what that child's face means." Jofary walked away to speak with some other military officers at another part of the room, to expedite things. Bato took a deep breath and walked forward.
Saria was leaning on a pillar when she spotted Bato but said nothing. Link was leaning on another pillar when Bato walked in. Link looked at him, without any trace of emotion. The two stared at each other for a while.
"What?" Link said, finally.
"Alright, have at it," he sat on the floor. He was now at Link's level.
"Have at what?" the boy asked, innocently. But Bato knew better.
"You know what I said, and you probably have mixed feelings about it."
Link looked unsure for a while, before asking, "why?"
"Why not?"
"You don't get to joke!" Link snapped at him. "The Great Deku Tree was no friend of yours. The Lost Woods were of no concern to you. Why sacrifice yourself for them?" Bato couldn't help but bark out a laugh. This enraged Link even more, "what's so funny?!"
"It's funny because Hylia said the same thing."
Link looked befuddled for a moment. "Hylia? The goddess Hylia?"
"Who else," Bato shrugged. "As well as the Three Primordial Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore."
"Maybe I wasn't clear before," Link whispered and stepped closer to him. Piercing blue eyes right at him. "You don't get to joke."
"I'm not joking." The two tensely looked at each other. Both trying to find an angle to use against the other.
"You're serious," he said, in shock.
"Of course I am! Why would I ever lie about that? I can tell you exactly what happened. I was judged by the goddesses and was found not guilty! Farore was nice, she let me off with a warning. Nayru revealed to me that this was all part of her 'experiments with fate', or whatever. Din threatened me again with death if I went against her sisters, then everything went white." Bato finished with an exasperated expression.
Standing there, Link didn't say anything for a minute. He needed to process what was just said. Bato was waiting for any reaction, and the tension was killing him. "You're going to live a shorter life because of this, and you're okay with that?"
"Pot calling the kettle black, Link." Before Link could ask, Bato answered him. "It calls on a situation when someone accuses someone else on a fault in which they both share. You asked why I would sacrifice a portion of my life for a tree and a bunch of kids. I ask you: why did you put yourself in danger and submit yourself to such terrors during the span of your journeys?"
"I had too!" Link's tone was rising in anger.
"No, you didn't. Every situation, every problem, all you needed to do was walk away. You were given that option every single time! So, no, you did have a choice."
The boy yelled at him, "If you were there, then you know what I had to do! I didn't have any choice to 'walk away!'
"I was!" Bato yelled back. Both went into a standstill, without saying a word. The surrounding chatter was continuous, and it seemed most people were ignoring the drama that was happening in the little corner of the room. With a few exceptions. Saria, Cobn, and some Gerudo delegation that were close by. Bato tiredly sighed, "when I said I had no reason to help the forest, I was telling the truth. It is unclear to me why I did it. But, if I had to hazard a guess, it would be for the fact that I didn't want to see any more suffering. Not from you, Saria, the Kokiri or any other soul that lives there."
"… … Then you know why I became a hero." Link said, admittedly. "Because I didn't want anyone to suffer in this world. This was my choice."
"So was this." The two looked at each other, now with a silent understanding for one another. But now this raises a few questions. Why did Link fiercely admonish him for an action that he, himself, would have done? What made him angry in the first place? "But that's not the real reason, isn't it?"
"It's the only reason," the boy said, quietly.
"Oh no." Bato go up and walked towards him. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"
"Like how you were hiding something?! How this isn't your world to begin with?!" Link's eyes opened up with realization at what he said.
Bato had the same reaction. "What did you just say? What do you mean by that?"
Link decided to double down. "Lady Impa told me and Saria. About how you were from another world. Chosen by the goddesses to live in this one."
"So, you know." Bato nodded his head. A part of him was relieved that this was revealed to him. The other part of him was pissed that Impa would reveal something so personal. Or was she doing him a favor. This was a moot point now as he needed to focus on what's in front of him. "How do you feel about that?"
Link was quiet. Bato could see in his eyes an answer trying to form. His face twisted with hurtful confusion. This was bothering him greatly.
"The truth, Link. I don't care whether it makes sense or not. Just how you feel."
"I-I…" He shook his head a couple of times. "I honestly don't care where you're from! All I know that you have been there for me since I got back. No one knew what happened in Hyrule or Termina, except you." He took a breath. "You're the only one who was there when I needed someone. You're the only one who cared." His voice rose a little, in frustration and anger. "Now you're going to leave again!"
Bato understood Link's true feelings at this point, gears starting to turn in his head. "That's why you're so upset? You think I'm going to leave you?" At this point, Link shook his head and ran off in the direction of the crowd. Bato could only watch, despondently.