Chapter 56: Guilt of Abandonment
Link stretched his arms out from under his tattered blanket and yawned. His mind clouded by morning fog, not aided by the darkness before dusk that encased the city. By all rights he should still be asleep, but he needed to get an early start. At least he could be thankful no signal of raids disturbed him through the night. There had been four more assaults by the monsters in the three days he'd been stuck in this city. They struck at any time of day or night, almost anywhere within the city limits.
He'd ran to help at each of them. But they often retreated before he could discern where they attacked, leaving him to tend to the wounded.
But that would not be today. He couldn't let himself be distracted, not again. He threw off his tattered blankets and let the chill night air surround him. That woke him up. Jumping to his feet, he reached high and stretched, only to notice his breath made puffs of steam. He made three more breaths and watched as the white dispersed into the air. No. He shook his head. No distractions, I need to move! I won't be late today.
Scooping up his blankets, he rung them out, letting the drops of moisture they collected through the night splash to the ground. Everything in this city cost far too much, he learned quick he could accord food or lodgings, not both. Sleeping beneath the night sky never bothered him before, so he thought that an easy choice.
But patrolling soldiers ran him off when they found him resting on a bench the first night. And later another woke him by splashing his face and called him a beggar for sleeping on a beach. The only place he found where no one drove him away was a cramped corner tucked between a few buildings. It kept him clear from most of the icy winds that spilled out over the city from the sea, but not all. Everything here was a little damp, and a little cold. But he'd handled chill nights before, and if he wrapped himself in enough dry blankets the wet wouldn't reach him until near morning. If he was lucky. At least he didn't need to bother with shoes. The Zora didn't wear them and the roads were padded with seaweed and moss, or had deep puddles that would ruin a pair of boots anyway. He could walk comfortably barefoot, and most of his blisters were starting to heal.
And the sky, even in a dark and cloudy night like this. Looking up reminded him of home, of the mists that surrounded his little village with all his friends. Even darkness could bare pleasant memories when you need them.
He finished drying his blankets and shoved them into his bag. He had already wasted far too many days accomplishing nothing. A day to find the path to Lord Jabu-Jabu only to discover a blockade shut it off from everyone, with a few rude soldiers refusing to let anyone through. They at least let him know that only an edict from the king would open the doors for him. And one even provided directions to reach the palace. The rest of his days were spent waiting. But not today. Today he'd have his audience with the king.
Satisfied the blankets were as dry as he could get them, he shoved them into his bag and heaved his belongings over his shoulder. He gave one last look about to make certain he left nothing behind, before he made his way through the city. No one else shared the streets with him, not on the walkways nor swimming through the water lanes. Had it been noon with a full bright sun in the sky, there would be little difference. Everyone in the city kept hidden or ran to where they needed to be. Occasionally, an eye peeped through a window, but even they wouldn't keep him company this early. The streets were for soldiers and scavengers, and most of them still slept.
It wasn't until he reached the ornate gates of the palace that he saw someone, but only one. A guard stood safe behind the gates, placed on the grand entrance stairs. With a spear in hand, and armor that gleamed in blues and greens like water, when the light struck him. A big Zora, with wideset eyes and a flattened face, who stood unmoving at his post. Had Link not seen him the day before, he might have been fooled into thinking the palace grounds empty with only a strangely placed statue in the way. And when he did move, he marched as if a drummer kept his pace, though Link never heard any drums.
None of the other guards seemed half as precise as that one. At least, they hadn't the days prior, though now Link saw no other guards at all. When he first visited the palace there had been a dozen patrolling the crowd that gathered around the fence. But every day fewer guards kept the peace, though the crowd remained. Yesterday, he saw only four. The first outside bellowing orders while the others held stations within the palace grounds. One at the grand stairway that led to the main tower of the palace, another at the fountain filled with Zora statues that launched streams of water high through the air, and the last weaving around the sea garden.
Now there was only one.
"Good morning!" Link waved to the guard. "I think I'm the first today."
The guard did not move from his position. A bit rude, but also impressive. Even Bethe, the most disciplined soldier Link knew, didn't stand at attention all day. That must be exhausting.
"What time will the king see anyone? I've been here the last few days, do you remember me? I was the only Hylian my size!"
Still silence from the guard.
Not surprising he hadn't been noticed. The streets may be empty, but there always seemed to be people trying to reach the king. It was only the conch-call of an attack that sent everyone scurrying into hiding. Link of course ran to help, but when he returned the crowd reformed and he'd lost his place. But that would not happen today. Even if the monsters crawled out of the waters right before him, Link wouldn't leave his position. He would speak to the king. The Gerudo still had not arrived, he could make the plan work.
As the first light of the sun brightened the horizon, other people appeared. Most of them Zora with the occasional wealthy looking Hylian. First in small pockets of two or three, but soon in masses that pressed forward. Filling the air with the smell and din of crowds. Link did his best to put up with it, trying hard to ignore how everyone pressed around him. They were all so much bigger, and they made so much noise. What was even the point of being outside if you couldn't see ahead of you? Or smell fresh air and hear the life of the world? Crowds made everything worse.
Link guarded his place at the front of the line fiercely. Giving angry glares to anyone who even looked as if they would try to push past him. The last few days the line barely moved at all. He would be seen, he had to be. But as the sun grew higher and the crowd grew larger, worry crept into his mind. Some of those in the crowd slid away to the sides and left the palace behind, often muttering angrily to themselves as they went. Even though the gates hadn't opened, and they never saw the king. Was that why the line moved the day before? Because people just gave up?
No, that couldn't be it. Perhaps the king was a late riser. How many days had Link slept in, instead of getting an early start? In a few minutes they'd surely let him inside.
But minutes came and went, the crowd grew larger and angrier, but the gate never opened.
"Let me in!" a Zora woman screamed at the lone guard. "My child is sick! I must see the Protector! Tear down the barricade! Let me in!" She grabbed at the gate and looked as if she was trying to shake it down herself. But the steel pillars proved stronger than her.
If the guard heard, he didn't show it. He stood, still as a statue. It was only because he hadn't been positioned at the stairs the day before that Link knew he was alive.
"What right does the king have to keep us from Lord Jabu-Jabu?" Another screamed.
"Where is the king?"
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
More hands joined the Zora woman, grabbing onto the steel fence and forcing all their weight upon it. Each push from the crowd made the top of the fence waver more and more. Even those at the front joined the chant.
Only then did the guard move. He slammed the butt of his spear into the stone of the stairs and bellowed loud enough for all to hear. "The king is busy. This is a dangerous time, and he will see you when he is capable."
That did not relieve the crowd. If anything, their shouts grew louder, and they crashed against the gate like a wave upon the shore.
"Wait!" Link shouted as the bodies pushed him forward, pinning against the steel of the gate. "I'm down here!" The bars pressed into his chest and arms. He tried to swing his elbows to hit the legs and stomachs of those behind him. "I can't breathe!"
But the crowd ground itself against the steel. The gate shook, its hinges screeching. But the ornate steel bit deep into Link's stomach and arm.
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
"Let me out!"
Grunting and grinding his teeth, Link grabbed at the fence and pulled himself along it. Wheezing and coughing as he tried to force his way out of the crowd. The press felt worse than the army lines at Death Mountain. The steel bars, twisted in a beautiful spiral, now cut at him as he racked his body across to get free. Pain without an enemy to fight. Only unbending steel before him and a mob at his back. His sword could not help him, even if he had room to swing it.
Someone's hand scraped past his face, gripping tight on the fence and preventing his escape. He bit down on the hand, causing the Zora to squeak, and pull his arm back. It gave him just enough room to squeeze around. Forcing himself into the small gaps between people, pulling himself away from the gate. When the mob reared back, he managed to take a gulping breath, before they forced themselves back upon the palisade. Each wave sending him once more against the steel, bruising his side, or hip, or even his head against the bars. He held his bag tight, as flailing limbs struck him, and heavy bodies forced him whichever direction the mob moved.
He burst from the crowd. Toppling forward onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Free. The sweet salty taste of the sea air a welcome relief from the people's foul heat. Standing, he stayed hunched over. Hands on his knees, coughing and wheezing, he staggered forward away from all those people.
Stupid. Now I've lost my spot.
He looked back over the rioters. There were not as many as he first thought, but when all of them rushed together they might as well be an army. The gate still held, though for how long Link did not know. The one guard descended from the stairs. But no others joined him. No guards came from the palace, or patrolled the street to help quell the violence.
Was there truly only one left?
Link watched the sole Zora within the palace grounds shout and slam his spear against the gate. Yelling threats almost as loud as the crowd's screams. He did not call for support, nor even attempt some signal to those within the building.
Realization made Link's eyes grow wide, he turned and ran around the fence. Not stopping until the palace blocked sight of the gate and the lone guard. He took hold of the fence bars and pulled himself up. Even with the damp making everything in the city slick, he climbed to the top of the palisade with ease. Before he had time to even enjoy the pleasure of the climb, he reached the top and swung his legs over. Dropping to the ground, he landed with a splash into a garden.
"Gahh!" He fell forward to his knees and water went all the way up his legs. The greenery he thought covered solid ground proved to be lilies and woven seaweed that hid a foot of water beneath them. The plants tore under his weight, ruining their once pristine appearance.
Picking himself up, he wiped at some of the vegetation stuck to his pants, and really took in the sights of the garden. Was it even true to call it a garden? There were some lanes to walk around, but everything else was underwater. Filled with plants that Link had never seen cultivated before. Lillies and water ferns Link knew, but there were far more. Budding vines that snaked out of the water, bright flowers of yellow and violent bursting with life out a strange bush with huge flat leaves that floated along with the seaweed.
No time to admire beauty, however much he wanted to. He tried to disturb the plants as little as possible as he trod through the water to find solid ground. Only finding earth at the base of the palace tower. He dragged himself up and left large wet splotches in his wake.
Digging his fingers around the thick ridges of the stones of the building and pulled himself up. Whoever designed the palace must have wanted it to be climbed. Each of its stones were shaped like a fish's scales, leaving him ample angles to place his feet and ledges to pull himself ever upward.
It was like the building wanted to be climbed, with each of its stones shaped like a fish's scale, leaving him small ledges to place his feet and grip to pull himself ever upward. He found a window two stories up, shaped much like the stones, hidden within the design of the palace. He peered inside, using his hands to blot out the light. The room looked empty of people, but filled with paintings and frescos, all lined against walls with shaped pots and statuettes on tables before them. He pried the window open with his fingers and the tip of his sword and lifted it just enough to squeeze inside.
Solid ground, and dry. Rare to enjoy being inside, but days trudging through water and sleeping through rain had drained even his tolerance for nature. He looked down on his pruned toes and wiggled them. He did his best to wipe his feet, trying to not leave wet tracks through a palace. He held back his wincing as he rubbed over his blisters. Once satisfied, he made his way to the door, gently opened it, and glanced within the halls of the palace.
Nothing. A row of doors, some small tables and chairs with lamps set on them, and art along the walls, but not a single living person.
What was the point of such a big house if there was no one inside of it? Had Hyrule Castle been this lifeless? But… no. He had crossed the garden, glanced into a window to see the dreaded Rider in Black, and even climbed one of the towers. Everywhere he went he saw other people.
Here, he couldn't hear anyone, not a single footstep from those moving on the upper floors or the quiet chatter of those in adjacent rooms. The only thing that made a noise was him and the rush of running water somewhere deeper in the building.
Still best not to take chances. He ducked low, almost crawling along the hall. He moved to the nearest door and pressed his ear to it. Silence. Cracking the door only slightly ajar, he peaked inside to find a dark unused room. Much the same with the next and next.
Empty.
It took the eighth door to find any sign of life, and that was only plants. Each placed in a decorative pot, and all vibrant and alive, so someone must have cared for them recently. Another room near the end of the hall had a cleaning bucket and mop resting against the wall, a half-cleaned stain on the floor beside them. Link dipped his finger into the bucket, the water was frigid. Whoever used it left it behind hours ago or more, maybe days.
Was this whole place empty?
Then why would someone be guarding it?
When Link returned to the hall he didn't bother ducking down, and after a few more rooms he didn't even try to quiet his steps. Still the only sound he heard was rushing water. Did it come from outside? He decided to find its source, ignoring the last of the doors he passed, until he reached the tallest widest doors at the very end of the hall. Opening them he found a pillar of water before him, like the waterfall writ small. The floor came to an abrupt end just before the water, with not even a railing to keep anyone from falling off. The ground wet and slickened from the drips and flecks of water that splashed onto it.
Anyone who got close could slip and fall off the edge. Which, honestly, sounded quite fun provided the landing wasn't too hard. Link stepped to the edge and looked out. The water came from the very top floor of the palace and descended all the way to the bottom in a pool. Very fun to jump at this distance, provided the pool was deep enough.
On both sides of the opening and the water spire there was a winding staircase with one side going up, and the other heading down. The stairs had banisters to keep those who climbed safe, strange for how they ended in an ornate fish design just before the water.
Maybe the space was left that way so one could dive off any floor and reach the bottom. Link grinned just thinking about it. That might be the most fun thing about any castle or palace or chief's home he'd ever seen. He'd have to try it. Later. After he figured out what was going on.
"Well," he said as he pulled away from the edge, "upstairs or downstairs?"
More on a whim than anything he headed up. Ganondorf's rooms had been in a tower. The Crown of Death Mountain was at the summit. Even getting above the dark mists of the Lost Woods meant climbing trees. Going up had treated him well so far.
The next floor was as empty as the one before. He opened the first door. "Anyone here?" He asked the room filled with the heads of statues of Zora men. "Nope." He went to the next door. "How about here?" Only to see an equal number of statues of Zora women. "About what I figured." He didn't bother hiding himself or even closing doors as he went. Once he finished that floor he returned to the stairs and went to the next level.
As empty as the last two. Still, he checked the rooms, until a quarter of the way through he heard something. Faint, quiet enough Link almost thought he imagined the noise. He moved further away from the rushing water, and the sound became clearer. Was someone crying?
"Hello?" He shouted, before stopping himself. Stupid. I'm not supposed to be in here.
But he moved toward the sound, regardless. Desperate for any source of information. The sound was erratic, occasionally going silent before returning with a stream of blubbering wet sobbing. He stopped when he reached the door it was coming from. There was definitely someone inside. Link gently opened the door.
This room was the largest of all that he had yet seen. It looked as though the room stored excess cushions, blankets, and furniture. Did such a room exist in palaces? Couches and chairs lay scattered about the room, each with enough padding and pillows overtop them that if Link tried to sit in them, he'd have to climb them first.
"Anyone in here?" he asked as he continued toward the crying, passing through that room into paired doors at the back. When he opened them, he found the largest bed he'd ever seen. A pile of mattresses, blankets, and pillows near as high as Link was tall, and about as wide as the hollowed tree trunk he called home most his life. He only knew it was a bed because someone lay sprawled on top of it.
The biggest Zora Link had ever seen cried into the pillows and sheets. His face peeking out when he took a breath between his sobs. He had a bulbous catfish-head, barbels around his mouth arranged almost like a mustache. As soon as he filled his lungs, his head ducked back into the damp white linens and his mournful weeping returned.
"Are you hurt?" Link whispered still halfway out the door.
The big Zora did not notice him, he gave a loud sob let go of the sheet he'd twisted about in his hand and grabbed a pillow. Then he buried his head into it.
Now would be the time when Navi would tell me to get away. Go back to finding the king. You can't help everyone. But Link moved closer, until he was at the foot of the bed. He looked over the man's body seeing if he had any visible wounds. After the raid of the Lizalfos and the Battle for the Crown he had seen people crying like this. Normally it meant that they had taken a great wound. But he could not find any on the man.
"Is there anything wrong?" Link tried again. Moving closer to his head.
The fish-man opened his eyes wide and looked right at Link. But he did not stop crying nor did he speak.
Link didn't know what to do. And so he held out his hand, and took hold of the man's own. "You can get through this." Though he had no clue what the man needed to get through. "I'm here to help. If I can."
The Zora clenched his eyes shut and buried his head deeper into the pillow. But he did not pull his hand away. He did not let go.
"You're going to beat this." Link reached out to assure the Zora with a pat on his shoulder, but he found he couldn't reach up the bed. "I get sad too, sometimes. It's not easy being alone when all you want to do is cry. When everything looks hopeless and no one wants to be near you anymore. But... but I'm here now."
He glanced back to the door, no one was approaching. That was something. Less chance that anyone would come find him. Still Link didn't know what else to do.
When he had been sad that he had no fairy with him as a child, Navi would visit him. She'd offer to watch him fishing, or bring him a drink of water. But now he didn't even have her. And Link wasn't certain this Zora liked to fish as he did. They probably caught them in teh water rather than relying on nets and bait on lines. And he didn't know where drinking water would be in this palace. Maybe if he found a cup he could get some from the pool at the stairs? Could Zora drink that?
But before he could put any further plan in motion, the Zora seemed to regain some of his composure. He did not stop crying, but his voice grew steadier. Eventually he lifted his head up from the pillow and with deep red eyes he seemed to finally take true notice of Link.
"Who are you?" His voice rasped from his sorrow. "I thought I ordered all to leave? Let this place become a mausoleum to my anguish."
"No one ordered me to do anything," Link said as he tried to puzzle out what his last sentence meant. He understood anguish well enough, so he decided to focus on that rather than the other word. "Are you feeling better?"
"No," the Zora sniffled back his tears. "Can one feel joy when the light of your life is snuffed out? When the sun shines no more on your soul and all your worldly goals are dashed to ruin? Can one bolster themselves when they are as nothing? When hope is lost and all that remains is emptiness?"
"I don't know," Link said truthfully, trying to figure out what the Zora was talking about. "But...
"No, one cannot," the Zora said, and tears welled up in his eyes again. "Ruin. We are all abandoned to ruin."
"Who abandoned you?" Link asked. That much he understood. Few things hurt as much as someone important to you deciding you were no longer worth knowing. Link knew that sting, still felt it, even after all those miles he left her behind.
"Our lord! Our protector! He has gone mad. In our time of greatest need he has devoured our most precious, our innocent... we are doomed."
"Your king? He abandoned you? He… ate his own people?" That didn't sound like the truth of things, though it would explain the empty palace and the terrible organization of the city's soldiers. Kings were supposed to take charge of that.
"No," the man burst into another howling sob. "Lord Jabu-Jabu! Lord Jabu-Jabu!"
"He's the one I have to see! He abandoned you? Where did he go?"
A hand grabbed Link's shoulder. Link yelped as he was spun around to stare into the wide eyes of the last of the Zora guard.
"A thief," the guard sneered.
"No!" Link said. "I'm not a thief! I'm not! I need to know! What happened to Lord Jabu-Jabu! What is going on?" But the one on the bed returned to his grief and tears.
The guard shoved Link toward the door. "Move, boy."
"All of us doomed," said the man on the bed. "My daughter! Jabu-Jabu! Give me back my daughter!"
Link tried to wiggle out from the man's hands. "What happened to your daughter? I need to know what's going on! Please!" But the guard slammed the door, and all Link could hear as he was forced down the halls was the sobs that grew quieter and quieter with each step away. "You don't know what you're doing," Link begged the guard. "I'm trying to help."
"I know how to handle thieves," he said as his grip tightened, his webbed fingers pinching at the skin around Link's neck. The guard forced him to the stairs and down to the lowest floor. Never again responding to Link's pleas. They did not stop until the guard shoved him into a small dark room. Empty like all the others, but this one had the cobwebs of spiders in the corners and the air was heavy with dust. Not a well used room even before the palace was abandoned.
The guard forced Link into a seat and yanked at the bag tied to Link's hip. "Let's see what you have in here then thief." The strength of the man almost lifted Link off the chair but the strings tore open after the third pull.
"No!" Link said as the Zora spilled its contents across the ground. "I'm not a thief." A small handful of rupees and apples were the first to tumble out. Followed by his mismatched shoes and broken sword. Then his ocarina tumbled from the bag and smashed onto the floor. Link scrambled forward to try and pull it away before the last heaviest item in the bag landed atop of it.
"Going for a weapon?" The guard sneered. He kicked the sword to the other side of the room.
"No," Link pulled the ocarina to his chest. The instrument was mostly fine, just a small scuff of on the wood, and the tiniest sliver scraped off. Still Link felt a few tears well up in his eyes. No one but him would ever notice the mark. It would still play just as well. And yet it felt as though someone ruined it. He wrapped his arms tight around the ocarina, as though he could somehow mend the wood.
"Currents sweep me away." The guard held the Heart of the Mountain. "You could live your whole life in leisure if you sold this. Where'd you get it?" He shoved the Ruby before Link's eyes. "Which room did you steal it from?"
"I didn't steal it," Link said. "Chief Darunia of the Gorons gave it to me for safekeeping. I need to speak with your king. Please, this is urgent. You've seen me out there waiting. You must remember me, I was the first one to show up this morning. I waved to you. Please."
"You will not bother the king again."
Again? The man in the bed?
"Stealing from his majesty?" the guard continued. "You won't be leaving this room with both your hands."
"I didn't steal anything!" Link held the ocarina even tighter. "Look at it! It's not from the Zora. No one could make that stone. It's a gift from the Three Goddesses."
The guard scoffed, "I'll give you this thief, of all the whining stories I've heard yours is the most original." But he did keep looking over the Ruby. His mouth shut and he started to grind his teeth as he moved the stone. With one finger he traced along the outside of the golden throne on which the Ruby was placed. He must have traced over the stone half a dozen times with squinting confused eyes before he finally looked back up to Link. "This isn't Zora made."
"I told you. The Goddesses made it. They created three stones and gave them to three guardians. That's one of them."
"This doesn't make sense," he said again. "The Zora have the finest artists in all the world, masters of painting, calligraphy, and our jewelers are the envy of all the world. I've seen the best works of this or any age. And yet…"
"You've never seen anything like that. Because there is nothing like it. The Goddesses made it."
"Don't be ridiculous. There's a trick to it. See the way the gold and ruby just meld together? As if one simply shifts into the other. No seam. No point where the gemstone is slotted into the gold. This… this shouldn't work. It's as if the gold and the stone are truly one piece." Finally, his eyes turned toward Link. "A piece like this would be the pride of the royal collection."
"And yet you've never seen it! I didn't take it from here. There are three like it, and there is a man trying to capture them. He's killing anyone who stands in his way, and if he collects all three -then- I don't even know what's going to happen, really. But we must not let him."
"No. I've heard of another marvel of jewelwork such as this. Let me think where."
"There were three. An Emerald held by the Great Deku Tree, guardian of the forest, that Ruby once swallowed by a dragon, before it was passed to the chiefs of the Gorons and held in the Crown of Death Mountain. And the last is a Sapphire."
"The Lord's Jewel," the guard whispered. He met Link's eyes. "That is what you seek? The Lord's Jewel."
"That must be it! Do you know where it is? I tried to ask how to find the Lord Jabu-Jabu but everyone said that the King is preventing anyone from seeing the guardian. But I need to. He needs to learn about the thief, and maybe he can help me hide the Ruby as well."
"You can't," the Zora said. "No one can see Lord Jabu-Jabu anymore."
"Why not? No one has told me what's going on. The people on the street are terrified. They don't have their protector or their king. They need answers. I need answers."
"Because it is dangerous. Our Lord Protector granted us wishes. Our people brought him offerings of fresh fish, and he would look into their hearts and if he deemed them worthy, he would grant their deepest desires."
"That sounds wonderful," Link tried to think to his own guardian. The Great Deku Tree, as loving a father as he had been, never granted wishes. And the dragon of Death Mountain didn't seem the type to do that either, judging by the stories.
"For generations it was," the guard's voice sounded pained, as if he was the one holding back tears. "But what happens when someone's wish turns foul? If a desire brings with it terrible consequence."
"Wouldn't Lord Jabu-Jabu know? Everyone says he is wise. And you just said he can look into a person's soul, or heart, or whatever. Wouldn't he know if an evil person asked a wish from him?"
The guard almost choked. He shivered as if a deep chill took him to the bone, before he steadied himself. This same man, who hours before stared down a mob, who looked more statue than alive. Yet when he looked to Link his eyes were filled with so much pain and guilt.
"Did you wish for something?" Link whispered.
The guard went quiet for a moment before he spoke in a voice weaker than a tumbling leaf. "I didn't mean to. I didn't think the Lord would answer my wish as he did."
"What did you ask?"
"I don't even remember the words I spoke. You have to understand, I was one of the guards of the Princess Ruto. I followed her every order, I watched her as she… she was so troublesome. She had the way about her to demand the world obey her whims as if she owned all within it. I know my history. Not as well as some others. But I've heard of the spiteful King Metrial II who tried to drown the lands of the south with unending tides, or Bloody Queen Ralias and her executions. I was trying to make certain she did not go the same way. I didn't mean for what happened."
"I believe you."
"She returned to Lord Jabu-Jabu demanding the Sapphire for a second time. And.. I couldn't… our Lord Protector ate her. As he devoured thousands of our enemies. The king flew into a rage, he demanded that we slaughter Lord Jabu-Jabu in vengeance, but the soldiers refused. Then, he placed guards so none could again visit the guardian, and our king fell from wrath to torment. You've seen him, he is despondent. He sees no one, he is unable to lead. And we are left without ruler, without protector. Now when we need them most, they are lost to us. All because of me."
The Zora dropped the Ruby, it clattered to the ground as his hands went to his eyes. His fist clenched as his hands went back to his sides. Trying desperately to look like the unblemished statue of a soldier he had been before. But it was no good. Though unshed tears still hung in his eyes and his lower lip wobbled as he tried to hold his emotions in. He returned his attention to Link, as if seeking Link's scorn. As though he wanted Link to tell him that he had done something terrible. That all the world's troubles were his fault and his alone.
"How could you have known?" Link said as he stood in front of him. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were trying to protect your people isn't that what you were supposed to do?"
"No," he snapped. "I was a royal guard I should have followed my orders without complaint. I should never have made my wish. It's on me, don't you understand? My people are dying and it's all on me."
"What's your name?" Link asked the guard.
"Captain Miashir, third spear of the Zora Royal Guard," he said.
"Well, Miashir," Link took hold of his hand and spoke gently as if he was treating a sick foal back at Lon Lon Ranch. "I'm Link. I'm a child of the Kokiri Forest. I watched my father die. I fought in a battle, crawled through a mountain filled with the dead, and faced monsters and the only thing I've learned is that you can't give up. You have to keep fighting. If something is important to you, you fight for it to the end. Even if you've made the biggest mistakes in the world. And everyone you thought loved you hates you, you have to keep trying."
"One cannot fix oncoming doom."
"Well, I'm going to try anyway. I don't always succeed. I wasn't able to save my father. I lost the letters of Princess Zelda which made everything harder. But I have to keep going. I have to try and fix things or – I don't know- But I know I have to try. And I hope you can try with me."
"What good will that do?"
"I'll know I did my best. That my father would be proud of me. That even after all my mistakes, I'm proud of me."
Miashir took a deep breath. "You're a very smart child, you know that?"
Link gave a slight grin. "I'm not really. But that doesn't mean I'm always wrong."