Chương 194: Twilight Aftermath [3]
The gondola trip across the lake and up the river to Zora's domain was uneventful and pleasant. The most interesting part was actually getting up the waterfall, which was accomplished with a hoist set that was lowered and connected to the gondolas. During this event, Link pulled himself into Midna's gondola. While his armor allowed him to breathe underwater, it most certainly did not give him the absurd swimming ability necessary to swim up a waterfall.
Soon enough, their gondolas were bobbing in the water in front of Prince Ralis's throne, and the boy was clearly trying to control his mounting excitement.
"Princesses, Hero, it's so good to see you all!" Prince Ralis's voice cracked as he spoke, ruining the effect of his most polished delivery. To his credit, he shook it off and continued undaunted. "I had heard that the pyramid barrier around your castle disappeared, and I was hopeful that the attack on our country was at an end."
"Yes Prince Ralis, the dangers are largely past. All that remains is rebuilding the Kingdom." Zelda smiled up at the boy before she continued speaking. "It appears I owe you great thanks Prince Ralis. My Hero tells me that you assisted him during his quest."
Prince Ralis's blush was evident even though his skin is a bright red to begin with. "Y..yes well I was happy to help however I could. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Link saved both my realm and my life."
Princess Zelda nodded her head in understanding. "In that we are exactly the same, Prince Ralis."
Prince Ralis was pleased that the Princess was allowing them that common ground, and it showed in his boyish smile. "Let's get you ladies comfortable. First I will allow you to rest and get clean, but then I insist we have a celebratory banquet." Ralis turned to one of his attendants and gestured at the Princesses. "Brecha, can you please show Princess Zelda, Princess Midna and the Hero, to the royal guest rooms?"
Brecha nodded gracefully and then smiled at the Prince. "Yes your majesty. It will be done." Turning to the three visiting dignitaries, the attendant smiled again. "If you will all follow me, I will show you to your rooms."
While he still had business to attend to, Link followed his Princesses through the blue tinged halls, because he knew that Midna wasn't done with him yet. His original plan was to begin investigating the caves to the desert, but that was just force of long habit compelling him to act. The fact of the matter was that the sooner he succeeded in his quest, the sooner he would lose Midna...
"Link, my room, first aid, now," Midna ordered, as she looked at him over her shoulder.
"As you wish Princess," Link dutifully replied.
"Does the Princess require a chaperone?" The attendant was smiling guilelessly at the two of them, but both Link and Midna ended up thinking that Brecha had a decent sense of humor.
"That won't be necessary," Midna replied, an amused smile taking up residence on her face. "The Hero is the very definition of a gentleman. He would never dream of taking liberties upon my person."
Zelda carefully didn't say, look, breath or emote the fact that it was Midna herself that they had to worry about. It wasn't her place to comment and it wasn't all that funny.
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Later that evening, there was a banquet in the main Dining Hall of the Zora kingdom, where the festivities were loud, honest and joyful. Link sat across from the Princesses, and to the left of Prince Ralis, who was at the head of the royal table. Ralis was insistent about hearing every single move that Link had made throughout the Kingdom after he left them to head to Snow Peak Mountains. Link told the story of the blizzard he'd traversed on the way to the Mountaintop Mansion, in hushed, ghost story tones, to which the boy was hanging off of his every word.
"We Zora never get to go to the mountain because we're cold blooded. It is unfortunate, but we'd end up falling unconscious just halfway up the slopes. It's a good thing that we're capable of going into hibernation however, because our whole Kingdom was a sheet of ice until a little over two months ago." Despite his words, Prince Ralis sounded just a little jealous of Link's relative freedom.
"The mountains were beautiful if just a little stark," Link explained with a smile. "The best part if you ask me was the ice boarding."
"How did you survive such an absurdly dangerous pastime! That was your first time trying it and you beat that yeti character down the slopes to his home?" Prince Ralis was so excited, he looked like he might try it out using a dinner plate across the banquet hall.
"It did feel awkward at first," Link admitted ruefully. "Then I just kind of got used to it."
"Our Hero here gets used to physical skills at a pace that would astound you Prince." Midna smiled while recalling the super fun ice boarding but also because Link's words were true. The Hero learns physical skills as if he's born to them. It's one of his defining characteristics.
"Well I believe that," Prince Ralis agreed with a contented sigh. "Link caught five Reekfish this afternoon, which has to be a record for the history books. I'm the one who showed him how to catch them in the first place, and I've never caught more than two in a day."
The many Zora courtiers sitting around the banquet hall nodded their heads emphatically. The food available for the evening was half the reason the event was so lively.
A Zora functionary in a skin-tight seal-skin uniform rushed quietly into the room, where he leaned in and whispered in the Prince's ear. In response, Prince Ralis turned toward his fellow monarch. "Princess Zelda, the missive to your court was received and understood. Your court eagerly awaits your return, but understands that you're busy with a matter of state."
"Think you Prince Ralis," Zelda replied with a small bow. "I appreciate the swiftness of your actions. I was becoming concerned that my countrymen would assume the worst." True to her words, Zelda seemed to ease back in her chair in relief.
Prince Ralis nodded his head before returning to his food.
Soon after, the Princesses claimed that they were tired, and Prince Ralis graciously bid them sleep well. The ladies both gave Link meaningful looks as they rose from the table, and he dutifully excused himself to follow along.
As they walked down the water themed hallways, Midna turned towards Zelda and Link. "So… Which one of us shall be the one entertaining tonight? The three rooms are likely very similar…"
"I think we'll avoid my rooms," Link replied immediately. "I can visit either of your rooms under the auspices that I'm a bodyguard, but you two in my room can only convey that we're… involved."
Zelda nodded her head in understanding, even as Midna's face split into a wide grin.
"I'll grant that you're brave Link, but if two beautiful Princesses such as us propositioned you like that, you'd promptly have a heart attack." Then Midna was laughing in sweet ethereal tones that made Link shiver.
"Too true Princess. My commoner heart wouldn't survive a shock of that caliber." Link was smiling at Midna's joke, but he was also being honest. His expectations for romance had always been very humble at best.
Midna's laughter trailed to a stop when she heard the truth ringing out in Link's voice. While it was only proper that Link should see Princesses as being far above his station, she couldn't help but find Link's attitude profoundly disturbing. Despite his unknown pedigree, Link of Ordon was not merely some country yokel...
Zelda noticed the troubled expression on Midna's face, and looked to intervene before she said something unwise. "If it pleases you two, we can talk in my rooms. They are the same rooms that I've visited in the past, thus they have several more of my amenities. I even have some musical instruments such as a harp, ocarina and lute."
"Oh! I'd like that," Link agreed easily. "I haven't had much time to enjoy playing since I took up all of the ranch work."
"You play?" Midna hadn't known any of this, and yet she was shocked that she was shocked in the first place. What can Link not do you dummy, she thought to herself.
"That's touching upon my life story," Link admitted, as he approached Zelda's door. "As long as I'm posing as bodyguard, please allow me to search your room Princess."
Zelda nodded her head in understanding, before handing Link her key.
After unlocking the door, Link walked inside only to re-emerge half a minute later. "Your rooms are empty and they're quite nice." Then Link grinned. "I didn't think you'd be such a big fan of pink, princess."
Princess Zelda blushed just a little, as she gestured into the rooms. "I visited here often when I was very young. The Zora are endlessly welcoming and they went to great effort to make a little girl comfortable." With that said, Zelda walked into her rooms and smiled in fond nostalgia.
The room was open, airy, friendly and during the day at least, very sunny. There were several windows looking out over an ivy trellised balcony with a wonderful view of the falls. Despite all of that, Zelda's favorite part of the room had always been the wide and ornamental fireplace near the balcony door. It was decorated with a wide variety of fish and Zora heroes, as if fire weren't the antithesis of the Zora race's primary element. It was stunning and somehow cute at exactly the same time. Next to the fireplace were two lounge chairs that were both equally wonderful to sit and read in. Someone on the staff had clearly anticipated her because the fireplace was already merrily crackling with a healthy fire.
"The Zora love you Princess," Midna pointed out.
"I loved it here when I was a child, and they remember a simpler, happier version of me," Zelda responded, with a small smile.
Midna shook her head at the light sided Princesses' ongoing self-doubt. Hell, Midna's entire country had been taken from her and enslaved, and when she got home she still expected to be beloved dammit! All Zelda was accomplishing with her current attitude was making herself miserable.
"Okay ladies. Take a seat and I'll sit on the rug near the fire. Link smiled as he moved across the room and looked at the musical instruments. My story won't take hours to tell, but you might as well be comfortable while I tell it.
Midna didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. Link wasn't some dancing monkey for their enjoyment. In the end, Midna sat down in front of the chair on the rug, so that she'd be on an even footing with Link.
Zelda saw what Midna had in mind, so she sat down cross legged in front of her own chair, looking up at Link expectantly.
Link smiled down at the two ladies, before he settled cross legged on the rug in front of them. "That was kind of you, and now we're all at secret telling range. That's appropriate considering nobody talks about what I'm about to say… or at least they hadn't for a long time until recently. Things have changed in Ordon village since about a month ago."
Midna looked both pained and angry at Link's words, but she didn't say anything.
Link gave Midna a fond look before he settled in and took a deep breath. "Well to start with... I'm not really Link of Ordon… or maybe I should say I'm Link but I'm not truly of Ordon. I was found near Ordon by a young man named Rusl and his then girlfriend Alsea. He was picking up a shipment of logs and they'd taken the opportunity to go for a walk together in the woods. That's when they saw me for the very first time... I was just out of nursing age at around two, two and a half years old, and I was sitting on a tree stump, in a grotto, in the Farore Forest. I was clearly a Hylian, but I was just sitting there calm as can be, and I freaked out Alsea. From what I've been told, I was wearing a little forest green tunic and had a wooden Ocarina tied around my wrist." Link picked up Zelda's shiny, blue Ocarina and looked at it as the fire popped and chirped behind him.
"Then… Where did you get your name?" Despite the fact that Link had only just started his story, Midna was already completely captivated.
"The Ocarina attached to me had the word Link engraved on it," Link explained, with a shrug. "Whether or not that's my real name I'll never know, but it was all they had to go by. Anyway, for the next few years, I was a village project of sorts. I was given to several young mothers to watch over, but I freaked them out and none of those placements stuck. I was considered a wildling or a forest creature of some kind, and my behavior didn't help. I walked too fluidly, climbed too well, was too fast and too coordinated for my age. I also played the Ocarina I was found with, with far too much skill…"
Link laughed as he ruefully shook his head. "According to Rusl, very few people believed that I was merely a normal toddler. I was silent, easily lost, and I'd pop back up at random moments to startle my watchers. By the time I was verging on five, the superstitious people in my village were having a grand old time debating what manner of evil I was, and making suggestions about banishing me entirely. Governor Bo interceded on my behalf. At his urging I was "given" my tree house. The tree house I live in is separated from the village by several small cliffs and a cart path. I was nearby enough that I was included among the village's citizenry, but kept far enough away that I was no longer under foot."
Midna looked at Zelda, Zelda looked at Midna. They shared a moment of uncomfortable silence. Link's story, unfortunately, was closely following their worst case scenario.
Completely oblivious to the two Princesses' concern, Link continued his story. "As I grew, I spent the lion's share of my time running around the forest, playing my Ocarina and goofing around. The village took care of feeding me by delivering baskets of food three times a week. As a whole, Ordonfolk are kind… There are exceptions, but generally despite their superstitions…" Link shrugged and smiled softly at the Princesses. "The people of Ordon mean well. They made sure that I was eating and they made sure I attended classes to learn to read and write…"
For the briefest moment a downcast look crossed Link's face as he arrived at the answer to one of the princesses' questions. "When I first started going to these classes, it was immediately apparent that I was far behind the other children. I'd never been directly addressed before. I'd never been asked to speak… so I hadn't, and I didn't know how. Up until that point, every attempt I'd made to communicate had been seen as rude, because I was at the very least an orphan if not a forest creature of some kind. I was far beneath everyone in terms of social status, so talking to people was a taboo."
By this point, Midna was turning an interesting shade of umber as she boiled over with rage. "Remind me again Link, why I let you almost die for these people?"
"I'm getting to that part," Link promised, as he patted Midna in the hand. He, Midna and Zelda were all pretty close to each other at this point, and their knees were forming a triangle on the rug.
"I picked up the Hylian language quickly," Link assured, "but I also learned why I'd never been free to speak in the past. I resolved that I'd be a quiet and unobtrusive member of my village, and that they'd never regret taking me in. I became friends with a rather bossy local girl by the name of Ilia, and she kept me busy running around town most days. She appeared to believe I was a mute or touched in the head or something, but she was entertaining enough, and kind in her own way. She was also the one who reintroduced me to Rusl and Alsea, and that introduction helped me solidify my position in the village."
By this point Link was smiling at the ceiling because Rusl was a big part of his childhood as well as a time honored friend that had never let him down... "Rusl is the local logger as a profession. He's also the only qualified swordsman in town, as a retired soldier. I was immediately captivated by his sword practices, and I followed him around like a shadow. Despite the fact that he's not a very paternal guy, Rusl eventually warmed up to me and taught me nearly everything that I know about bush craft, tracking, hunting, fishing and swimming. He also started teaching me how to defend myself when I was around six years old. He didn't like how some of the villagers looked at me, and he thought it was best that I toughen up."
Once again, the princesses exchanged unhappy glances. This time Link didn't even notice.
"Around the time Rusl took me on as an apprentice, a beautiful red pony was caught in the woods and brought to the village," Link continued with a full faced smile on his lips. "The villagers tried to break and train this pony because she'd end up being the only horse in the village. It's hard to justify buying horses when your entire world is a little over five kilometers wide, but the ranch had been in need of one for quite a while. There was a problem though... That horse couldn't or perhaps wouldn't be broken. They tried to train her for months and months, but to no avail…"
At this point in Link's explanation, his expression became mischievous… "Then one night, I was restless and walking around, and I approached her paddock completely by chance. I played soft music for her and we began spending time together off and on. It wasn't long before Epona, as I'd started calling her, was quite affectionate with me. We'd become friends. The rest, as you might imagine, is history. By virtue of being the only person who could even approach Epona at the time, I became a ranch hand at an early age. Around that same time, the grumblings about banishing me finally came to an end.
"I continued my work with Rusl because he was an invaluable font of knowledge, thus I became a logger, ranch hand," Link explained as if such a thing was merely common sense. "Later, the younger generation were born, at which point they endlessly followed me around. So it wasn't long until I became a logger, ranch hand, babysitter. I also know how to hunt, fish, clean, cook, bake, sew, dig, stitch, brew, mend clothes, tan leather, bandage, launder, gather, thatch, make soap, carve bowls, distill drinks, smoke meat, haul water, churn butter, tend field, harvest crops or any other variety of small village job you can think of."
Servitude," Zelda whispered as if to herself...
"Well yes and no," Link immediately replied. "I'm at least partially to blame for my position in the village… I was determined to make myself useful because the alternative was to… I don't know… disappear... is the word that seems most appropriate. I may not have thought that the people of Ordon were perfect, but they were the people that I knew, the people who knew me. I was willing to put in some extra effort if it meant feeling welcome in my home... By the time my young friends and Ilia were abducted, I had become quite popular in the village of Ordon, but I don't think it was for all the right reasons. I hadn't spoken more than a dozen words in just as many years, and no one thought that my silence was the least bit out of the ordinary. I was very clearly seen as an extremely useful public servant of some kind."
"I'm glad that's over," Midna harrumphed, with her arms crossed.
"Yes indeed… It's most certainly over," Link added, in a hollow and melancholy voice.
Midna's hand trailed out towards Link's thigh, because she knew exactly where this was going. She gave him a reassuring smile and he gave her a lukewarm smile in return.
"Now… the mercenaries..." Link sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Near the time Midna and I were looking to finally confront Ganandorf, we started encountering these foreign mercs all over the place, usually in teams of five or six. I picked up over time that they'd come from a land bordering Termina and they take on jobs from the highest bidder. They weren't that big of a deal in the small numbers that I was encountering them, but the problem was that they had these necklaces that they could activate in order to call the main group to their location. If I stuck around for a few minutes too long, more and more of the mercs would come running from hither and yon to take a chop at me. I kept injuring them and then running away because they looked like Hylians and… well... you know. It was a time consuming distraction and that was a big deal, but I still had no intention of taking part in a slaughter."
Midna shuffled a little closer and then after just a moment's hesitation, she ran her hands through Link's hair. She had an intense desire to be a source of comfort to Link that was superseding her desire to remain detached. She knew that Link needed to finally talk about this, but that he also needed support. Her hair started twining around his waist like a glowing blanket, completely covering his lap. She stared at her Link as his eyes drifted up and left. It was as she thought. He was deep in it now…
Zelda saw that Midna was beginning to worry and she bit her lip in concern. Midna was clearly stronger than her. If she was having trouble with this memory, then… Zelda clutched her hands at her sides.
Once again, Link didn't notice Zelda and Midna's concern, because he was neck deep in an extremely vivid memory and reliving it as he spoke… "A little over a month ago, I received a letter from Telma and her spy network. It said that the mercs were on the move. It said that they were heading south through the Farore forest towards my home with the intention of raising all Hell... The thing is, I'm sure that what Telma actually wanted was for me to stay away from Ordon during that time. I'm sure that's why she sent the letter. She was wrong. I went straight into the thick of Farore forest ahead of the merc company and I began preparing for their arrival…"
Link drew a hand back through his hair as he thought back to his preparations… "I was determined to save my village and the people in it from being used as bait for my arrival. I knew very well that I must live to see Ganondorf's end, which meant I couldn't submit myself to save my village. There were no easy or peaceful options, so I started thinking both brutal and violent…"
"Brutal and violent…" Zelda quietly repeated in an extremely grave tone of voice...
"I set up about a thousand well-hidden bombs, in hundreds of different bushes, climbed an enormous tree, put on my Hawkeye Sniper's Mask and then I waited," Link explained in a somewhat robotic tone... "Sure enough, the mercs arrived in numbers I'd never seen before. There were hundreds of them. More people than I could easily see in the full light of the late morning. I knew that I'd need to move fast and that I didn't have time for sentimentality. I knew that these men were going to kill the people who raised me. They were going to bleed out Rusl's pregnant wife and dismember Beth's father. They were going to burn my home down and leave nothing living behind. These men were monsters and they needed putting down…"
In the light of the nearby fire, it was obvious that Link was forcing himself to believe his own words…
"With very little hesitation, I lit three torches, secured them to the top of three nearby trees, and started launching fire arrows down into my bomb stands," Link announced in a dark little voice. "I'd bought hundreds of arrows and I released every single one. I was cold, I was efficient, I was hauling ass. The first locations that I aimed my arrows at were at the back of the army's ranks. I wanted the mercenaries to run clear across my killing field instead of in the other direction. I wanted to maximize the impact of what I was doing… I exploded bomb bags in a wide circle to create a massive ring of fire, and then I worked my way inward like a snail shell…"
"I didn't kill all of the mercs with those bombs… but I killed a little over two hundred and fifty people in just under fifteen minutes," Link summarized with a wooden expression on his face. "When I was done with the bombs, I traversed the trees towards the bridge entering Ordon. I made my stand on the bridge with every intention of severing its ropes if I started getting cut down. I had no idea if the mercs would even try anymore. It seemed to me that they'd run away and cut their losses. Little did I know Ganondorf had promised to divvy up enormous amounts of wealth between the surviving mercs. The 150-ish mercenaries that were still alive were just greedy enough to like the fact that their piece of the pie had grown… They came… they came… and they never stopped coming…"
Link sighed and ran his hand through Midna's glowing hair blanket, as she in turn held his arm tightly from the side. "You know… Up until that point, I'd fought beasts, monsters and Bokoblins, with only the martial arts training that Rusl the local swordsman gave me growing up. Despite the fact that Rusl hasn't had anything left to teach me since before I was eight, I wasn't delusional enough to think that I was some world class fighter… I now know for certain that world class is an understatement. Bokoblins, as it turns out, are stronger and faster than humans, and as you just saw I've become pretty damned good at cutting them to pieces. Human soldiers are dangerous because they organize, but I was on a rope bridge that fits two or at most three people abreast at a time. The bridge spans a very long fall with a fast flowing river at the bottom and it's nestled in a ravine between two jagged cliff faces. What that means is that there was no way to flank me or approach from a high location. Those mercs had nooo idea what they were walking into…"
By this point Midna wanted Link to take a break from his story. She didn't like the look on his face. She didn't like the inflection in his voice. She didn't like what this story was doing to him...
"Two hours… For two hours straight we fought it out, Link continued, completely oblivious to Midna's concerns… "The mercs would advance towards me, I'd cut them down, and then they'd fire arrows as I shielded and dodged. That exchange happened over and over again using every weapon that I've ever seen in ways that I've never even heard of. When they tried to use a legion style shield wall, I would use my heavy ball and chain weapon to decimate their formation. When they came in a looser formation, I would cut right through their armor with the Master sword. I was brutal and yet I was detached. A lot of the fighting I did feels like an out of body experience to me. Sometimes, it even felt like I was seeing the violence from multiple angles. I had to pile up or kick dead mercs off of the side of the bridge to keep from tripping. I had to discard two of my shields when they started looking like arrow quilled porcupines. I took damage. I was given more than a score of minor cuts covering the greater area of my body. I took a larger cut on my left calf and a deeper one on my right forearm. I found it hard to see because my scalp was bleeding into my eyes."
Sighing again, Link looked to the side, where his very beautiful friend's orangey-red eyes were beginning to grow moist with unshed tears. "Midna here was getting increasingly pissed off at me. I was breaking my promise. I was supposed to cut down the bridge and dive into the river below if I started taking damage. I didn't. The bridge is extremely important to Ordon. Without it they don't have access to the rest of Hyrule or the lumber that is the lifeblood of their economy. Nobody can even remember when that bridge was first erected, but if it was like every other bridge in Hyrule then it would be a very long time before it was repaired. Not only that, but those mercenaries were extremely determined to kill me. If I'd destroyed the bridge and retreated into Ordon, they would've fired ballista attached to ropes across the river and then entered the village hand over hand. I'd have lost the only place that I could fight from without having to defend dozens of people at exactly the same time. The mercenaries' plan was well thought out after all. I wouldn't have been able to fight if everyone I know had swords to their necks... In the end, I didn't move from the bridge. I ignored Midna's pleading, and I was nine tenths dead by the time it was all over."
At Link's brief look of apology, Midna's hair burned a bright orange, as it tightened around his waist. She wasn't angry at Link for his actions, as foolhardy as they'd been. She was furious because of the cost that he'd had to pay for them…
Link was still neck deep in the memory of it all, so he only vaguely noticed Midna's frustration. He hugged a pillow of her hair against his chest as it wrapped around his torso, turned his attention back to Zelda and then took another deep preparatory breath. It was time to finish his story... "The last three mercenaries came towards me with bow, spear and sword. I'm not sure if they were better than the rest of their comrades or if I was just too damned tired, blind and injured to keep up anymore. I blocked the spear and deflected the sword but I took an arrow to the ribs from point blank range. It stuck right through me from front to back, breaking two of my ribs in the process..."
Zelda immediately gasped in alarm and looked down at Link's torso, but he immediately waved off her concern. "Believe it or not, princess, I was lucky. Since I'd almost managed to dodge the arrow, it didn't pass through any of my vital organs... Nevertheless, I did reel in pain, I slipped on some blood and then I fell to the surface of the bridge. Sensing an opportunity, the three mercs began pouncing on me, so I sliced a segment of the bridge's ropes in my desperation. The bridge lurched down a foot on one side, causing the archer to lose his balance and stumble towards me. From my back, I kicked him off the bridge. He was unlucky. He landed on one of the rocks sticking out of the water below…"
"In my distraction, the spear and sword mercs finally got their chance," Link continued with a small shake of his head. "They knocked the Master Sword from my hand, causing it to become lodged in the wall of the chasm below. They wildly hacked and thrust down at me in their bloodlust, but I continued to block them with my shield. They had me dead to rights, injured and on my back, but they couldn't coordinate to finish me off. They weren't thinking clearly. They were terrified. I could smell it. I was closer to my wolf form than I've ever been as a human. They continued fighting by channeling their hatred of me, but they were also forgetting something very important... I'm a walking armory…"
After delivering his Machiavellian and subpar little joke, Link tried to smile but merely winced instead. "Out of seemingly nowhere, I summoned my Ordon sword and I cut off the sword merc's dominant arm. As he fell to the bridge floor, I rolled back to my feet and barely deflected an attack from the spearman. I squared up with that last man and I stared at him as I desperately tried to remain on my feet. I must've been a frightening sight. I was bloody from top to bottom, I was heaving for air and I was growling like a beast. After several seconds of mutual staring, the last remaining mercenary started to lose his nerve. First he started trembling, then he started whimpering and then... he tried to run…"
At this point, Link's expression was beginning to look truly remote, distant… tortured…
"The spearman almost made it to the end of the bridge, but that's when my sword blade protruded out from his chest," Link explained with a sigh. "I hadn't had it in me to chase the man down, so I'd thrown my blade with as much strength as I could... Then I immediately summoned my wooden practice sword, reeled back and crushed the one armed swordsman's windpipe... and with that... the deed was done. I was done…"
For several moments in a row, Link just sat there in the middle of the rug as if his brain was refusing to take part in his explanation anymore. Reaching out, Zelda patted the Hero's knee, stared into his barely cognizant eyes, and then whispered her question… "You were…. Done?"
"I was done," Link immediately repeated, with a slow nod of agreement… "I was… a mess, both physically and emotionally. If not for how Midna was screaming at me, I'm a hundred percent certain that I'd have just sat there on the bridge edge and bled out into the gorge. At her urging, I stumbled back towards the Ordon spring and I fell down into its waters. I cut the fletching off of the arrow… and then I pushed it as far as I could through my body with both my arm strength and body weight. I didn't succeed in getting the arrow all of the way out of my back, but it was the best that I could do. I drank a red potion and I lay there. I didn't die. I took another red potion and I continued to lay there. I didn't die. I took a third red potion and I focused my entire being upon healing. The magic contained within the three red potions was combining and it was thrumming like a torrent throughout my veins. When I suddenly heard a popping sound, I vaguely realized that the arrow had been ejected out of my back. I rolled my back into the healing spring water and then I fell unconscious."
Midna was moving closer as Link spoke. Despite how awful the fight had been, this next part was going to be the hardest part of his story to get through.
Link looked over at Midna's concerned face, tried to smile for her benefit and then failed. There was nothing to smile about after all… "When I finally came to again, I was in Ordon village and I was being tended to by Rusl. I was confused. Ordon Village boasts of having several qualified healers, but Rusl definitely isn't one of them. I wanted to know why I'd become his responsibility. I harassed him for answers, but he refused to talk about it. After half a day of this back and forth exchange, Rusl finally told me what I wanted to know because he needed me to stop exhausting myself. I immediately wished that I hadn't asked…"
While at this point, Midna was hovering just inches from Link's body, Zelda was also starting to sidle forward across the rug…
"Rusl and his wife were the only two people in the entire village who'd go anywhere near me," Link quietly confided. "A large swath of Farore forest looked like a charnel house of blood and gore and it would take nearly a full month to clean up the bodies. There were so many corpses rotting unattended in the forest that the village was petrified about redeads and zombies spawning. Then there's the fact that the approaching half of the bridge to Ordon village is permanently stained with blood. The occupants of Ordon are traumatized by what they found in those woods. What they see when they look at me... I'm... I'm the most prolific mass murderer to have ever set foot in Hyrule, and I scare the ever loving Hell out of the people that raised me. My childhood friend Ilia never came to visit me during the five days that I spent healing in Ordon Village, and I understand how she feels... I scare myself just as much as I do them. I'm a monster who butchers monsters. It's what I was made for…"
Midna was sobbing now as she violently shook her head from side to side. "You had to do it, Link! What were your options?! Let your home village get slaughtered by those cretins?! Let Ganondorf burn down the world around you?! Think about it, Link! Really think about it!"
Link nodded his head at Midna's words but his eyes still looked haunted. "I tell myself that every night before I go to sleep, but my nightmares still persist. I'm cold, I'm efficient, I'm wearing all black, and I'm killing everyone that I've ever known. In my dreams, I kill you both, and I do so with a smile on my face. I cut down the children in front of their parents. I burn Ordon to the ground, and I gleefully watch it happen… At the very least, I don't think I'll ever feel welcome or at peace in Ordon Village ever again. It's the place where I cast aside my humanity, and everyone who lives there knows it.
The Hylian Princess felt completely awful for judging Link earlier in the day. He'd put both his life and his sanity on the line for his people… for her people, and she'd foolishly moralized about it without ever asking about the circumstances...
As she became determined to make this right, Zelda put a hand on Link's arm and made her expression extremely serious. "Link… You're a hero… You're the Hero. You're capable of great violence because that's the role you have in destiny. No one informed you that you were going to have to make such difficult decisions, and I ache for the suffering that you've had to go through. However,… You told me off just a few hours ago. You told me off because I was allowing myself to wallow in self-pity and self-recrimination. I don't think you're actively doing the former but you are most definitely guilty of the latter. It's time that you look at the reality of your actions. Not one of those fickle, feeble minded villagers, would even be alive right now to judge you, if not for your actions. Not one of them would be around to be afraid of anything, let alone you. You saved the Gorons, you saved the Zora, you saved the Twili, you saved the Ordon and then you saved us all. Personally, I'm encouraged that you've struggled with guilt. I'm encouraged that you've worried about your personal morality after an event that profoundly awful… but only because it says good things about your character. If you were fine with having to kill hundreds of people, what would that make you?"
"A monster," Link admitted.
Zelda nodded her head and pulled her hand back to her side. "You are most certainly not fine with the lengths that you've had to go. You are not the kind of man who ends lives so easily. You are nothing less than exactly what you've needed to be to save the world. You're strong…"
Midna thought she might hug the Princess in that moment. Triforce of Wisdom indeed… God's she wished she could say something like that and use pure logic like a scalpel. Even as she thought about hugging the princess however, it was Link that she was rubbing against and completely cocooning with her hair. She needed this to work… She needed her Link to be okay.
Link was silent for several long moments. He softly ran his hands through Midna's more than soft hair, thinking about both her and Zelda's words. Of course he'd already known that he was being a hypocrite. He'd known all along that he was doing exactly what he'd accused Zelda of doing. The only new realization was that both Midna and Zelda were truly worried about him because they believed he was hurting himself… It wasn't some monumental shift in perception or anything, but if these two ladies saw a moral, ethical human being in front of them even after hearing his story, then he needed to do his best to prove them right. It was time to try to look forward instead of looking back. Link knew that it wouldn't be easy, but he also knew that he owed it to himself to try. He'd done what he'd done because he'd thought it was the right thing to do. What the villagers of Ordon thought on the matter was unfortunate but it was also immaterial...
With his mind made up, Link smiled and nodded his head at the two ladies. "Thank you Princesses. I think I got a lot out of your efforts… Now... Would you two like to hear some of the songs I put together as a child?" Once again, Link pulled out Zelda's Ocarina from where it was sitting behind his back.
"Please do!" In her enthusiasm, Midna belted out the word quite a bit louder than she'd intended to. "If you hadn't suggested it, I was going to make you!"
"I'll get us a bottle of wine, and we'll play some music together," Zelda agreed, with a soft smile on her face. "I'm not truly accomplished at the Ocarina or the lute, but I am a fair hand at the harp. With that said, Zelda rose to her feet and walked over to her pantry."
"I'm passable at the lute, but I'm no master," Midna offered sheepishly.
Link grinned at that and shrugged. "No one said we need to become a band of professional minstrels, Midna. I'm definitely no master and whatever you can string together, I'm sure we'll all enjoy. Especially if I'm going to be trying alcohol for the very first time."
"You've never drank before!?" Midna was aghast. She quite enjoyed drinking.
"It's not something given to teenagers where I come from," Link replied, with a shrug. "Besides, my social life in Ordon was… well... nonexistent. The boys in my village are all spoiled brats and they're completely disdainful of me. The only girl I've spent any time with was Ilia, and since we've been friends from a young age, her father feared that I'd try to court her. He never said as much, but he was watching us closely and going out of his way to keep me busy."
Without her conscious knowledge, Midna's hair was tightening possessively around Link's waist. "Was this Governor Bo right to be worried?"
After thinking about Midna's question for several moments, Link shook his head in the negative. "I hadn't really thought of a romance with Ilia, no. Ilia's always been kind to me, but she still thinks of me as a particularly clever beast of burden. She's never attempted to draw me out for conversation in all the time that I've known her. I don't think she was consciously attempting to belittle my status in the village. I just don't think she thinks I have anything of value to say. She also doesn't think I can handle anything outside of mundane chores, and she nags at me to the point that I end up shaking my head. Just a day before I was caught by Zant's forces, Mayor Bo asked me to carry the Ordon sword to the Hylian court. I suspect he wanted me out of sight for a few weeks. Ilia reacted as if a mere courier job was waaay over my head, and she was being completely unreasonable about it. She clearly thought that I was going to get lost and end up in the desert or something. Besides all of that… Even if I were to want Ilia, as the governor's only daughter, she really is considered far above my station. No one would've allowed it to happen, even before I became the local boogieman."
"And now here you are, in closed quarters, drinking alone with two extremely grateful Princesses." Midna scoffed out loud, at how convoluted life could be. She didn't think Link was right about this Ilia girl's opinion of him or the reason why she was upset about him leaving on a courier job, but she just couldn't seem to make herself explain. That stupid girl had hurt Link terribly by not visiting him while he healed, and Midna didn't think she'd ever forgive her for that. She also just… she just didn't want to.
Zelda returned with a green bottle that appeared to hold a yellow liquid. "This, is Zora celebration wine, and it's actually quite deceptive. It tastes refreshing like a northern sea breeze when in fact it's quite strong and will increase your body temperature. Drink it slowly."
Midna accepted the bronze chalice full of yellow liquid and saw to her left that Link had done the same.
"Before we allow Link here to test out his drinking legs, I want to hear a song. In fact, I want to hear a happy song." Zelda was giving Link a look that said don't test me on this.
"Uh yeah. I can do that princess." Link rubbed the back of his neck a bit, before he lifted the little blue instrument. "I might be a bit rusty and I was self-taught in the first place…"
"Enough Link… We're both all but certain you'll be amazing at it," Midna interrupted in a bemused tone.
Zelda merely nodded because she completely agreed.
"Um okay well. I'll play you a song of my early childhood then. It's become more sophisticated as I've grown older, but it's always been a wild song and it was inspired by what the villagers used to call me. The Kokiri boy. Kokiri are a species of forest dwellers and tricksters that can take Hylian form. This song is called the Kokiri forest. Link pulled the Ocarina to his lips, while summoned the memory of running, skipping and rolling through the woods as a boy, with nearly infinite freedom. Soon he was flying through the notes, establishing a mood of free spirited mischief as he did so. Link was without a doubt having a fantastic time, because it had been forever since he'd had a decent Ocarina in his hands.
Across from Link, the Princesses had begun openly staring, drinks forgotten in their hands, because of the wild complexity of his tune. It was like he'd bottled the forest and was spilling it out in their laps in the form of sound. It was like he could capture the very essence of a thing and turn it into music. This wasn't merely music… This was magic.
Several minutes later, Link finally pulled off the seemingly impossible by ending the song. It wasn't a song that wanted to end but rather a series of notes that conveyed a feeling, a location, and since that place would always exist, so too would the song. Nonetheless, Link tore through an ad-hock and jostling ending that felt like he was ripping off a bandage, at which point, he was left heaving for air as if he'd run a five-minute mile. Gods… visiting that place was always fun… but leaving it was always just as hard. Pulling in a deep breath, Link looked up at the Princesses, and then blanched at what he saw. "Did… did I offend?" Both of the Princesses were wide eyed and open mouthed in their staring. It was not a look Link was used to seeing on either of their faces.
Zelda was the first to recover. She slowly extended her hand to take the Ocarina.
While hanging his head in disappointment, Link handed over the fine instrument. As he'd thought, his song lacked all polish and he'd offended the Princess.
Zelda raised the instrument to her mouth and tried to recreate the song. She wasn't bad at the instrument. She'd been raised to be proficient at it. Nevertheless… Zelda couldn't recreate that feeling. It wasn't just the notes he'd played. It was him…
Midna was nodding now because she was right there with the princess. Link was… unreal…
"I… I'm unsure what you're missing, princess." Link shrugged. "It's pretty when you play it, but it's not the Kokiri Forest."
Midna finally took a large sip of her drink, because all of the sudden, her mouth was completely dry.
"How many other songs have you created that have such vivid feelings and emotions associated with them?" Zelda didn't think that she'd be playing much music tonight at all. Rather… She wanted to hear everything Link had ever composed.
"Hundreds of songs ranging from brave to scary, uplifting to heartbreaking," Link responded honestly. "They're all products of my experiences, and I imagine that's why I can add the… emotional context."
Zelda nodded even though she knew that Link's explanation was just the tip of the iceberg. "I'd like to hear them, Link. Eventually, I'd like to hear all of them."
Link accepted back the Ocarina and then nodded his head in understanding. "As your highness commands."
"Link… I'd prefer it if you played for us because it's fun and we're enjoying it, rather than out of a sense of obligation. I don't want you to be so formal with me..." Truth be told, Zelda was currently stunned by her own daring... On the other hand, she was also absolutely certain that she was doing the right thing...
Link was more than just stunned. He was shocked. He was thrilled. He beamed a smile at Zelda, even as he wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. The fire at his back and the effort of playing was causing his body to perspire.
"Come Link! Sit between us and away from the fire. We'll push the two chairs together." Midna rose even as she said that, pushing her rather heavy chair against Zelda's.
Link looked at the Hylian Princess for permission but she was already moving over to admit him and sipping her drink. After seeing her rather obvious approval he crawled across the rug and leaned his back against the chairs.
"What's the next song?" Midna sank back down against the chair with her drink even as she asked the question.
"I thought I'd pick different extremes of emotion every time," Link explained as he hefted the Ocarina. I created this next song after the biggest storm I've ever experienced hit Ordon and shook my tree house like a leaf. It's all excitement mixed with primal fear, and it's going to get your blood pumping. The song's simply named the song of storms." When Link pulled the Ocarina to his lips, he could vividly recall feeling very, very small indeed, curled up inside of his hollowed out tree, as the walls and floors swayed back and forth like a fever dream. He began playing with that feeling in mind, and for the next minute and a half, he relived the feeling of being swept away by nature's fury.
By the time the song was coming to an end, Midna and Zelda were curled up in small balls as they watched spectral sheets of water slam down all around them. It was as if they existed outside of themselves, experiencing life as a leaf on the wind. The song ended quietly as storms often do, and they returned to the room in sweat damped heaps.
"That was…" began Zelda.
"Amazing," exclaimed Midna.
"Exciting and frightening like only nature can be," Link agreed.
"Hey take a drink Hero. We're leaving you behind." Midna was almost done her first drink at this point. It was exactly as Zelda had warned her. She was already feeling slightly flushed.
Link nodded but then he hesitated. "What if my playing suffers?"
"Then we'll drink more until it sounds good again," Midna responded immediately.
"If and when that happens, I'll teach you a song I know," Zelda offered, with a genuine smile.
Link grinned at that and took a medium sized swig of his drink. He mulled it around in his mouth for a few seconds, taking in the different flavors and the muted fruitiness of it. Then he swallowed the cool minty drink and in a surprising twist, he felt it warm him inside as it ran down his throat to his stomach. With a small grin, Link looked back at the waiting women. "Refreshing but surprisingly strong," he quietly agreed. "I think I might pace myself, because I'm already feeling a little warm."
Midna grinned into her own chalice and emitted a small chirp of a laugh. Then she leaned against Link's side and laid her head back against the chair. "I'll be extremely amused if the legendary Hero can't hold his liquor, Link."
"I don't think that being a gifted carouser is part of the whole Hero package," Link bemoaned, with an exaggerated tone of devastation. "I highly doubt I'm ever going to be the life of the party. I'm also quite bad at both poetry and singing. I fear that I'll never be a great womanizer or romantic."
Zelda grinned over Link's shoulder at Midna. The dusky skinned beauty had begun looking at Link as if he was completely delusional, and Zelda was just buzzed enough to find it all amusing. She also agreed with her orange haired friend. Even as Link joked that he'd never be sought after by the ladies, he had a Princess leaning possessively against his side. It was just a little too ridiculous to watch, and Zelda started giggling into her hands.
"Link… Take another sip of that drink and listen…" Midna looked frustrated in the extreme, and was rubbing her forehead even as she lounged back against the chair. "I cannot allow you to continue thinking you're merely some… yokel or ragamuffin. You have a lot to offer a woman, even before we take into account the whole Legendary Hero thing."
Link sipped his drink and nodded amiably, but it was extremely clear to both the girls that he just didn't care enough to argue.
"Will you play another song for us, Link?" Zelda was once again stuck playing distraction. She had literally no idea what drastic measures Midna might go to in order to prove to Link that he was an attractive prospect. She feared that Midna would just bodily launch herself at the man, and begin tearing off his clothing. If Midna resorted to that then she would just end up hurting herself, forcing Zelda to watch them molest each other in the process. Zelda didn't like either of those possibilities because A) Midna was her friend and B) Zelda was not some wallflower voyeur.
Picking up the Ocarina from the rug, Link held it in front of his chest. "I can do that Princess. The last song I played was exciting so this next song will be relaxing. It's an extremely important song to me because it's the piece that won over my most excellent horse."
Midna immediately looked completely captivated and Zelda wondered if Link was extremely dense or just a gifted poker player. He didn't appear to notice that his Twili friend was fawning all over him like a lovesick girl…
After taking a deep breath, Link slowly eased into a song that in essence was about the simplest kind of friendship. It was easy and it was gentle, while at the same time it was profoundly solid and stirring. It was a bond that couldn't be broken and didn't need to be explained. Link wrapped up the piece with very little flourish but rather the volume slowly dropped out of Hylian register before disappearing. Link's relationship with his horse wouldn't be summed up in less than two minutes, and so once again the song seemed to go on without him.
Midna and Zelda were both laying back against the chairs in boneless heaps by the time the song ended. Neither one of them had ever had a friendship that was anything even remotely similar to the one Link had with Epona… his horse. They'd experienced how the man and horse felt, as they were pulled along by Link's music. They'd felt the supreme comfort of knowing you're your friend's number one priority and vice versa. They'd found themselves desperately longing for such a strong, quiet, solid companionship. The effect was both immediate and startling. The Princesses knew that Link was capable of that level of devotion. They knew that he was the type to hold his friends close and never, ever let them down. Perhaps unsurprisingly they both ended up wanting him to feel that way for them.
Zelda wanted someone that she could truly rely on so badly she ached inside. It was like seeing colors all around her for the first time, only to have the world slowly slip back into a monochromatic dullness.
Midna was in even worse shape than Zelda. She wanted Link to feel far, far more than merely the platonic love stemming from even the closest of friendships. She wanted Link to love her… but she couldn't have him and that realization was a dagger to her heart. Tears slowly pooled in her eyes as she stared at the fire. She knew she should pull herself together but right now she just needed to cry…
Link is nowhere near as dense as most of the people who know him believe he is. He's sharp and that sharpness had allowed him to divine every subtle clue, every secret path, every mechanical spring or gimmick, in every dungeon and temple that they'd entered. Link is sharp… and at this point he was sharply berating himself for his supreme idiocy with every fiber of his being… Midna couldn't stay… Midna couldn't afford to be that close with him… Midna was hurting… and it was… all… his… damned… fault!
After taking a large gulp of wine, Link slipped forward on the rug. He turned to face the two melancholy Princesses, with a very earnest and serious expression upon his face. "Princesses… Zelda… I haven't known you very long, but I've seen your bravery and your selflessness. I trust you. I like you. I'd like to be your friend..."
Without missing a beat, Link turned towards the crying Twilight Princess, shuffling a little closer to her newly curled up form. He put a hand on her cheek and wiped a tear away with his thumb. "Midna… Quite simply… you're my best friend in the whole entire world. You've been so close to me for the last few months, I've found myself looking to my shadow during quiet moments in the last two days. It seems unnatural that my shadow shouldn't be yakking away about anything that strikes its fancy. You're sarcastic and sharp; you're clever and witty… You're loyal and brave, you're…" Link abruptly paused and shrugged. "Midna… words are failing me at the moment. I'm not a poet after all. I am however… a musician." With that said, Link pulled out the Ocarina and stuck it to his lips.
At first the song that Link created was slow, mournful, dutiful and sad. It was a marching song for someone weary beyond measure but far too determined to ever give up. The song gave off an impression of injury, of injustice, of loss and of betrayal, but it also very clearly conveyed that the situation was far, far from over. All of the sudden, staccato elements and a rising tempo announced their meeting, the very abrupt and painful nature of it and a passive aggressive codependence built on necessity. Almost as soon as the feeling was conveyed however, Link moved on. The intro melody settled into an airier version that conveyed playful enthusiasm and satisfaction, as they quested and fought. The music became insistent and yet supportive, as if demanding movement while lifting and pulling to help. It became solid and omnipresent like Midna's impact on his life. The song conveyed moments of mutual weakness and pulling through together. It conveyed moments where he was all but dead, and Midna had to shoulder the burden all alone, tending to his body..
And then he conveyed the opposite....
In a bare moment of frenetic notes, Link's song suddenly conveyed his outright panic when Midna was stripped of her power and dying in his arms. He conveyed how in that moment, he'd been just as lost as Midna was and self-destructing in a massive way. The melody that followed was one of near infinite relief, as Midna was saved, even as they hurt over the cost that had been paid... Then the song slowly but surely built momentum again to the rising lilt of full steam movement and perfectly cohesive teamwork. It conveyed moments of joy amidst the struggle, and how Midna had held them up through sheer force of personality. Finally, Link's song conveyed Midna's final sacrifice, and the red hot rage that had poured out of him, as he faced Ganondorf in Hyrule Field. Ganandorf had hurt his Midna, and the truly, horrendously, unwise man was going to die for it...
As the climax of the song came to an end, Link smoothed out the melody and addressed their reunion upon the field. It conveyed how, without any pressing danger or questing to accomplish, their friendship was finally free to be what it was meant to be the entire time. It conveyed a closeness that defied description. It conveyed an ocean of raw emotion that was as powerful as it was unexplored. It conveyed his feelings for Midna, because for good or ill the woman needed to know how he felt...
When he finally finished what had become at least ten minutes of solid playing, Link heaved for air as he dropped to all fours on the rug. He dripped sweat into the carpet and shook with it like he'd never experienced before while creating music. Then he slowly rose to look at the trembling, shaking Twilight Princess. "Midna… There might be two worlds. There might be ten or a hundred… There might be infinite worlds and infinite space in between them… but you will never be far from my thoughts, because I..." Abruptly, Link looked down at the rug again. He knew to say more would be both unnecessary and painful in the extreme. He just waited for his Midna to react, while hoping that what he'd just done had helped rather than hindered.
Midna was clasping her empty chalice tightly to her chest, with a wild eyed look upon her face. Her hair was beginning to surround Link's body on all sides. "Link… Link I…"
"I know Princess," Link replied quietly. "I know..."
In the moments that followed, Zelda handed Link another glass of wine with her own shaky hands, and they all settled back against the chairs. At this point, Link was wearing Midna's hair like a glowing orange cloak, but he never mentioned it and neither did Zelda.
In deference to the mood, Zelda pulled forth her harp. She began playing the royal lullaby that had survived since ages immemorial. She knew the song so well that she was free to strum away in and out of the tune, idly and freely creating a relaxing soothing feeling. By the time she was finished playing the piece, both Midna and Link had both calmed down and caught up with her in their drinking.
"That was beautiful… Zelda. I want to play that someday with your permission." Truly, Link had picked up the melody as if he'd always known it and he'd have joined the princess, but Midna was leaning heavily against his side with her head on his shoulder. He didn't have it in him to jostle her. She was warm, she was soft and she smelled good in a way that was hard to describe. She smelled like a flower that doesn't exist in the light realm at all and just had to be beautiful beyond measure. His newly alcohol fogged thoughts found him wanting to touch her, taste her, but he wasn't so far gone that he'd lost all sense.
Midna stirred on Link's shoulder and patted his stomach lightly. "Will you play us another song, Link?"
Midna looked like she needed the distraction from her tumultuous thoughts, so Link found himself looking for a song that was far away, with an air of adventure. "Well... I did pick up a song while we were traveling through the Gerudu desert. I've never had the chance to play it yet."
"I've never been to the desert before," Zelda added, in an excited voice. "I imagine with your playing, by the time we get there, I'll already know exactly what the desert feels like on a spiritual level."
"You know Link, it really can't surprise you now that you freaked out the people watching you as a child." Midna rubbed Link's stomach again to belay any offense he might take from her words. "Link… You're special and your music reflects that. Just try to imagine a toddler playing music that transports you to other locations full of emotions and sensations. If your Ordonian countrymen are as superstitious as you've described, it's really no surprise they were freaked out by you."
Link nodded and despite his intentions not to his hand began to rub Midna's arm in return. "Truly I already knew that. It's part of the reason I've been so tolerant with their attitudes. I'm not quite sure what I am, but I do know that I'm not the norm."
"You're a sorcerer," Zelda announced without any preamble and with the utmost levels of conviction. "Perhaps sorcery hasn't been a large portion of what you needed in order to save my Kingdom, but that fact is nonetheless true. This "storage dimension" that you use to house your equipment is made up of magic Link. Even the way you describe using it by pouring your will and focus towards the desired outcome, is the hallmark of most silent magics."
"Huh… I never really thought about being that manner of different," Link replied, trailing yet another sip of wine. "I was thinking I was different like the Zora and the Hylians are different. I never would've imagined that I'm magical…"
"Legendary Hero and holder of the Triforce of Courage," Midna piped up.
"Found mysteriously in the woods, all alone and unafraid," Zelda added.
"Swift and skilled beyond his years," Midna retorted.
"Capable of playing music that ensorcels the mind," Zelda declared.
"Befriending untameable horses to the point of a spiritual connection," Midna cheered.
"Immune to the effects of the Twilight realm, using a spirit medium of a massive wolf," Zelda exclaimed, now thoroughly enjoying this game.
"Capable of holding hundreds of thousands of pounds of objects within or around his body, using some other dimensional storage space," Midna laughed directly into Link's neck.
"Capable of holding and using weapons heavier than human upper strength norms," Zelda enthused, jostling her shoulder against his side in a friendly manner.
"Capable of using extremely dangerous and magical red potions by the bucket load, without even an ounce of negative repercussions," Midna chirped across the room.
"Capable of using arcane magical items like the Beedle or Dominion rod, that most likely require strong personal magic to activate," Zelda pointed out, with a smug expression on her face.
"Capable of walking through lava filled caverns or freezing cold blizzards, without burning up or passing out," Midna belted out at the ceiling.
"Capable of handling and possessing the Twilight mirror shards, without falling subject to their mind warping influence," Zelda laughed out in exasperation.
"Okay, okay I get it; I get it," Link called out, with a red hot blush upon his face. "I'm not normal at all. I'm still not sure if I'm a sorcerer or not. I'll begin reading the magic books that I've found as soon as practicable." Link pulled out the Ocarina and held it up to his face. "In the meantime let's visit the Gerudu desert, shall we?"
Both ladies eagerly nodded their heads and Link began to play.
[ Continued in Next Chapter]
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