Chương 193: Twilight Aftermath [2]
The next day dawned quietly and with very little fanfare. It was an overcast day, with the sun struggling in vain to reach the earth with more than a fraction of its full strength. Midna would probably swan about as if it were the most beautiful day ever... The Twili woman could no longer hide in Link's shadow, and full sunlight seemed to… diminish her somehow. Link found himself happy that Midna would be happy, even as he'd have liked some sun to wake him from yet another long and sleepless night. At some point in the early morning, Link had transformed into his wolf form and had dozed with his canine senses on high alert. Suffice it to say, remaining on high alert and becoming sound asleep are mutually exclusive states of being. Link was tired.
Link was always tired these days…
On the bright side, last night's nightmare had been a relatively tame one by Link's standards. He'd watched all of his young Ordonian friends be abducted by the Bokoblin's and their War Leader, and once again he'd been powerless to stop them. Upon waking up shivering and sweating, Link had very quickly remembered that the children were safely back in Ordon, and his mood had rapidly improved. It was a win as far as Link was concerned.
After rejoining the still sleeping forms of Zelda and Midna, Link quietly rebuilt the almost extinguished fire. With that taken care of, he began cooking the second cuckoo and some eggs, hoping to wake the ladies up with the smell of preparing food. He couldn't do much about the fact that the Princesses had slept curled up together in nothing but woolen blankets. What he could do however, was keep the two of them well fed and watered. As he sat on the same log as the night before and tended to their meal, a dirty blonde head of hair peeked out from below a blanket and caught sight of him. A moment later after some jostling, an orange head of hair briefly peered out from a slightly different location.
Link waited quietly as the Princesses slowly rose to approach him, and he gestured at two mugs of tea that were cooling near the fire. Within a few minutes, Link had Zelda sitting on his right and Midna sitting on her other side. It was sad to see that Midna was already distancing herself from him, but Link knew that their time together was coming to an end and being too familiar was becoming unwise. As painful as that thought felt, it was also unavoidable. Midna was every inch a Princess. She was every inch that comprised the miles she was above his meager station. Now more than ever, Link was becoming acutely aware of his blood stained clothing... Ugh… It didn't help that conversation was at a premium, even between the two ladies. Link figured that situation would change with the tea that he'd supplied and the energy it would soon be providing them.
"How will we get down the cliff face to the lake?" Zelda looked at the view off the edge of the cliff, with a mixture of awe and nervousness on her face.
After gesturing for Zelda's attention, Link brought forth his clawshot. He turned towards a nearby tree, aimed and then fired the grappling hook. They all watched as it thunked deep into the wood near the foliage level with expert aim.
"I… see. We'll be lowered by you then." The princess appeared to be trying very hard to be both stoic and brave. "Will it be safe?"
Link materialized two lengths of rope, tying them securely around his waist, shoulders and belt. Then he just bit the bullet and used his words. "I will be using two clawshots to descend backwards down the cliff face on my feet. If you will tie yourselves to these ropes at my waist, we can all go together in tandem. It will be quite a descent and it'll be… intimate, but I assure you that it will be safe."
"Link isn't exaggerating Princess," Midna added, in an all too cheerful tone. "This type of thing is the Hero's bread and butter. We'll be lowered to the ground in no time at all and with the ease of long practice."
"Carrying the weight of three people," Zelda added, as if she couldn't quite help herself.
"He's the Hero Zelda… The Hero." Midna arched an eyebrow as if to convey the words "weren't you listening to a single word that I said yesterday?"
Zelda merely coughed and turned away for a moment. "It is as you say Midna. I am confident in our guardian." Without another word, Zelda approached Link's side and tied her hips and right shoulder to Link's left shoulder, back and waist. During that moment, she was acutely aware that she was also binding their fates together.
Midna hesitated for several moments, but it wasn't because she feared Link would drop her. Link had been right after all. This would be an intimate experience and she'd wanted to avoid that kind of scenario as much as possible. She legitimately feared she wouldn't have the resolve to keep herself to herself. When Link and Zelda turned to face her, she saw slight confusion in Link's eyes and complete understanding in Zelda's. Zelda beckoned her over to hug her, motioning that they'd close their eyes and Midna grinned at her. During the next few moments, Midna was next to Link, strapping herself in and accepting a tight hug from Zelda.
As he walked towards the cliff face, Link tried very hard to ignore the fact that he was wearing the Princesses of two countries on his back like a cloak. The ladies' feet were dangling an inch off the ground behind him, which was nice because it proved to him once and for all that he was indeed taller than them (he'd been a little concerned). Link turned towards the trees behind them in a slow, steady movement to keep the drama to a minimum. He raised both of his clawshots towards two large specimens of oak tree and let fly at the same time.
THUNK!….. THUNK!
"Okay your Highnesses." Link wasn't a jerk, so he'd ignore propriety and explain some things before he began. "I'm going to begin walking back off the ledge, while slowly releasing segments of chain from my clawshots. Our bodies will be facing the sky, as I walk backwards down the cliff. That is to be expected and welcomed because it's actually the safest way of doing this. Please keep that in mind as we go over the ledge, because this might feel a little… odd."
Zelda nodded her head into Link's shoulder, as Midna gave a plucky "yes sir" from behind him. Despite the fact that he was taking these next few minutes very seriously, Link grinned. Soon after, with a countdown of three, Link began walking back off the ledge, releasing single segments of hookshot chain with a steady clink, clinking noise. Briefly, he was at a 45-degree angle to the cliff, then a 75, then finally he was away at a full 90, and walking back down the cliff face. It was a little bit awkward with the princesses tightly clutching at his waist and chest, but their legs were dangling well behind him and weren't in the way in the least.
"See Princess," Midna called out cheerfully, while looking around. "This is like making porridge for the Hero. He could do this in his sleep!"
"Y..Yes I can see that." Zelda's face was pushed tightly into the back of Link's neck for the most part, but she was intermittently peering out, taking in the completely extraordinary view.
A little over halfway down the cliff face, Link ran out of chain segments, and he knew that now was going to be the interesting part. "Okay Princesses… Do you both see that rather large and strong looking tree jutting out of the cliff face to our right?"
A chorus of yes and uhuhs sounded out from behind Link.
"Well that's where I'll need to hook my right clawshot, within the next few moments. To do so, I will be disengaging my right clawshot from the trees above us. After that happens, my right leg will drop and my body will be facing the tree to our right. Both of my clawshots are extremely strong. The left one is in no danger of breaking. Midna… I want you to understand this next part, because you're on my right hand side. You're about to drop about a foot and a half and it'll happen quickly. Try not to be alarmed Midna. I'm not falling nor am I dropping you. This needs to happen."
"I understand Link. I'll be okay." Midna wasn't faking her confidence. It was the Gods' honest truth. Midna trusted Link implicitly and wouldn't even hesitate to put her life in his hands. He was always there for her and he was just so special and… All of a sudden, in a moment of total weakness that hit her like a lightning strike, she did it. Despite having every intention of maintaining some distance between herself and the Hero, Midna tightened her hold around Link's body so that she could rub her face directly into his neck. Gods… She even took a big inhale of his skin and hair for good measure.
To Link's left, Zelda caught Midna going waaay off script. She immediately began worrying about her friend's ongoing emotional wellbeing.
"Thank you Midna… I appreciate your confidence." Link was truly touched by Midna's faith in him… He was also becoming aroused by the way she was wrapping herself around his body and rubbing her face into the side of his neck. There was a very good chance that this was just the same brand of playful affection that Midna the Imp had always given him, but it sure as Hell felt completely different. This Midna had curves, and her thighs were twined around his waist as if she wanted him to…
Abruptly, Link took a very deep breath, both to prepare his body for what needed doing and to decrease the red flush blooming all over his face. Once again counting down from three, Link depressed the button that retracts the grappling hook. The result was immediate. Link's right arm began dropping even as the chain links of his grappling hook retracted back into the launcher at astounding speeds. At almost the exact same time, three things happened. Link's clawshot became fully retracted, he was standing against the cliff with his right arm below him, and he had his left arm outstretched towards the sky. The maneuver had been as close to perfect as he'd ever done it, and he'd have been super pleased with himself if the Princesses on his back weren't a little freaked out.
With a casual ease that he hoped might calm the Ladies down, Link raised his right arm and shot the clawshot into the tree jutting out from the cliff face. Slowly and deliberately, Link retracted the segments of that right clawshot and walked along the wall towards the tree. Soon they were all under the base of the tree and Link was free to retract his left clawshot with a lot less drama. "Hookay… That was the hard part. Let's get down this wall so that you ladies can relax on the beach for a bit." During the next few seconds, Link grinned when he felt two heads nodding gratefully into his shoulder.
Less than five minutes later, Link and the Princesses were on the lakeshore, and disentangling themselves from the ropes that had kept them together.
Midna cursed herself out as she straightened out her clothing. She was an imbecile and it was exactly as bad as she'd feared it'd be. Link had both smelled completely incredible and his tightly packed, muscular body had felt beyond amazing in her arms. Midna was aroused. She was very, very aroused. She'd taken a hammer blow to her calm, and it was her own damned fault. Her situation also wasn't a secret. When she turned towards Zelda, she saw the Hylian ruler biting her bottom lip in concern.
"Okay ladies," Link started speaking, forcing himself to think out loud. "I need to start investigating these cave systems to find the old tunnel to the desert, but your Highnesses' safety takes priority." Link wasn't a huge fan of being the one who was making the decisions. It forced him to communicate out loud far more often than he was used to, and he had to worry about logistics that had never been a factor in the past...
Case and point, Link needed to get in touch with the Zora to secure the Princesses, but he didn't have a prearranged signal to contact them. Link had an idea, but he didn't want to startle the ladies, which of course… meant yet more talking. Turning away from the cave spotted walls of the lake, Link found Midna looking at her feet and Zelda hovering in concern. "Is everything alright your Highnesses?"
After being visibly surprised by Link's question, Midna rapidly adopted an air of "extreme nonchalance". "Yes Link. We're fine, I'm fine."
Right away, Link could see that Midna was lying through her teeth, but as long as her problem wasn't an emergency, he was willing to give her some space. "Well, okay then... I'm about to do something quite... loud. I'm going to get the attention of the Zora patrolling the area by using a few bomb arrows."
Like the sun emerging from behind some clouds, Midna's face split into a wide grin, and Link smiled at the return of his friend's good spirits. She'd always been a huge fan of pyrotechnics of any variety and bomb arrows were a personal favorite of hers.
"Bomb… arrows…" Zelda repeated in a disbelieving tone. "No offense intended hero, but that sounds... absurd."
"Oh they are absurd," Midna agreed with a happy bounce in her voice. They're also sooo entertaining! Go ahead and show her Link!"
Nodding his agreement, Link materialized the Hero bow into his hand. Next he performed a bit of mental imagery and focus within himself to combine two items. When he pulled out the two items he'd mentally put together, he was holding two bombs perfectly fused to the end of arrow shafts. Next, Link lit a small stick on fire and slipped it into a homemade cradle affixed to his bow. Working quickly, Link strung his first bomb arrow, letting the fiery brand touch the bomb's fuse as he aimed straight up and drew back the string.
Thwack, whoosh... BOOM!!
As quickly as possible, Link recreated that first effort and a second arrow left his bow.
Thwack, whoosh.... BOOM!!
High overhead, two large explosions had filled the air with flames and smoke. Link was satisfied with his work because the bomb arrows had detonated at approximately the right elevation. He'd been aiming for the explosions to be visible from the entrance to the Zora's domain, which was at the top of their massive waterfall. Over the next few moments, Link put out and removed the flaming brand from his bow before stowing the weapon away and sitting on a rock. As he sat down, he noticed that Princess Zelda was looking at the clouds of smoke in the sky, with yet another disbelieving expression. If Zelda wasn't careful, Link was going to start calling her the incredulous Princess in his head.
"How long do you think they'll take to respond?" Following her question, Midna gracefully slid into place on the other side of Link's rock.
"No longer than half an hour," Link replied, with a soft smile.
"Things like those explosions are way more fun now that the world isn't waiting to be saved." Midna watched the smoke drift away with a soft smile of her own.
Ouch… Midna's beauty was magnified a hundred fold when she smiled. Link was paralyzed into a silent stillness as if the moment could be broken like an egg shell. Paradoxically, with every second that passed, Link's carefully maintained stoicism was rapidly being chipped away. In its place, an indescribable feeling of need was welling up inside of him. The sensation was being made all the stronger by the fact that Midna was leaving soon. There was a shelf life on their friendship now where there hadn't been one before, and just knowing this was filling him with a reckless kind of energy. Link wanted to talk to Midna. He wanted to get to know her and let her know him in return. He wanted to bridge the gap that propriety and necessity had built between them.
Seized by these powerful feelings, Link suddenly realized that he had to do it. He had to man up and extend himself…More than anything, Link knew that Midna cared about him. They were teammates as well as friends and she saw them as equals…
Equals...
After finally making up his mind, Link turned towards the dusky skinned woman, and caught her orangey-red eyes with his own. "You know something Midna. I don't think we've ever just sat down together like this before." Link's words came out both slowly and quietly, because all of the sudden he felt bashful and clumsy. This was the first time in well over a decade that he'd offered up unprompted conversation, and he was finding it difficult.
In response to Link's unsolicited words, Midna gave a small startled squeak, and then she stared back at the man in shock. For several seconds in a row, her mouth bobbed open and shut like a goldfish, and she was completely incapable of rational thought. Then, finally, she managed to shake off her surprise and respond to his words. While taking a very deep breath, Midna gestured at the two feet separating their bodies. "Link... I know that you were joking yesterday when you mentioned the cannon but... you were right. I'm further away from you right now than I ever was as an Imp. Link... You really did wear me as a cloak. I pooled in the shadows on and around your body. I have sat down with, slept with, and lived my life upon your body, every moment of every day for several months now…"
Link thought about the import of Midna's words for several moments, before he suddenly felt extremely exposed and just a little bit massively embarrassed. Midna always came out of the ground at his feet when she emerged out of nowhere, and he'd always thought that she was... elsewhere, off and on throughout the day. On the one hand, Midna's words meant that she'd been offering him far more solidarity and emotional support than he'd ever known about. On the other hand… "Uhhh... Gods... This is... Midna… You're a Princess… Shouldn't I be horrified about anything inappropriate or vulgar I may have done in your presence? I don't know… but I…"
While she hadn't actually intended to embarrass her friend, Midna really is the mischievous type so her reaction was inevitable. Her face immediately split into a wide and unrestrained grin of amusement, as she watched Link of Ordon splutter and choke on an apology. This… was… rich! It was only after she watched Link's face transition through a fit of paranoid concern and embarrassment that Midna finally couldn't contain it anymore. She began giggling like mad, in ethereal and beautiful tones.
"I think… I might be in trouble," Link finally managed to say out loud, with a prominent blush upon his face.
"Oh, you are in trouble Link," Midna purred, with her trademark evil grin upon her face. "How dare you be a normal, healthy, Hylian male, and fall subject to all of those pesky biological functions that the rest of us mere mortals fall prey to…"
"Those things are bad enough, but they're not what I was referring to," Link replied quietly.
"I know exactly what you're talking about Link… and yes… it's most definitely a biological function." Midna softened up her smile for Link's benefit, because the joke was over and it was time that he calm back down. "Come off it Link. Surely you know I mean you no harm?"
Turning his attention back to Midna, Link felt his cheeks burning red hot again. "Of course I know that Midna. You're my friend, my Midna, and even though we've never discussed it... You know I'd do anything for you, anything at all. Friendship's not the issue here…"
Midna managed to keep herself from blushing in return at Link's words, but it was a close run thing. Taking a deep breath, she gave the dirty blond teen a sidelong gaze. "If that's the case, then what's the real problem here Link?"
At first Link just shrugged, as he watched the Lake ripple and the thick grey clouds roll by. After about ten seconds, his gaze returned to Midna's face and they locked eyes with each other. "I think it's as simple as this," he breathed out, in a quiet but steady voice. "You're not an Imp anymore. You've gone from small, cute and furry to… Midna, I know I've teased you, but I'm being serious right now. You're…"
Very abruptly Link stopped and gave Midna a look that conveyed the words "Must I really say it? Surely you already know?"
Gods and Goddesses help her, Midna did want Link to say it! She kept her voice carefully dense and innocent because she didn't want to reveal her desperation. "I'm what Link?"
Link wasn't fooled in the least by Midna's acting, but he was being honest with his friend right now and she deserved it. "Midna… You are beautiful far beyond any woman I've ever hoped to have the least amount of involvement with. You're so stunning I've found myself out of my depth and feeling clumsy. As you are right now… you really are completely enthralling and you've rendered me nearly speechless. Objectively I know that you're still my friend Midna and nothing's changed. That doesn't make the idea that you've witnessed me pleasuring myself any less abhorrent to me."
Midna might have laughed at Link's last comment, if she weren't far too busy resembling a sunset with her deep and auburn blush. When she responded to his words, you could tell that she was falling back onto her court training to smooth out her voice. "For, for a man who's been rendered nearly speechless… that was almost certainly the sweetest thing that anyone's ever said to me."
Shrugging again, Link smiled softly at his friend. "I'm under the impression that the things I don't say to you during the next few days, are going to become the things that I never get to tell you. For the first time in my entire adult life, I've been feeling… chatty."
The emotional impact of Link's admission was strong beyond measure. Instantly, Midna felt a mad desire to do a great many things, ranging from hugging Link, to confessing everything that she'd ever thought of him, to pulling him into a cave and just showing him how much she cared… She didn't do any of those things. She couldn't and it hurt her to have to hold back. In the end, Midna just sat there, looking out at the water. Thankfully, Link didn't appear to be upset with her for her lack of a response.
"Can your long hair still be used as an extra arm now that you're a normal Twili woman?" It may not have been all that subtle, but Link was trying to break the tension that he'd managed to build between them. While he wasn't concerned about Midna being angry at him, he did actually want to continue speaking to her.
Good Goddesses, Link was being sooo cute right now. It was too much, and her broody mood was completely shattered. A grin lit Midna's entire face even as her hair took on a neon shine, and two large glowing hands started rubbing up Link's back. "I'm far stronger magically now Link. This kind of stuff comes naturally to my race."
Sighing happily, Link leaned back against the warm glowing hands in unconcealed pleasure. "Two arms? Oh that's nice. A little higher Princess. I've had an ache that you wouldn't believe, just to the right of the sword sheathe."
"I thought you rough and tumble Hero types don't even notice such minor inconveniences as pain or discomfort." The joke in Midna's voice was only halfhearted, because she'd seen it for herself. Link had trudged on a badly sprained ankle for days on end in the Gerudu desert, and he'd even tied a clawshot to a broken forearm once in the Sky city.
"I don't see the sense in complaining about the things I cannot change," Link replied, with a groan of satisfaction. Midna's glowing hands were both literally and figuratively magic. "Right now however… you're doing me a world of good."
"Yes… there does appear to be quite the ferocious knot right there where your shoulders meet." Midna was enjoying the feeling of Link's back far too much to stop now, so she was grateful that Link was in need of her services.
"You can actually feel with these hands?" Link hadn't been worried about the attention Midna was giving him, because he hadn't thought of it as truly intimate. Now however, he thought he might blush. The Twilight Princess was giving him quite the thorough back massage.
For a single second, Midna thought of stopping now that Link knew just how intimate they were being, but in the end she didn't. She was enjoying the feeling of Links coiled up muscles far too much to stop now… "Link… relax. I'm no stranger. I'm Midna. At this point, I only wish I'd been doing this for you all along. I… I pushed you extremely hard and I wasn't gentle."
"At first I hated you," Link admitted with a groan of released tension. "You were manipulating me using my fear for my friends, and I hated you for that. However… It didn't take me long to figure out that you needed me, and your behavior was being driven by desperation. By the time we left the woods temple, I knew that you were trying to save the whole entire world, which meant you didn't have time for such things as trust or courtesy. You've been very brave Midna… but I don't know if I like your court. You shouldn't have been as cynical as you were when we first met, and I blame your country's nobility."
"Zant and I were raised as siblings and friends," Midna admitted quietly. "For the longest time I just assumed that he'd be my closest advisor or maybe even my intended someday. We were competing for the throne, but I was never out to get him, and I thought he understood that." Midna sighed and one of her magical hands idly wrapped around Link's waist. "Zant didn't just betray my world… He betrayed me personally, and it stung me to my core."
"Did you love him?" Immediately after asking the question, Link wished that he hadn't. He'd carelessly led his friend down a path in memory lane that might hurt her.
"Pshaw," Midna scoffed, in a loud voice. "Love him? Zant was a little dweeb of the highest caliber. He was always sulking when we played together, and he didn't stop sucking his thumb until he was eight. He hurt me because I trusted him and that was important to me. A princess never knows who's out to use her or manipulate her feelings."
"I don't envy either of you princesses," Link admitted, after several moments passed. Over the next few seconds, his face took on a grin that had a distinctly shit eating quality. "While I've helped save the world, in the end there's absolutely no proof that I was ever involved. During our entire adventure, most of the Hylian population was stuck in spirit forms or completely ignorant of my actions. I'll never be lauded as a great conquering Hero and that suits me just fine. I'm free to slip back into anonymity, where these vultures you describe can't reach me."
At first, Midna was frustrated that her Hero would go uncelebrated, like every other time in history. That her Link would be documented as some obscure title like the "Twilight Hero" and filed away for historians to argue about bothered her deeply. Then, she suddenly brightened as a thought struck her. "You made light of it with Zelda," Midna began quietly. "But you really have plundered every dangerous tomb, temple and haunted castle in all of Hyrule. You're most likely the richest commoner in the entire world, Link…"
After a time, Link simply nodded his head. Midna's words were true, and he knew it.
Under her ministrations, Midna finally felt the knot in Link's back smooth out, which was a problem because she was nowhere near done touching him. Slowly and subtly, she wrapped her magical hands around Link's waist instead, rubbing his sides and stomach in slow movements. In the meantime, she sought to distract him with further conversation. "Is there nothing you wish to do with your newfound wealth Link? Surely you don't intend to just idle away as a ranch hand or woodsmen somewhere? You could do a lot of good for the world."
Link hadn't really thought about it but when he did, there was something about his entire adventure that had bothered him. Slowly he wrapped his hands around the glowing hand on his belly and rubbed at its smooth, warm surface. "I'll admit that there's one thing I'd change about the world…"
Midna liked holding hands. She assumed link wasn't really aware that's what he was doing, but it was still really nice. "Oh? What would you change?"
Link gestured at the cliff face behind him. "If I were to focus on just one thing it would be infrastructure…"
Midna canted her head to the side because she wasn't sure exactly what Link meant by that. While she knew what infrastructure was, she failed to see Link's intentions in that word.
Link saw that he'd lost his Twili friend and struggled to put his frustration into words. "Midna… Every damned time I've had to get somewhere in the last five months, I've had to go through the pits of Hell to get there. Just now, I had to use magic tools and my Hero abilities just to get us from Hyrule Field to Lake Hylia and the realm of our closest trading partners, the Zora. Why exactly is every damned road bridge and highway in all of Hyrule completely destroyed? Why is it I've had to use clawshots, cannons and a horse capable of jumping five meter gaps over empty air just to get around? Why is my country so overrun by Bokoblins that being a traveler is only suited to trained soldiers or bandits? Hyrule isn't huge beyond measure Midna… and yet to most people the very idea of walking from Kakariko Village to Snowpeak Mountain is as absurd as a fairy tale. Everyone's isolated to their own little slice of safety in the world, and that's half the reason our recent problems became as bad as they did."
Midna was a hundred percent certain that her eyes were shining with enthusiasm, as she took in her newly impassioned friend. "You could change that Link! You could make the world a smaller, more inclusive and safer place!"
Link nodded his head as he continued hugging the glowing hand around his belly. "I don't think the different peoples of this world benefit from withdrawing from each other. Isolation from the rest of the world only causes problems that could otherwise have been avoided. Amber ore, steel and construction experts from the Goron Kingdom, Potable water, ice, fish and fine art from the Zora, Eldin ore and glass from the desert, wood, cheese, livestock and vegetables from Ordon, centralized government, law, rupees and safety from Castle Town. All of these communities have something to offer each other, but as things stand they might as well be on separate worlds like the Twilight realm. I don't know why the world has become the way it is, but I do know one thing. Until I left Ordon and travelled the world, I'd never once, in my entire life, seen a Castle Town soldier. Why are these well-funded and world famous soldiers not patrolling the countryside, putting down Bokoblins and banditry? Why are they not maintaining roads and infrastructure? Why are any of Hyrule's smaller domains offering fealty in the first place, if they're not benefiting at all from the association? Why is the world as scattered and isolated as it is?… In the end, we're all in this together and yet…" Link floundered at that point and wrapped his arms tightly around Midna's glowing hair. He hadn't realized just how frustrated he was by Hyrule's state of affairs, and yet now the idea was stuck in his head like a burr.
Midna was taking everything that Link was saying hard, and found herself mentally reeling away from his words. The fact of the matter was that his ideas were in direct opposition to her own. She knew right away that she couldn't tell him what she was planning on doing.
"I like the direction of your thoughts Hero." All of the sudden, Zelda was standing about eight feet to their left, where she was staring at Link with a brand new intensity. "I apologize for eavesdropping but… I was bored, and the Zora haven't arrived yet. If you want to spearhead the efforts you have in mind… I will offer you my support with the Council and make available what funds I can. A lot of what you just described is… potentially my fault."
Link didn't like the defeated look on Zelda's face, so he held up a hand to forestall her. "Princess… Pardon me, but... You've only been the ruling monarch of Hyrule for a little over a year. I don't think the task I was just describing is one that happens quickly or easily. I imagine you've had your attentions pulled in many different directions since you came into power. You are not to blame."
"I… Thank you Hero. Perhaps you are correct." Zelda sat down on the rock on Link's left, after giving Midna an apologetic look.
Midna didn't mind the Hylian Princess sitting with them, but that didn't mean she was going to remove her hair from around link's body. She couldn't, she wouldn't do it. He felt too good, and unbeknownst to him he was hugging her. When a moment of quiet descended upon them, Midna thought she might give the two Hylians a hand. "You know… Link may not be a known entity with the Hylians but he's most definitely a famous hero with the Gorons. Their leader was possessed by an evil creature and Link saved him at great personal risk to himself. Gorons are the construction experts of your world correct? Link could make use of the way they hero worship him in his efforts."
"You saved the Goron's patriarch? And they know about it!?" Zelda was completely blown away by this news, because it was just as Midna had said. This could be a massive game changer."
Link bobbed his head a little and then shrugged. "I needed to retrieve a piece of the fused shadow helm from the volcano temple. I wasn't originally there to save their leader. I'm happy I was able to help, but their… fanatical devotion is just a little overwhelming and… physical."
Midna giggled again at that because yeah, Gorons are back slappers. Their favorite expression of approval almost always sends Link flying.
"If I can get you the funds to work with, you'll have the best gathering of construction workers seen in over a thousand years." Zelda's eyes were on fire now as she thought about it. Stone bridges laced with iron over every river, stone highways and waypoints designed to last, stairways down cliff faces and well-lit cave systems through mountains, fortified by the best.
"It can be done," Midna added cheerfully. "Personally, I want my Link to be the first Hero whose name is actually remembered for something. If he can't be celebrated for saving the world, at least let him be known as the man who made it accessible."
Link normally wasn't the blushing type but a lot about today was just a little too much for him. At this point, he was very nearly as red as a tomato and clutching at Midna's hair for support.
"You'll need to be introduced as a landed noble for any of this to work," Zelda belatedly pointed out. "The nobles in Castle Town will obstruct you otherwise, claiming that you're just an upstart or something. Half of my time in court is spent trying to get warring factions to coexist, which is why so far, getting anything of value accomplished has been impossible."
Link almost groaned because this was exactly the kind of backstabbing selfishness he'd been so happy to avoid. Then he saw Midna's new shit eating grin, and he understood that she knew exactly what he was thinking. With that figured out, Link squared up to both Princesses and laid a little truth on them. "I'm not a noble... like, at all. I have literally no idea who my parents are."
Midna's hair arms tightened around Link's body in response to his words. She almost didn't say anything because she didn't want to hurt her friend, but she desperately wanted to know, so she decided to ask the question anyway. "Link… Will you tell us about your life tonight? I want to know… I want to understand. Zelda's explained to me that in Ordon culture people of low station don't speak around their betters. Until about fifteen minutes ago… I'd never seen you say a single unprompted word… to anyone… ever… I'm truly happy that you trust me enough to open up, but I'm also concerned about the implications."
Zelda didn't add a word because unlike Midna she wasn't someone that Link felt free to speak around.
Link looked around the crystal clear waters of the lake for several moments before he nodded his head in acceptance. "Okay Princesses… If you'd like to hear my story, then I'm willing to tell it. It's not necessarily a happy story, but it's also not quite the tragedy I fear you're building in your heads." When Link finished speaking, he pointed out across the water.
Midna and Zelda turned to see several finned arms and heads rapidly cutting through the water in their direction.
"The Zora patrol arrives," Zelda pointed out quietly. "Well done Link. I must get word to my countrymen that I'm travelling on an urgent matter of state. Will you introduce me to the Zora's when they arrive?"
"Of course your Highness." Link gave a shallow but honest bow from his seat on the rock. "I must speak to the patrol about securing you ladies in their domain while I search through the caves. I also need to inquire about where the cave system that led to the desert used to be located. I know from our adventures earlier this year that the vast majority of the caves are monster infested dead ends. We didn't have time to deal with that before, but if I'm to open up Hyrule for travel then there's no time like the present to get started."
"Do you need support troops from the Zora?" Zelda was biting her lip now. Link was quickly becoming too important to risk.
Link appeared to seriously think about Zelda's question, but in the end he shook his head in the negative. "No offense intended to the Zora, but I don't wish to cause an incident between our peoples by leading them into danger. Zora troops are excellent fighters, but they're also quite sensitive to both flames and ice. I've never been in a deep cave system that didn't contain hundreds and hundreds of ice or fire Kees. I hope I don't sound too arrogant when I say this, but I can handle myself against that much just fine." Link looked at his feet and kicked a rock into the water. "There's also one more thing. For reasons that may already be obvious to the both of you, I have no experience leading men. I work best alone or with Midna here endlessly chattering in my ear."
"Hey!! You ungrateful wretch! I was just keeping you occupied!" Despite her words, Midna had a wide smile on her blushing face.
As Link, Midna and Zelda grinned at each other, the Zora troops pulled up at the shore of the lake and walked up to them.
"Well met Hero," a Zora trooper by the name of Absernon called out. "Was that you blowing up a patch of sky visible from our domain?"
Link stood, bowed quickly and then smiled at the trooper. "My apologies but yes, I set off those explosions. I have with me two extremely important women, and I was in a hurry to have them safeguarded from danger. This…" Link pointed at the ladies, "is Princess Zelda of Castle Town and Princess Midna, a foreign dignitary visiting Hyrule. We are traveling towards the desert in order to complete an important task. Unfortunately, at the moment we don't have a compliment of soldiers with us. I was hoping you could set aside a platoon of soldiers to watch over the Princesses for now, and then make them welcome back at your domain."
By the time Link had finished his explanation, Absernon had indeed noticed Princess Zelda, and the entire troop of soldiers had dropped to a knee in obeisance. "Your highness," Absernon began, with extreme gravity. "Of course we would be of assistance. We should relocate to the Zora domain as soon as possible."
Link nodded his satisfaction as he surveyed the Zora patrol. Although the Zora's endless desire for pomp and circumstance would lose them quite a bit of time, he wasn't actually in any hurry to lose his closest friend.
Zelda looked at Midna and when the woman nodded she smiled at the Zora soldiers. "You may rise brave knights and we thank you for your welcome. We would of course greatly appreciate whatever hospitality you have to offer."
Midna lowered her head, with a gracious and demure smile that link had never seen her use before.
"Will you be coming with us, Hero?" Zelda turned towards Link as she asked the question, and although she wasn't doing anything obvious, she was making it clear that she was treating him with great deference.
"With your highnesses' permission, I will don my Zora armor and follow along to their domain." Link wasn't a great actor by any means, but he was capable of a little etiquette when the situation demanded it.
"Excellent," Absernon exclaimed, while clapping the Hero on the back. "Prince Ralis has been bubbling at the mouth, looking forward to seeing you again. He talks endlessly about how you saved him from illness and helped him return home."
Zelda didn't actually gape at him this time, but Link could see that she wanted to.
Midna also noticed Zelda's reaction and she responded by giving her light sided counterpart a knowing look. Link was, in fact, kind of a big deal. Midna couldn't help but enjoy the way Zelda couldn't even walk two steps without meeting people Link had saved or helped or both. It was the perfect level of payback for Zelda's disrespect in the beginning.
"If you give me but an hour, I will go and retrieve gondolas for you ladies to ride in," Absernon offered, with yet another bow. "I will be leaving all but one of my soldiers here with you."
"That would please us," Zelda responded, in a voice that was somehow gracious and imperious at exactly the same time.
Link nodded his head in satisfaction, as Absernon and his finman zipped off in the water, leaving the other soldiers to take up guarding positions. Link was a big fan of the peaceful and dutiful Zora race. He'd always been impressed by their stoic but guileless demeanors. In fact, Link thought he might provide the Zora Prince and his court with their favorite food. Without a word, he walked up to the edge of the water, brought forth his fishing rod, and attached the corral earring needed to catch the local delicacy.
"Reekfish for Prince Ralis," Midna guessed, as she walked up.
"You do know me quite well," Link offered, with a soft smile.
"I have the measure of you as a man, even as I know almost no details about your life," Midna responded quietly. "You're a country bumpkin, servant, gentleman, genius, soldier, adventurer, hero, with a heart of gold."
Link blushed again even as he smiled sideways at his friend.
Stepping to within a few feet of Link, Midna visibly scrutinized the man. "All jokes aside, I don't like our current situation. There are far too many things I don't know about my friend Link of Ordon… I don't know your favorite foods or your favorite color. I don't know your favorite season or time of day. I don't know what you like to do during idle moments or if you've ever even had any of those. From what I've seen you're a jack of literally all trades, because of a lifetime spent serving other people. You're at the very least a rancher who doesn't own a ranch and a woodsman who doesn't own a wood mill. You're also a babysitter and a village guardian of some kind. I didn't miss the fact that everyone in Ordon just assumed that you'd find and save their children."
Link didn't know how to respond to that. He made himself useful because he could and because it was necessary. "No man is an island," Link eventually quoted in a quiet voice.
"I get that and I don't mind you making yourself useful to your neighbors." Midna's hair became a pair of hands that slowly rose and slinked along Link's shoulders. The glowing hands began gently rubbing at his body, as she stepped even closer to his side. "Link… What I don't want for you is a lifetime of blind obedience and servitude. You're far, far too special for that."
Turning his attention away from the water, Link put a hand in the glowing orange hand on his right shoulder. "Just five months ago, I would have scoffed at what you just said."
Midna sighed before stepping a little closer again. "I know that Link… I can't leave things as they are."
"But you are leaving…" Link wasn't leveling an accusation. He was just stating an unhappy fact.
Midna opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again and then pointed at Link's lure. "You've got something on the line."
Link had felt the fish on his lure, but he was a good enough fisherman nowadays that he could multitask. He also knew that Midna knew that. In the end, he allowed her the retreat she'd been looking for, by returning all of his attention back to the water. Four minutes later, after a quiet but spirited struggle, Link had an absolutely enormous Reekfish tightly compacted into a bottle. The Zora guards were professionals so they didn't leave their posts, but it was obvious to everyone that they were nearly salivating at the sight of the fish. It was a mystery to all why it was this way, but Reekfish were almost impossible to catch without using special lures of near mythical quality, and nearly flawless fishing technique above that.
Link dropped his rod back into the water, and over the next twenty minutes, he caught four more Reekfish for the Zora guards to present to their court. He wrapped them all tightly in leaves to keep them clean, and then dropped them into a few thankful guards' satchels.
The newly ecstatic Zora guards still didn't move from their posts, but they did wiggle a little in their mounting excitement.
"It appears you make friends wherever you go Hero."
Turning away from the water, Link was startled to find Princess Zelda standing just two meters behind him. Although he didn't actually jump in surprise, it was a very close won battle. "Princess… Yes, I suppose I'm good at building public approval. I am adept at making myself useful."
"I look forward to hearing your life story Hero." Zelda was giving Link a piercing stare, even as she was clearly trying to be friendly. "I have several theories about how such a man is forged."
"I imagine you're very close to the mark Princess," Link responded in a calm and genuine sounding voice. "Even before you were revealed to contain the Triforce of wisdom, I had heard many tales of your great intelligence."
"I have made many mistakes Hero," Zelda immediately replied. "I surrendered my Kingdom to Zant without a fight, watched my people fall into a living nightmare, and allowed my castle to be partially burned to the ground. I was not wise enough. I was not prepared for his appearance."
Despite knowing better, Link found himself doing something extremely inappropriate. He arched an eyebrow at the Princess as if to say, are you kidding me right now? "Princess… Pardon my disrespect, but this must be said for your own good. You're very clearly torturing yourself with unjustified self-loathing."
After opening her mouth to protest, Zelda froze when the Hero put up his hands and gave her an impatient look.
While he hadn't even known Zelda for longer than a day, and their relationship wasn't necessarily what he'd call harmonious, Link owed his Princess a debt of gratitude. Just a little over a month earlier, Princess Zelda sacrificed herself to save Midna's life. While he was technically a "loyal subject" of Hyrule, Zelda's real claim to his fealty was that one profoundly selfless act. Now it was time for him to show her his appreciation. He was going to do what he could to straighten out her thinking. "Princess please, just listen… Nobody, and I mean nobody, no matter how intelligent, could have foreseen a monster like a Ganandorf/Zant mixture, coming from another world, just to cause a ruckus. Being prepared for that wouldn't have required great wisdom or intelligence. It would've taken nothing less than omniscience or precognition. Not only that, but surrendering to a foe that far outclasses you in terms of military power is the wise course of action. Fighting under those circumstances would only have senselessly squandered your people's lives, and you know that. Your castle was damaged and your population survived what basically amounts to five months of endless nightmares. The important part of what I just described is that they did survive. Your people wouldn't be alive today to rebuild if you'd resisted Zant. He had advanced and powerful magic at his disposal and hordes of unnaturally powerful foot soldiers. Your actions kept your people alive. Your actions bought time for the situation to change. Your actions saved your kingdom Princess… It's time you see the true worth of your actions. It's time you put aside this truly senseless self-recrimination."
As Link had just pointed out, Zelda already knew everything that he was saying, in the analytical part of her brain. It was too bad that she hadn't believed it in her heart of hearts. She'd been suffering under the yoke of indecision and regret for months now, and it wasn't so easy to put all of that to bed. That's why Link's oh so casual and matter of fact words had such a profound impact upon her. Princess Zelda thought she might cry. Scratch that, she knew that she was going to cry and it was going to happen soon. Zelda coughed lightly into her hands and turned away from the Hero. "Thank you… Hero... Link… I appreciate what you've said. I am going to sit in the shade for a few minutes before the Zoras return."
After nodding his understanding, Link returned his attention back to scanning the shore line. He thought of offering some further platitudes, but he knew that the strong willed woman wouldn't appreciate it.
A minute later, Midna quietly returned to Link's side from the patch of shoreline that she'd retreated to. "That was a good thing you just did Link."
"Did you hear us?" Link had assumed that he and the Hylian princess were out of earshot of everyone.
Shaking her head, Midna picked up Link's abandoned fishing rod and clumsily cast out the line. "I didn't need to hear the words, Link. I saw the way you two looked while you were talking, and I know you very, very well. I know you can't watch people suffer without reacting. I know you just gave the Hyrulean Princess a tongue lashing. I can picture it all in my head."
"In your imaginings did I say too much?" Link stepped forward, tentatively fixing Midna's posture, so that her shoulders wouldn't ache later. Touching Midna was no longer such a simple thing. His hands felt hot from where he adjusted her arms, and he thought he might just blush again.
"Perhaps you did say too much," Midna allowed, along with a small grin. "At the very least our Princess Zelda isn't used to being called self-indulgent, and even if you didn't use those specific words, I'm sure she got the point."
Link grunted because Midna really did know him well. "You're right… I didn't use those words, but I implied them heavily."
"Good. You didn't let your Princess down then. She'll know that she can rely on you to tell her the truth in the future and that'll do her a world of good." Midna's hair began glowing again, casting out behind her towards Link. She didn't even notice that it was happening until her hair found his body a few steps to her right, where it began wrapping around his waist like an Ordonian wrap.
"Your hair is affectionate," Link said in a quiet voice, as he ran his hands along its silky lengths.
"I'm affectionate and the hair is me," Midna replied with a grin. "Twili hair is used in a lot of social expressions that you might miss from an outsider's perspective. Here in Hyrule what I'm doing is a little odd perhaps but in the Twilight Realm…"
"Hugging?" Link was guessing of course, but her hair was wrapped around his waist.
Midna's head bobbed back and forth as she tried to compare the two actions. "For a Hylian it might be, but hugging is a physical act… What I'm doing is superficially similar except that of course hair doesn't have nerves and thus it doesn't feel. What I feel through my hair is because of an empathic ability I have to move and manipulate it. What I'm doing right now is kind of like I'm hugging you with my mind. The nuances of such a thing are hard to describe."
Link continued to run his hands along Midna's hair, because even though it really was kind of odd, it was his Midna. "Is that why you seemed surprised when your hair twined around me just now? You were… thinking about me and it just happened?"
"I wasn't thinking of any physical act, but I was thinking of you," Midna agreed, as she recast the fishing rod. "My hair is at least partially driven by my subconscious desires. I clearly wanted to be in contact with you, and now I am. I'll admit that I'm enjoying your stomach muscles…"
Link suspected that Midna was making light of a far more meaningful interaction, but since he knew exactly what she was avoiding, he chose not to comment on it.
Midna grinned towards the water, even as she knew she was going to suffer for all of this later.
All of the sudden, Link felt something that he couldn't describe stirring within him, and he was immediately on high alert. Instantly and without needing to pull it from his back, Link had the Hylian shield strapped to his left arm and the Hero bow already strung in his right hand. "Midna! Retract your hair around your body in a defensive! I'm getting that feeling again!"
"Got it Link!" Midna's hair fanned out around her shoulders turning into four arms with open hands. She also thrust the fishing rod at Link to stow away, as she began scanning the beach for danger.
CLANG!
Link had deflected a bokoblin arrow that had sailed down at Midna from high up on a cliff shelf. He instantly yelled out to the Zora guardsmen. "Archers high on the cliff face! They're to the North near the entrance to the beach!"
The Zora guards immediately hurried over to the Princesses' sides with shields out.
"Troops, get Princess Midna closer to the cliff face with Princess Zelda and prioritize their safety over everything else! I'll remove the danger!" Even as he gave those orders, Link was pulling out a quiver of arrows, and when he looked up his face was all business.
The Zora troops didn't bother saluting. They immediately created a shelter of shields while bustling the struggling Princess towards a rocky outcropping on the cliff face.
"You ass! I'm no damned damsel," Midna called out.
"You're every damned inch a damsel and a Princess to boot," Link called back loudly, even as he sidestepped a volley of incoming arrows. After testing the wind and shaking out his shoulder, Link began peppering the cliffside above them with no less than twenty arrows in less than one third that many seconds.
As Midna was pulled under the rocks of the cliff, the bodies started falling.
THUNK, THUNK, THUNK!
One after another Bokoblin corpses dropped to the sand of the beach, where they twitched feebly in their death throes. They were of several different skin tones, clothing varieties and colors, and Midna didn't like the look of it at all. "Link," she screamed out towards the Hero. "Several different bands!! A lot of Bokoblins!" Midna saw the moment that Link heard her words and understood their meaning. He brought forth several more quivers of arrows, sticking them into the earth like poles in the sand, and then in a perception defying motion, he was suddenly holding the dominion rod.
"He couldn't be," Midna choked out, in a breathy little voice.
Link pointed the Dominion Rod at the top of the cliff, and it took on a blue hue as its power was activated.
"Oh Goddesses! He is! Everyone get entirely under lip of the cliff face right this second!" Midna pushed both herself and her guards flush to the wall under the cliff outcropping, because things were about to get chaotic.
BOOM! BOOM!
"What is the Hero doing?!" Zelda's voice was muffled by the earth shattering crashes happening above them on the cliff.
"At the top of the cliff are two ancient and enormous Shiekah statues that can be magically controlled using that rod," Midna called out, over the roaring and banging. "Link is toppling them both off of the cliff and onto the Bokoblins!"
"But won't the statues keep falling off the cliff shelf?!" Zelda sounded both shocked and appalled.
"Yes, yes they will!" At the tail end of her warning, Midna heard a deafening grinding, scraping sound from far above them, and she knew exactly what was coming. "Everyone against the wall now!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Sand and dust blew everywhere, as two twenty ton stone columned statues slammed into the beach, blowing everything below them into smithereens. Zelda, the guards and Midna covered their faces and waited for the dust to settle, for several very long moments. When they could finally see again, they looked out and saw a completely different beach...
Spanning the width of the beach to the north of them from cliff face to water were two massive stone columns that were creating a barrier wall. It also looked like they'd brought down about thirty Bokoblins with them, as they were spattered all over in green blood. Even as Midna leaned out from under the Zora's shields, Link stalked forward through the remainder of the billowing dust, picked up his arrow quivers, and relocated them to a small portcullis sized gap in the middle of the stone barriers.
"Ladies… Please be on the lookout for our Zora gondolas." Link shrugged as if he were just mildly inconvenienced. "I'm going to be a little busy."
When she just barely caught sight of an absolutely massive Bokoblin battle pack amassing beyond the ad-hock barrier, Midna immediately felt like throttling the Hero. The fact that Link had been doing this kind of thing for almost half a year wasn't helping her control her emotions in the least. "Don't be reckless Link!"
Link had been putting an arrow to his bow, but at Midna's words, he looked back at her with an arched eyebrow. "Hero Midna… Hero… Have some faith will you?" Then he was walking into the gap between the stone columns and releasing his arrow. Immediately after he stepped out of sight, dozens of return arrows flew back through the gap, and the clang of flint arrowheads on a Hylian shield could be heard.
"Sonofa..." Despite knowing better, Midna was becoming pissed off. It wasn't that Link couldn't handle himself. It was just harder to watch him fight without her riding along and watching his back. In the beginning Link wouldn't have survived without her, and her habit of watching over him was a hard one to break. She immediately turned towards the soldier standing closest to her and grabbed his shield. "Sorry about this."
The Zora soldier took a break from looking determined/terrified, in order to look confused/surprised instead. "Sorry about what?"
"I'm about to make your job harder," Midna answered, in a conversational tone. Then, she was running towards the barrier gap at a full sprint.
"Wait don't," the Zora soldier called out…
Midna didn't turn around to answer. Within seven seconds she was near the barrier gap and looking through it towards the devastation beyond. Link was cutting through the Bokoblin battle pack like a scythe through grass…
All of the sudden from Midna's right, Princess Zelda and all of the guards ran up, placing themselves to either side of the gap. "What's happening?!" Even as she asked the question, Zelda was edging towards the gap to look for herself. Then she saw the battle occurring beyond Link's barrier, and she understood why Midna was too preoccupied to answer…
"Good Goddesses," one of the Zora troops let slip in a breathy and overwhelmed tone.
Link was moving like a Kees out of the underworld, unleashing absolute anarchy within the ranks of the bokoblin battle pack. Despite their rather short size, Bokoblins are actually quite a bit heavier and more muscle bound than your average Hylian. Link was grateful for that. He didn't have either the time or the terrain to sit still and let these beasts come to him. Instead, he had a clawshot out and he was pulling himself to and fro throughout their numbers, using their own bodies as a counterweight. He'd slice down an enemy, hookshot a distant bokoblin with his grapple, fly towards him while simultaneously pulling his target off balance and then cut him down. There was a lot of variation involved in his attacks, because Link wouldn't allow himself to be predictable, but essentially he was flying through and disposing of his enemies like an arrow holding a sword.
It… was… cool!
Completely avoiding injury just wasn't possible, so Link was collecting dozens of cuts and bruises that he was certain he'd catch Hell for later. At the moment, this was the least of his concerns. His main problem was that he clearly wasn't the Bokoblin's main objective. Even as Link cut them down by the dozen, the Bokoblins were inexorably moving towards the barrier, forcing him to double back over and over. Slowly but surely, he was running out of room, and soon he'd have to make a stand in the gap. Too bad there was nothing he could do about it.
Or was there?
After looking around the area, Link finally made up his mind, and a small grin slipped onto his face. With one last spin move that cut three Bokoblin down at the knees, Link began retreating back towards the barrier. As he slid in front of the battle pack he traded his clawshot for his bow and a shield. Over the next few moments, Link deflected several arrows with his shield, pulled out a bomb arrow and caught sight of the Hylian Princess. "Zelda! Use your magic to light the fuse for me!"
On the other side of the gap, Zelda was shocked for the Gods only know what time. "He can't possibly mean to…"
"The man knows his trade Hylian! Do as he says!" Midna didn't have time to be angry at Link anymore. He was blocking arrows even as he stood there and he clearly had a plan.
With no further protest, Zelda pointing at the bomb fuse while muttering a string of ancient sounding words. With a sudden hissing and spitting noise, Link was holding a lit bomb arrow.
With no hesitation, Link pointed the bomb arrow at an outcropping of massive boulders, mid-way up the cliff face and to the North of the barrier. Then, immediately after he released the arrow, he turned back towards his party. "You all might want to get down behind the barrier."
"Oh shit," one of the Zora guards yelled, while pulling Zelda and Midna down against the barrier.
BOOM!!!
A deluge of rocks, rock dust and carriage sized boulders, fell from the cliff face to drop amongst the Bokoblins, sending sand everywhere for the second time in less than five minutes. Once again, everyone was forced to huddle low, waiting for the explosion of wind carried sand to pass them by. Then, as the deafening sound died down to merely a noisy clattering, a second more familiar noise could be picked up over the din. The steady whip, whipping noise of rapidly released arrows could be heard in and amongst the still falling rocks.
When the landslide finally came to an end, taking with it the thick clouds of sand, everyone could finally reopen their eyes again. They immediately blanched and looked away in both surprise and disgust.
The entire beach beyond the barrier was the site of a brand new Hellish landscape. In less than a minute and a half, Link had managed to completely shred a huge portion of the Bokoblin battle pack's numbers. Despite the pitted rocks and debris sunk into the sand, everyone could see that it wasn't just the landslide that had caused the anarchy before them. Arrow filled corpses were strewn in equal numbers amongst mangled bodies, and the entire damned beach was stained green with blood...
Somehow, as if the devastating rain of massive boulders was of absolutely no consequence, Link had continued to release rapid fire arrows right through the cacophony of rocks, debris and dust... Apparently he'd equipped the Hawkeye Sniper's Mask to shield his eyes from sand, and then he'd walked directly into the ensuing chaos. He'd sidestepped and anticipated scores of falling boulders, even as he'd continued filling the Bokoblins with arrows…
Now that the avalanche was finally over and the cloud of dust was bowling away, Link had taken refuge behind a boulder and had relocated his arrow quivers. A half dozen very far off Bokoblins, were releasing a hailstorm of arrows in his direction. In return, Link was releasing arrows from both the right and left side of his cover, proving that he was completely ambidextrous with his bow. Despite being both pinned down and outnumbered, Link sank arrows into two enemy archers, one after another.
"The Hero is insane," one of the Zora troopers pointed out, in a very quiet voice.
Zelda just nodded.
Midna grinned as she looked back at the trooper. "I know right?! I'm pretty sure that he (Midna pointed at Link's dusty profile in the background) is the most entertaining man who's ever lived!"
The trooper blanched at that and began thinking that this dignitary was just as insane as the Hero….
"ROOOAAAARRRR!!!"
"Battle pack leader," Zelda whispered out.
"Been there done that," Midna replied, along with a confident grin for Zelda's benefit.
"Really?" Zelda did in fact look comforted by Midna's words, and she also sounded super interested.
"Yeap… desert setting, trapped together in a cage, fire growing all around them, looked pretty epic." Midna rose back to her feet and leaned into the barrier to get a better look. "Oh wow this guy's huuuge!"
"Is that going to be a problem?" The Zora soldier looked terrified again.
"Naw, Link can handle big. Big's basically his forte." Midna decided she'd ask the man himself, just to make sure. "You got this, right Link!?"
"No worries," Link called back, as he peered around his boulder towards the pack leader. "He's big sure, but this guy looks really, really stupid."
After quickly leaning out to see what Link was talking about, a mischievous smile developed on Midna's face. If you managed to look beyond the fact that the Bokoblin pack leader was the size of two warhorses stacked on top of each other, then you'd also see that he was drooling on his own clothing and his eyes weren't looking in just one direction… Then, there was also the way that he was swinging his massive club at his own bokoblin archers in his anger. The twenty or so surviving Bokoblins immediately broke formation, running away to watch from the entrance to the beach. As a result, the situation was made all the safer for Link.
Yeah… This pack leader was an imbecile…
Midna turned back towards both the Zora troopers and Zelda, before shrugging her shoulders. "You can watch if you want, but the hard part's over." With that said, Midna began looking through her bag for any bandages and medicinal herbs she'd stowed away. While Link may react well to red potions, that didn't mean she approved of risking it for no damned reason.
Link walked towards the clearly strong, clearly ferocious, clearly brainless Bokoblin leader, while trying to figure out what kind of speed the beast had to offer. During the next few seconds, he pulled out his bow again and fired three conventional arrows. The Bokoblin leader leapt backwards and to the right, dodging two of the three arrows, but taking the last one into the meat of his thigh.
Link stared at the arrow lodged deep in the beast's thigh, waiting for it to react to the pain of it… nothing... He shook his head in wonder. This beast was too stupid to recognize pain. No wonder it managed to take charge of so many of its kind.
The pack leader had also answered Link's main question by managing to dodge two of his arrows. If the beast weren't so fast, he might have tried to use his ball and chain, but this guy was far too fast to be hit with such a slow moving weapon. Well… he did have the sword of evil's bane after all… might as well use it. Link pulled out the Master Sword again, holding it in his left hand behind his shield. He had something else in mind first...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Urg the bokoblin pack leader approached the tiny Hylian, while marveling at the depth and complexity of his newest plan… He would smoosh the Hylian with his club, and then repeat that step if required… it… was… perfect! All of the sudden, the Hylian pulled out a large bent stick and pulled it back as if to throw it. Urg prepared to dodge but then he didn't have to. The stupid Hylian missed him by a large margin, causing Urg to laugh. He began approaching the Hylian again, when out of nowhere, he was conked hard on the back of the head. Urg shook the stars out of his eyes and then looked back up at the Hylian, only to find the man right in front of him and approaching fast! Urg tried to create distance, but it was already too late. Even as he leapt back through the air, Urg felt rapid footsteps running up his leg and torso. A river of fire slammed into Urg's chin, then through his mouth, and then he knew no more.
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Midna looked up from her small pile of bandages when Zelda shuffled over, sinking to the sand beside her. "That quick huh?"
Looking up from her hands, Zelda gave Midna a somewhat wild eyed look. "The Hero… He… he threw his boomerang wide to the right of the beast. The boomerang arced back from behind to hit it on the back of the head. During the split second that the beast was stunned and distracted, the Hero sprinted in. The beast jumped up and backwards to get away, but the Hero followed him. The Hero leapt into the air, dashed right up the beast's body, and slammed the Master sword straight up through its chin, mouth and brain. The sword was protruding half a foot out of the beast's head, by the time he fell to the earth."
"The ol boomerang trick huh? Link's getting lazy in his old age." Midna had thought for sure that Link would clawshot the beast's crotch this time. That was her favorite. She'd always enjoyed the fact that Link doesn't fight fair.
"You two encountered this kind of extreme violence and danger, every day, for five straight months?" After taking in the green gore filled sand at her feet, Zelda looked through the gap in the barrier, to the charnel house beyond. "I can see now why the Hero has nightmares."
Midna shook her head at that, because Zelda was a little off the mark this time. "Princess… Link hates Bokoblins. He's seen the aftermath of a Bokoblin raid on a desert village, and trust me when I say that it's not a pretty picture. Bokoblins reproduce through crossbreeding. They can mate with any bipedal race out there, but they prefer to do so with Hylian women, and they don't give a damn about consent. The mess they leave behind is... Anyways… When he encounters them, Link doesn't let any Bokoblins survive. He's probably filling the survivors with arrows as we speak. This afternoon's violence won't even faze him."
At this point, Zelda looked extremely confused. "But… you said killing and nightmares…"
Midna nodded and then sighed. "Unfortunately it's not that simple… Yes... Link's fought monsters so terrifying, just the sight of them can bend your perception and twist your thoughts. Too bad that's not the worst that he has to deal with. He's also done things that are... dark... He's done things that he can't even think about without hurting himself."
Zelda leaned forward, staring into Midna's eyes. "What are these dark acts you speak of?"
Midna bit her lip because she was torn. This was both a big secret to reveal and it wasn't really hers to tell. Then she realized something that made her want to cry. She really had no choice but to extend Zelda some trust. She was going to be leaving soon, and she was going to need the Princess to be there for Link in her stead. With her mind made up, Midna squared up towards Zelda with an all business expression on her face. "Princess… Link's had to kill lots and lots of Hylians, or at the very least people that look almost exactly the same as Hylians. They didn't have the pointed ears but other than that they looked like Hylians."
"Link killed humans?" Zelda sounded appalled.
"A whole mercenary company of them actually," Midna replied, as casually as possible. "A little over four hundred all told. They were brought in from some nearby country, specifically to find and kill Link. Ganandorf wanted the Hero dead, before he could further interfere with his plans. Around the time we were preparing to finally storm the castle, the mercs began hunting Link all over the damned place. Ganondorf brought them in specifically because he thought Link wouldn't be capable of killing his own. He was wrong..."
"But… he killed all of them? Surely there was another way?" Zelda's face reflected strong disappointment at Link's actions.
Balling her hands into white knuckled fists, Midna struggled to control her rapidly mounting outrage. She'd only explained any of this to Zelda because she'd been looking for support dammit!! Midna gave the Princess a completely disgusted look, as she threw some extra bandages back into her bag. "Look here Princess… So far as I'm concerned, I shouldn't have to tell you any more than what I just did. It should be enough that Link did what was necessary to save both his country and his world! I'm only telling you this next part because Link will be unhappy otherwise… Link was forced to kill those people. He had no damned choice in the matter… and he hasn't slept a full night through since it happened!..."
With a rapidly paling face, Zelda took Midna's words like a series of hammer blows. She hadn't thought of it like that. She hadn't thought about any of that. What would she have been capable of doing, if it was the world and everyone in it that was on the line? Would she be too weak willed to do what was required? Would she be capable of shelving her own convenient morality and suffering the guilt? Would she falter and let the world perish? Zelda raised her hands before Midna could continue and exclaimed, "please stop! You're right! I was being foolish! I don't need to know the circumstances, because you're right and those reasons are enough!"
"They were marching on my home..."
Gasping in surprise, both Midna and Zelda looked up to see a version of Link whose skin perfectly matched his clothing. His skin was stained green with bokoblin blood and gore, and yet it appeared that he hadn't even noticed. Zelda recoiled at the sight of all the blood. Midna winced because she'd been caught revealing one of Link's most closely held secrets.
Taking in Midna's newly terrified face, Link just waved his hand dismissively. He wasn't necessarily thrilled with her at the moment, but he wasn't super angry either. Link knew his friend well enough to know that she wasn't gossiping for no reason.
After sagging against the boundary in relief, Midna pulled out her bandages and pointed at the ground at her knees. "Come and sit Link. You're a mess."
While giving Midna a nostalgic smile, Link took a seat in front of her crossed legs. Whenever she did the whole first aid thing, Midna's gentleness always shone through her otherwise prickly demeanor. When they'd still been getting to know each other, Midna's first aid had helped him recognize that she actually cared about him. As Midna started wiping away the blood and offal on his body, Link turned towards Zelda and repeated himself. "The mercenaries were informed that I was raised in Ordon. They figured if they just started slaughtering everyone I've ever known; I'd eventually show up to stop them. They were only half right."
"You found out ahead of time," Zelda guessed.
After nodding his head at the Princess's sharp wit, Link sighed and leaned forward on his knees. If you wish, I'll tell you the story tonight. I think if I'm going to be telling stories, I might as well tell them together and in order."
"That sounds reasonable," Zelda quietly agreed.
While Midna had been scrubbing at Link's skin the entire time he'd been speaking to Zelda, the green was still persistently clinging to his body. With a huff of frustration, she threw the wet rag back into her bag. "Link, I think you need to go for a swim. Jump in with your normal clothing first and then change into the Zora armor after a few minutes. If you move around fast enough and do that spin move a few times the mess all over you will fall away. I want to wrap up your injuries, but I can't do that until you're clean."
First Link looked at the guards who were now manning the gap in the barrier. Next, he looked up at the damaged but empty cliff shelf. Finally, he seemed satisfied with their current level of security. "Okay Midna. I can do that. I hadn't realized that I was quite that… green."
In the seconds that followed, Midna and Zelda both just stared at the man, because… have you no sense of personal awareness?
Rising to his feet, Link walked over to the lake. Then, in a few very swift movements, he was dashing into the water and diving into its depths.
Midna and Zelda looked at each other before looking back at the water.
Zelda leaned her back against a conveniently smooth boulder and sighed. "I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but the Hero is…"
"Docile and angelic one second and then a maelstrom of extreme violence the next," Midna agreed.
"Multiple personalities?" Zelda was just a little bit concerned that the Hero might be unhinged.
"No, he's just strong," Midna replied, while shaking her head. "I think you might be making light of something… Link holds the Triforce of courage. He's the bravest man in all the lands. That courage translates into several different areas. He's willing to damage himself both physically and emotionally in order to do the right thing."
"Oh… Goddesses. I think I must be the most cynical person in the entire world," Zelda sighed out. "Pardon me Midna, but I grew up around dozens and dozens of so-called "brave and chivalrous knights," and that might be exactly why our Hero is so hard for me to wrap my head around."
Midna nodded her head in understanding. "Hey, I'm right there with you Princess. As I explained last night, I bullied and manipulated Link into obedience when we first met. The idea of a truly selfless Hero seemed completely ridiculous to me. He's the real deal though, and I'm lucky he forgave me."
"Pardon my interruption Princesses, but the gondolas are here." One of the Zora guards pointed out at the lake, where sure enough, two rather sleek looking boats appeared to be zooming across the water under their own power. On closer inspection, tow lines at the front of the boats identified that they were being pulled by Zora couriers under the water.
Within the next few minutes, Absernon rose out of the water with a surprisingly clean Link at his side.
"Good Lanayru," Absernon breathed out, as he took in the carnage. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yes Absernon. We're all uninjured and we suffered no losses." Zelda barely faltered as she continued her explanation. "The Hero… dispatched our Bokoblin enemies."
Absernon looked to his right were the clean but clearly banged up Link of Ordon was quietly standing beside him. "Well okay then. Let's get your Highnesses to a safer location."
"I know you want to patch me up Princess, but I think it can wait until we arrive at the Zora domain." Link shrugged while gesturing at his nicks and scratches. "I'm in no danger of bleeding out."
Midna bit her lip but then she nodded in capitulation. "Find me as soon as we arrive Hero. I'll not have you festering due to your own negligence."
Link just nodded his head before walking back into the water.
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