CHAPTER 13: TRUE STRENGTH
(unrevised)
_It seemed there were now bokoblin soldiers patrolling every route that
Link needed to travel. Perhaps the usurper ruler of Hyrule could see
that his shadows of twilight had receded from certain areas of the
kingdom and had dispatched the guards to search for any sign of a
citizen’s interference. Whatever the reason, however, Link only felt
obligated to slay those nearest Kakariko to keep the children and the
remaining residents safe. The remaining soldiers Link refused to touch.
Leaving them be would ensure that the ruler would be unaware of Link’s
exact whereabouts, for if a high number of his minions became
unaccounted for, Link was sure that there would be an investigation into
the disappearances and the dead bodies that would then be discovered.
Innocent people were likely to be held accountable if that were the case, people that Link refused to be sacrificed in his name.
He kept Epona at a soft trot, avoiding the patrols and by midday Link arrived at the border of Faron Woods. He kept his senses about him, ever searching the woodland for any sign of further patrols.
He met no resistance on his way back past Coro’s house and across the Ordona bridge and into the familiar grounds that were the outskirts of the village. He past the spirit spring of Ordona, and through another break in the trail, he was staring up at his own home. He called Epona to a halt at this point and looked up at his house. It had only been a few days since all of the chaos that had spread across Hyrule had come to his knowledge. Already the house looked abandoned. A window had been cracked, the grass had grown longer, and there was a plant on the left side that had begun to wiggle its way up the wood.
But Link tossed away all sentiments and pulled his horse’s reins to face her toward the path into the village.
===============
The first parents that approached him were Sera and Haunch. After Link comforted them with the knowledge that their daughter was indeed safe, he followed the path to the house with an attached waterwheel. He dismounted and let himself into the house. At the sight of Link, Jaggle and Pergie stood up from the noon meal they had been silently eating, smiles crossing their lips. Though, after they shared their comforts that Link had not been hurt, they directly asked about their missing sons.
Link reiterated a short tale to them about his findings, and only left their house when he had convinced himself that the news of the boys had eased their hearts.
He grabbed hold of Epona’s reins and walked up the main trail of the little village and hiked up the incline to Uli and Rusl’s house. He tied his horse’s line to a rail of wood that was attached to the porch and knocked on the front door. After a moment wherein Link could hear the shuffling of feet and saw a flutter of hair at the window, the door was thrown open. Uli stared at him through the opening.
“Link! You’ve returned! Any news?” she said immediately.
“Colin’s safe. All of the children are.”
A sparkle of life returned to her face in that moment and the giant weight that had been worry lifted from her countenance. She welcomed him inside, wishing to hear the story of Link’s trek. At the conclusion all Uli could say was: “Rusl will be glad to hear of all this.”
Link remembered seeing his mentor in her house during his last visit and the memory of Rusl lying down in bed, tattered and bloodied, prodded his concern. “How is he?”
“Oh, he’s resting still and doing far better,” said Uli, and Link breathed again. “His wounds are healing. Knowing him, he’ll be up and walking in no time.”
Link nodded. It was something. None of the people closest to his heart had yet suffered a wound from which they would not recover. Rusl was recuperating in the next room, the people of Ordona were still untouched by death, the children were safe, and his trusted horse was well. And though he had only met her once, he had a lingering care for Princess Zelda. Perhaps it was her soft voice, her gentle face, her pleasant manner, or the sacrifices she had made in the attempt to protect the lives of her subjects. She was a wise and selfless woman, and he admired her bravery.
But there was still Ilia.
How long would it be before he met her on his travels? How long until he found her, safe or otherwise? Would she also have been spared the wrath of their separation?
Link bade Uli farewell after a few more minutes of easy conversation and was in high spirits upon his departure, but there was still one person to whom he needed to speak. And Link did not have any good news for him.
He made his way through town, leaving Epona at Uli’s house until he was ready to leave town again. She had neighed reluctantly at her master for leaving her side once more, but his kind voice and the familiar territory of her home soothed her.
At Ilia’s house Link found Bo sitting on the outside veranda, dangling his pudgy legs over the edge and looking down at his hand. Fado stood on the stairs leading up to where he was perched, apparently in an attempt to console the distressed older man. Link had stopped a moment to observe the mayor’s depressed stature, knowing that his tidings would only leave his heart heavier—especially with the coming knowledge that the children of all the other parents were safe.
Link approached the elevated veranda slowly, and Fado noticed him first, turning about. Although Fado was the rancher of the village, he was still a young man near the same age as Link. They had grown up together, and it was clear to Link that, by the gracious and tight hug that Fado ran down the stairs to give him, the rancher cherished their friendship more than anything. When Link finally emerged from the embrace he could not help a smile when he saw happy tears streaking the face of his friend since boyhood.
He then looked up at the house to find that Bo was now standing looking down at him with a piercing, hopeful gaze. Link dismissed himself from Fado and climbed the stairs so that he was face-to-face with Ilia’s father. Bo took in Link’s new appearance, for no one had seen him but Uli the last time he had entered Ordon.
“Come inside,” said Bo. “Tell me everything.” His tone was that true to a father who had lost sleep due to a daughter’s disappearance.
===============
“I see,” the mayor said, after having heard Link’s final repetition of the events that had taken place. “So they’re all safe and in Kakariko....” Bo heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good to hear. Renado’s and old friend. If they’re in his care then we can all relax.”
Link and Bo were seated at the table in the foyer—which was also the kitchen. Link only sipped at the tea that the mayor had brewed specially for him. He did not want to advertise how incredible his hunger had become, for he had not eaten—or truly slept—in some time, and he refused to take charity from Bo. He did not feel that he deserved such kindness.
Bo’s eyes narrowed then, and Link knew what his next ray of questions would concern, for not once had Link even mentioned his daughter’s name. “So, why are you keeping me waiting? How’s my little girl? Is Ilia all right, with the rest of them, is she?”
“Ilia....” Link hesitated before he spoke, choosing every word in his reply before delivering it. “I have not found her yet. She wasn’t with the others.” He looked away, shamed that he had failed both Bo and his daughter.
“That’s not what I was hoping to hear,” said Bo, playing exaggeratedly with the handle of his cup. “But,” he looked up, “I guess I need to think of all five of those poor kids, not just my own. They’re all in danger.” He sat thoughtful at the table for many moments, only silence existing between the two.
Link did nothing to break it.
But after heaving a sigh, the mayor focused his glance once again upon Link. “I shouldn’t be feeling sorry for anyone, though. I wish I had a way of helping you.”
“Actually, Mayor, there is something....” Link started, casting his eyes back upon the rotund man. “You see, the Gorons—”
“What?” Bo blinked largely. “The Gorons of Death Mountain?”
“Yes, Sir. You see, there is something I have to do,” said Link, careful about his words, picking only those that would not reveal his true purpose within the mines. “The Goron tribe has become … distant from those of Kakariko. They’re not allowing them into the mines or even into the mountain passes beyond the village. I was hoping to talk with them, negotiate, but Renado advised me against it.” He took a deep breath. “He told me that you knew how to gain their trust. I was hoping—”
“Ah, so Renado told you that?” said the mayor. Link was not sure if it was pride or agitation that crossed his oddly-trimmed mustached mouth. “Well, it is true. I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust.” The gleam of satisfaction was now quite noticeable in his words and gestures.
Bo seemed to be thinking hard in that moment, considering Link’s words and even—looking over his body, as if testing his muscles with his eyes. At long last a smile spread across his face. “Please, come into the other room. I’ll teach you what you need to know.”
===============
Link felt silly and uncomfortable. He had stripped off his clothes and gathered himself into a pair of shorter brown pants and a sash. Also, he had wrapped a band of white cloth round his wrist to hide the recent scar he had gained from the chain he had once worn as a beast. As he prepared himself in a corner of the room, he could hear Bo changing into lighter clothes as well.
“The basic rule of sumo wrestling is that whoever can push the other out of the ring first is the winner,” Bo was saying. “You can do this by using three simple techniques. Grabbing and pushing, striking, or sidestepping. But rather than bore you with a bunch of explaining, why don’t we just get to the real thing? Step in the ring when you’ve finished, lad.”
Upon reflex, Link fluffed his matted hair. When he turned around, he was surprised to see the mayor of the town so bare, wearing only a loincloth. But the embarrassment did not last long, for he reminded himself that he did this for the people of Kakariko. He had to gain the trust of the mountain tribe.
They stepped into the ring and crouched down opposite one another. Bo lifted a leg and pounded it back down on the mat—a show of his strength. Link repeated the movement, the smack of his bare foot against the ring softer only due to his smaller size. Then their match begun, Bo launching himself at Link. Though, remembering what he had named as the three techniques, Link sidestepped the lunge. When Bo recovered and faced Link again, the youth struck his hand against his face, and as the man was occupied with the sudden tiny pain, Link grabbed at him … and pushed.
Bo was nearly to the outside of the ring when he was able to push Link off him, but Link was faster and smaller and took the shove in stride, ducking when Bo slapped at him. From his low position Link thrust himself into the man’s midsection and applied the full force of his strength. Within a second Link watched as the mayor tumbled backward, out of the ring.
“Well,” gasped Bo, as he gathered himself up, laughing, “it seems you understand the basics. Care for a rematch?”
Link smiled.
===============
After what seemed an hour of training, Bo finally relented in the activity, and he and Link changed back into the old garbs.
“You’ve got natural talent, Link,” praised Bo, as they made their way back into the foyer. “And you’ve gotten a sight stronger in the short time you’ve been gone. I have high confidence in you.”
Link’s false smile disappeared as he watched Bo retreat into another room. Being inside Ilia’s house made him think of her, and it pained him terribly that she was not the one in the next room. He wanted so much to see her face and the smile with which she always greeted him. Without thinking, he moved to the stairs that wrapped around the right side of the room and up into another section of the house. He remembered sneaking around the outside of the house on the hill that rose behind it and sitting in the tree that sprang up from the earth so that he was level with her bedroom window. Many a night he would stealthily race up to his favorite bough so that he and Ilia could continue their conversations when she had been sent to bed, and many a morning he would sit in the same branch, tapping on her window to wake her, her smiling face greeting him when she opened its glass.
As he thought of the tree, he suddenly found himself staring out at it. Unconsciously, his feet had brought him up to her room. It was a small space, to be sure, for the top room had been split in two by paneling that broke in the middle to create a door. He had never heard Ilia complain. The half that was connected to the steps owned a tiny table set off to the side. Inside Ilia’s space a bed sat off to the right and a shelving unit to the left. The window that had bordered their countless conversations sprang out in the middle of the two items. A small, withering plant sat upon its pane.
He stood there for an eternity it seemed, just longing for her to be here, for her to be safe, for it all to have been a nasty dream. But it was not a dream.
He took a cup of water from the table and splashed it onto the dying plant before he set off down the stairs, a tear streaking his cheek.
===============
The way back through the fields of Hyrule were patrolled with the same amount of bokoblin guards as before. But once he came to the gorge, Link pulled roughly on Epona’s reins and guided her backward to hide them both behind a crag. Link peered out. On the opposite side of the canyon a large, armored ogre atop a fat pig-like creature watched as its swarm of cohorts—bulblin riders—searched the dead corpses that Link had piled behind a break in the red-brown rocks.
Link heard a horn blast and realized all too late that the ogre had signaled the others to ride into Kakariko to investigate further. It was the very thing that Link had been afraid of, and Link jerked tersely at Epona’s reins and willed her to catch up with the force before they reached the village, but by the time that they had crossed the bridge, the soldiers had already bypassed the locked gate and disappeared between the rocks of the narrow mountain path.
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In the desolate street of Kakariko Village, Talo and Beth were playing a game to occupy their time. Talo had hidden in a crevice near the sign that announced the town’s name, and Beth had just discovered his whereabouts. Colin and Malo watched from their earth seats at the door of the sanctuary as Malo ran from Beth, who was trying to catch up so that she could tag him.
But then the ground began to quake and a low, terrifying rumble echoed against the walls of rock surrounding the village, making the noise seem much louder than it truly would have been. Talo and Beth stopped immediately, looking around for the source. Colin and Malo stood up then, also passing their gazes all about. Then their sight was drawn to the westward entrance into the village.
Beasts riding beasts. The bulblin riders and their leader screamed through the narrow path and continued onward through the street, paying no mind that there were children in the thoroughfare that were about to be slaughtered by their beasts’ hooves.
Talo retreated, running at a pace he never thought possible.
Beth stood there, looking at the approaching figures, rooted by a massive dose of sheer terror.
Malo stared on, unable to digest what was happening.
Colin turned to the door and outstretched a hand, meaning to call for Renado, but he turned back to look at Beth. There were only seconds left. She could not move, and there was no time.
He had to do this himself. He left Malo—who now disappeared into the sanctuary—and sprinted for Beth, and just before the hooves pounded across her face.
It was then that Barnes emerged from his house and looked around for the disturbance that he had felt vibrating up his legs. A large, masked face was looking into his face just feet away. Barnes trembled, and meaningless gasps of troubled breathing sprang from him. The plump beast pushed its helmet mask up and red eyes met his, prompting Barnes to lower his own mask.
The ogre growled but was then distracted from the villager when it heard a horse’s neigh. It turned and saw a green clad man riding fast atop a steed, directed right for the ogre and its horde.
Link watched painfully as a large green hand drew upward holding a limp and bruised Colin for him to see. The ogre grinned and snorted then sped north with its minions.
Link followed, desperate and infuriated. He knew that fat face, those red eyes. It was the same ogre that had separated him from Colin in the first place. He was not about to let it escape with the boy a second time, not when he had already told Uli that her son was safe.
He felt rage burn within his skull.
It had taken Ilia from him as well.
When Link came to the field that had been spread out between mountains and cliffs, he spotted the ogre and its bandits lined upon the ground, facing him. A wall of twilight stretched across the horizon.
Colin had been strapped to the top of the ogre’s pike that displayed a long, frayed red flag. The boy was still unconscious. The ogre goaded Link with a wave of its hand, and Link unsheathed his long blade, ready to split the beast in two. But it blew on the same horn that he had seen it use when it had captured his friends, and more bulblin riders came careening over the hills of field just moments later, arrowheads aflame. And the ogre rode off.
A need for vengeance welled up in Link so great that he was ignorant of everything else but the soldiers and ogre ahead of him. He avoided their arrows with quick flips of Epona’s reins—though, most of the time, she did not need to be told to dodge the blows—and headed straight into their midst. With simple flicks of his wrist, blood had already begun to pour from several of them. He heard a few loud thumps behind him as he past the horde, sweeping his blade in and out of their gathering.
By the time Link emerged from their swarm, his face had already been tainted with spurts of their blood, his blade now shining from the multiple kills. His eyes flared insanely at the sight of the crimson that dripped from the weapon’s edges, and he raced through the field to reach the ogre taunting him with the boy that waved precariously above it.
He quickly squeezed away the distance that remained between him and the monster, yet the bulblin riders had returned to cut off Link’s attack on their leader. Arrows soared through the air, their heads dancing with wild orange lights, and Link yanked Epona to the right to evade half the assault then banked left. He tightened his legs around Epona’s middle, released the reins, and allowed her to steer him straight toward one of the riders. He held his sword at the ready as he shifted his shield between the oncoming flares.
Multiple arrows jabbed his defense and it sprang into wildfire. Link tossed it away. At least it wasn’t me.
He leaned to the left and swiped his blade, taking two heads off. Their boar bucked and continued onward with their loose bodies until it collapsed.
An arrow then grazed Link’s sleeve, and although the lethal point had missed him, its fire had spread to his shoulder. He patted it down with his free hand and then grasped the reins again, jerking her in another direction. The ogre was now far off in the distance, the two remaining riders following it toward the Bridge of Eldin. Link pressed on.
When Link arrived at the entryway of the great stone bridge, he halted Epona. The two boars that belonged to the riders were now left to the side, and on the other side of the bridge, he could see a distinct figure. The ogre, facing him, the pike now attached to the front of the boar’s armor.
Link’s senses warned him of ambush, but his desire to rescue Colin surged stronger and was intermixed with a feeling that he had not been aware of until today: revenge. His eyes narrowed. It was his duty to rescue Colin, no matter the cost to his own life, no matter that both the spirit and Midna wanted him to purify the mountains. They would have to wait. Colin would be dead without his intervention.
He flicked the reins and Epona started forward.
Just as he passed the two pillars that attached the bridge to the field, the bulblins retreated from their hidden holes to each quickly toss a pile of wood into the exit. The last one sent an arrow into it from above, and fire now burned at Link’s back as a flare heated his heart. There was no turning back now. He would battle the ogre and he would only face three obstacles while trying to defeat it: the narrowness of the bridge, its mighty weapons and armor, and the hazardously swaying Colin—who could drop at any injury that the master undertook.
The huge boar underneath the ogre reared and charged. Link followed suit, brandishing his stained blade low to one side. He would not be able to deliver a direct blow, but maybe....
Epona remained center of the bridge, just like the boar creature, but in the last seconds before they were about to clash, Link pulled her to the right and struck with his left, slashing the lacings of a piece of armor. As the heavy metal clanked to the stone and fell into the wide expanse below, the two continued to their separate sides. A pile of fiery wood greeted them both and they turned around to face one another again. They started at each other a second time, this time Link feinted to the left but as the ogre swung a mighty axe, Link turned to the right and leaned over so that the arc of his left arm could reach the exposed flesh near its armpit.
Momentarily stunned, the ogre lost its axe. As the boar continued onward, it slipped from the saddle and fell to into the abysmal canyon below. The only honor Link gave the monster came from holding his blade high, covered in the blood of the deathblow. Epona reared to her fullest height on her back legs and snorted and neighed.
The humming nerve within Link’s soul—the one that had demanded vengeance—began to calm, and he turned to the boar that had broken through the fire and collapsed only meters away. A few flares were slithering up the pike, and Link ran his sword through the wood and caught the upper end. He worked hurriedly to untie Colin’s limp body, for eve though the four bulblins at the bridge were too dumbstruck to fire at them, he did not want to take the chance that they would recover while his back was turned.
Link sheathed his blade, pulled the boy into his lap and started off toward Kakariko.
===============
By the time Link had reached the road in the village, Colin—lying down across one of Link’s right arm—was beginning to stir. His blonde hair was matted to the sides of his face from the smoke of the fires. Their blue eyes stared back into the other’s. Colin immediately smiled, but weakly.
“Link? Is everyone okay?” asked Colin, his voice cracking.
Link smiled and held the boy tighter. “They’re all fine. Look, just up ahead.”
Colin dragged his head to the side, and smiled when he saw the faces of Beth, Talo, and Malo. Renado and Luda were gathered behind them. “Good.”
Link halted Epona before the mass, but stopped dismounting midstream when he heard the boy speak. “Beth,” began Colin, “I’m sorry. You know … for shoving you. Are you mad?”
With all eyes now on her, Beth could only shake her head. She was truly thankful that he had saved her life and sorry that it had been at the cost of his own life. Link could see that she felt solely responsible.
In the pause that ensued, Link took the opportunity to slide of his horse.
“He can has a bed in my house,” said Renado, and Link nodded.
He and started for the house, but arrested his step when he heard Colin’s voice again. “I think … I finally understand.”
Link looked down. “Oh?”
“I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link.” Colin took a breath as he examined his fist. “He wasn’t talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave.” His fist relaxed and he looked up at Link again. “You saved me, Link, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Colin beamed. “You … you can do anything.” His attention turned to the mountain in the distance. “You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine, too, can’t you?”
Link looked at Renado first, before answering. “Yes.”
A weak smile toyed with the boy’s lips, and it was either from relief or exhaustion that he collapsed in Link’s arms. The other children gasped, fearful, and Talo even tried to help Link carry him into the house, but Link knew that the boy would be all right, that he only needed rest. His injuries would heal.
Link lay Colin down in one of the upstairs beds and covered him gently. The children, Luda included, remained at his bedside. Link turned out of the room and set to examining the frayed sleeve that had been partly singed. He then felt the stickiness of his face and remembered all the blood that had collected there from his kills. He must look a fright!
Renado came up the stairs, just as Link had wiped a hand across his face, looking at the blood now on him palm.
“Please,” the shaman said. “Take a bath in the spring, we’ll wash your clothes, too.”
“But—”
“I don’t think you’ll be impressing anyone, not even the Gorons, with such an appearance,” returned Renado. “The evening hours are leaving us. Soon it will be nightfall. You should eat and sleep before moving up the mountain.”
A smile tickled at Link, and he nodded. He stepped past the shaman and retreated down the stairs and through the front door.
Renado watched him leave … and frowned. He wanted, with all his heart, to believe what Link had said to Colin was true. With any hope the Gorons would bestow their trust upon the young man that now knew hardly any pleasure in life at all.
Chaos had made him a man.
Innocent people were likely to be held accountable if that were the case, people that Link refused to be sacrificed in his name.
He kept Epona at a soft trot, avoiding the patrols and by midday Link arrived at the border of Faron Woods. He kept his senses about him, ever searching the woodland for any sign of further patrols.
He met no resistance on his way back past Coro’s house and across the Ordona bridge and into the familiar grounds that were the outskirts of the village. He past the spirit spring of Ordona, and through another break in the trail, he was staring up at his own home. He called Epona to a halt at this point and looked up at his house. It had only been a few days since all of the chaos that had spread across Hyrule had come to his knowledge. Already the house looked abandoned. A window had been cracked, the grass had grown longer, and there was a plant on the left side that had begun to wiggle its way up the wood.
But Link tossed away all sentiments and pulled his horse’s reins to face her toward the path into the village.
===============
The first parents that approached him were Sera and Haunch. After Link comforted them with the knowledge that their daughter was indeed safe, he followed the path to the house with an attached waterwheel. He dismounted and let himself into the house. At the sight of Link, Jaggle and Pergie stood up from the noon meal they had been silently eating, smiles crossing their lips. Though, after they shared their comforts that Link had not been hurt, they directly asked about their missing sons.
Link reiterated a short tale to them about his findings, and only left their house when he had convinced himself that the news of the boys had eased their hearts.
He grabbed hold of Epona’s reins and walked up the main trail of the little village and hiked up the incline to Uli and Rusl’s house. He tied his horse’s line to a rail of wood that was attached to the porch and knocked on the front door. After a moment wherein Link could hear the shuffling of feet and saw a flutter of hair at the window, the door was thrown open. Uli stared at him through the opening.
“Link! You’ve returned! Any news?” she said immediately.
“Colin’s safe. All of the children are.”
A sparkle of life returned to her face in that moment and the giant weight that had been worry lifted from her countenance. She welcomed him inside, wishing to hear the story of Link’s trek. At the conclusion all Uli could say was: “Rusl will be glad to hear of all this.”
Link remembered seeing his mentor in her house during his last visit and the memory of Rusl lying down in bed, tattered and bloodied, prodded his concern. “How is he?”
“Oh, he’s resting still and doing far better,” said Uli, and Link breathed again. “His wounds are healing. Knowing him, he’ll be up and walking in no time.”
Link nodded. It was something. None of the people closest to his heart had yet suffered a wound from which they would not recover. Rusl was recuperating in the next room, the people of Ordona were still untouched by death, the children were safe, and his trusted horse was well. And though he had only met her once, he had a lingering care for Princess Zelda. Perhaps it was her soft voice, her gentle face, her pleasant manner, or the sacrifices she had made in the attempt to protect the lives of her subjects. She was a wise and selfless woman, and he admired her bravery.
But there was still Ilia.
How long would it be before he met her on his travels? How long until he found her, safe or otherwise? Would she also have been spared the wrath of their separation?
Link bade Uli farewell after a few more minutes of easy conversation and was in high spirits upon his departure, but there was still one person to whom he needed to speak. And Link did not have any good news for him.
He made his way through town, leaving Epona at Uli’s house until he was ready to leave town again. She had neighed reluctantly at her master for leaving her side once more, but his kind voice and the familiar territory of her home soothed her.
At Ilia’s house Link found Bo sitting on the outside veranda, dangling his pudgy legs over the edge and looking down at his hand. Fado stood on the stairs leading up to where he was perched, apparently in an attempt to console the distressed older man. Link had stopped a moment to observe the mayor’s depressed stature, knowing that his tidings would only leave his heart heavier—especially with the coming knowledge that the children of all the other parents were safe.
Link approached the elevated veranda slowly, and Fado noticed him first, turning about. Although Fado was the rancher of the village, he was still a young man near the same age as Link. They had grown up together, and it was clear to Link that, by the gracious and tight hug that Fado ran down the stairs to give him, the rancher cherished their friendship more than anything. When Link finally emerged from the embrace he could not help a smile when he saw happy tears streaking the face of his friend since boyhood.
He then looked up at the house to find that Bo was now standing looking down at him with a piercing, hopeful gaze. Link dismissed himself from Fado and climbed the stairs so that he was face-to-face with Ilia’s father. Bo took in Link’s new appearance, for no one had seen him but Uli the last time he had entered Ordon.
“Come inside,” said Bo. “Tell me everything.” His tone was that true to a father who had lost sleep due to a daughter’s disappearance.
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“I see,” the mayor said, after having heard Link’s final repetition of the events that had taken place. “So they’re all safe and in Kakariko....” Bo heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good to hear. Renado’s and old friend. If they’re in his care then we can all relax.”
Link and Bo were seated at the table in the foyer—which was also the kitchen. Link only sipped at the tea that the mayor had brewed specially for him. He did not want to advertise how incredible his hunger had become, for he had not eaten—or truly slept—in some time, and he refused to take charity from Bo. He did not feel that he deserved such kindness.
Bo’s eyes narrowed then, and Link knew what his next ray of questions would concern, for not once had Link even mentioned his daughter’s name. “So, why are you keeping me waiting? How’s my little girl? Is Ilia all right, with the rest of them, is she?”
“Ilia....” Link hesitated before he spoke, choosing every word in his reply before delivering it. “I have not found her yet. She wasn’t with the others.” He looked away, shamed that he had failed both Bo and his daughter.
“That’s not what I was hoping to hear,” said Bo, playing exaggeratedly with the handle of his cup. “But,” he looked up, “I guess I need to think of all five of those poor kids, not just my own. They’re all in danger.” He sat thoughtful at the table for many moments, only silence existing between the two.
Link did nothing to break it.
But after heaving a sigh, the mayor focused his glance once again upon Link. “I shouldn’t be feeling sorry for anyone, though. I wish I had a way of helping you.”
“Actually, Mayor, there is something....” Link started, casting his eyes back upon the rotund man. “You see, the Gorons—”
“What?” Bo blinked largely. “The Gorons of Death Mountain?”
“Yes, Sir. You see, there is something I have to do,” said Link, careful about his words, picking only those that would not reveal his true purpose within the mines. “The Goron tribe has become … distant from those of Kakariko. They’re not allowing them into the mines or even into the mountain passes beyond the village. I was hoping to talk with them, negotiate, but Renado advised me against it.” He took a deep breath. “He told me that you knew how to gain their trust. I was hoping—”
“Ah, so Renado told you that?” said the mayor. Link was not sure if it was pride or agitation that crossed his oddly-trimmed mustached mouth. “Well, it is true. I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust.” The gleam of satisfaction was now quite noticeable in his words and gestures.
Bo seemed to be thinking hard in that moment, considering Link’s words and even—looking over his body, as if testing his muscles with his eyes. At long last a smile spread across his face. “Please, come into the other room. I’ll teach you what you need to know.”
===============
Link felt silly and uncomfortable. He had stripped off his clothes and gathered himself into a pair of shorter brown pants and a sash. Also, he had wrapped a band of white cloth round his wrist to hide the recent scar he had gained from the chain he had once worn as a beast. As he prepared himself in a corner of the room, he could hear Bo changing into lighter clothes as well.
“The basic rule of sumo wrestling is that whoever can push the other out of the ring first is the winner,” Bo was saying. “You can do this by using three simple techniques. Grabbing and pushing, striking, or sidestepping. But rather than bore you with a bunch of explaining, why don’t we just get to the real thing? Step in the ring when you’ve finished, lad.”
Upon reflex, Link fluffed his matted hair. When he turned around, he was surprised to see the mayor of the town so bare, wearing only a loincloth. But the embarrassment did not last long, for he reminded himself that he did this for the people of Kakariko. He had to gain the trust of the mountain tribe.
They stepped into the ring and crouched down opposite one another. Bo lifted a leg and pounded it back down on the mat—a show of his strength. Link repeated the movement, the smack of his bare foot against the ring softer only due to his smaller size. Then their match begun, Bo launching himself at Link. Though, remembering what he had named as the three techniques, Link sidestepped the lunge. When Bo recovered and faced Link again, the youth struck his hand against his face, and as the man was occupied with the sudden tiny pain, Link grabbed at him … and pushed.
Bo was nearly to the outside of the ring when he was able to push Link off him, but Link was faster and smaller and took the shove in stride, ducking when Bo slapped at him. From his low position Link thrust himself into the man’s midsection and applied the full force of his strength. Within a second Link watched as the mayor tumbled backward, out of the ring.
“Well,” gasped Bo, as he gathered himself up, laughing, “it seems you understand the basics. Care for a rematch?”
Link smiled.
===============
After what seemed an hour of training, Bo finally relented in the activity, and he and Link changed back into the old garbs.
“You’ve got natural talent, Link,” praised Bo, as they made their way back into the foyer. “And you’ve gotten a sight stronger in the short time you’ve been gone. I have high confidence in you.”
Link’s false smile disappeared as he watched Bo retreat into another room. Being inside Ilia’s house made him think of her, and it pained him terribly that she was not the one in the next room. He wanted so much to see her face and the smile with which she always greeted him. Without thinking, he moved to the stairs that wrapped around the right side of the room and up into another section of the house. He remembered sneaking around the outside of the house on the hill that rose behind it and sitting in the tree that sprang up from the earth so that he was level with her bedroom window. Many a night he would stealthily race up to his favorite bough so that he and Ilia could continue their conversations when she had been sent to bed, and many a morning he would sit in the same branch, tapping on her window to wake her, her smiling face greeting him when she opened its glass.
As he thought of the tree, he suddenly found himself staring out at it. Unconsciously, his feet had brought him up to her room. It was a small space, to be sure, for the top room had been split in two by paneling that broke in the middle to create a door. He had never heard Ilia complain. The half that was connected to the steps owned a tiny table set off to the side. Inside Ilia’s space a bed sat off to the right and a shelving unit to the left. The window that had bordered their countless conversations sprang out in the middle of the two items. A small, withering plant sat upon its pane.
He stood there for an eternity it seemed, just longing for her to be here, for her to be safe, for it all to have been a nasty dream. But it was not a dream.
He took a cup of water from the table and splashed it onto the dying plant before he set off down the stairs, a tear streaking his cheek.
===============
The way back through the fields of Hyrule were patrolled with the same amount of bokoblin guards as before. But once he came to the gorge, Link pulled roughly on Epona’s reins and guided her backward to hide them both behind a crag. Link peered out. On the opposite side of the canyon a large, armored ogre atop a fat pig-like creature watched as its swarm of cohorts—bulblin riders—searched the dead corpses that Link had piled behind a break in the red-brown rocks.
Link heard a horn blast and realized all too late that the ogre had signaled the others to ride into Kakariko to investigate further. It was the very thing that Link had been afraid of, and Link jerked tersely at Epona’s reins and willed her to catch up with the force before they reached the village, but by the time that they had crossed the bridge, the soldiers had already bypassed the locked gate and disappeared between the rocks of the narrow mountain path.
===============
In the desolate street of Kakariko Village, Talo and Beth were playing a game to occupy their time. Talo had hidden in a crevice near the sign that announced the town’s name, and Beth had just discovered his whereabouts. Colin and Malo watched from their earth seats at the door of the sanctuary as Malo ran from Beth, who was trying to catch up so that she could tag him.
But then the ground began to quake and a low, terrifying rumble echoed against the walls of rock surrounding the village, making the noise seem much louder than it truly would have been. Talo and Beth stopped immediately, looking around for the source. Colin and Malo stood up then, also passing their gazes all about. Then their sight was drawn to the westward entrance into the village.
Beasts riding beasts. The bulblin riders and their leader screamed through the narrow path and continued onward through the street, paying no mind that there were children in the thoroughfare that were about to be slaughtered by their beasts’ hooves.
Talo retreated, running at a pace he never thought possible.
Beth stood there, looking at the approaching figures, rooted by a massive dose of sheer terror.
Malo stared on, unable to digest what was happening.
Colin turned to the door and outstretched a hand, meaning to call for Renado, but he turned back to look at Beth. There were only seconds left. She could not move, and there was no time.
He had to do this himself. He left Malo—who now disappeared into the sanctuary—and sprinted for Beth, and just before the hooves pounded across her face.
It was then that Barnes emerged from his house and looked around for the disturbance that he had felt vibrating up his legs. A large, masked face was looking into his face just feet away. Barnes trembled, and meaningless gasps of troubled breathing sprang from him. The plump beast pushed its helmet mask up and red eyes met his, prompting Barnes to lower his own mask.
The ogre growled but was then distracted from the villager when it heard a horse’s neigh. It turned and saw a green clad man riding fast atop a steed, directed right for the ogre and its horde.
Link watched painfully as a large green hand drew upward holding a limp and bruised Colin for him to see. The ogre grinned and snorted then sped north with its minions.
Link followed, desperate and infuriated. He knew that fat face, those red eyes. It was the same ogre that had separated him from Colin in the first place. He was not about to let it escape with the boy a second time, not when he had already told Uli that her son was safe.
He felt rage burn within his skull.
It had taken Ilia from him as well.
When Link came to the field that had been spread out between mountains and cliffs, he spotted the ogre and its bandits lined upon the ground, facing him. A wall of twilight stretched across the horizon.
Colin had been strapped to the top of the ogre’s pike that displayed a long, frayed red flag. The boy was still unconscious. The ogre goaded Link with a wave of its hand, and Link unsheathed his long blade, ready to split the beast in two. But it blew on the same horn that he had seen it use when it had captured his friends, and more bulblin riders came careening over the hills of field just moments later, arrowheads aflame. And the ogre rode off.
A need for vengeance welled up in Link so great that he was ignorant of everything else but the soldiers and ogre ahead of him. He avoided their arrows with quick flips of Epona’s reins—though, most of the time, she did not need to be told to dodge the blows—and headed straight into their midst. With simple flicks of his wrist, blood had already begun to pour from several of them. He heard a few loud thumps behind him as he past the horde, sweeping his blade in and out of their gathering.
By the time Link emerged from their swarm, his face had already been tainted with spurts of their blood, his blade now shining from the multiple kills. His eyes flared insanely at the sight of the crimson that dripped from the weapon’s edges, and he raced through the field to reach the ogre taunting him with the boy that waved precariously above it.
He quickly squeezed away the distance that remained between him and the monster, yet the bulblin riders had returned to cut off Link’s attack on their leader. Arrows soared through the air, their heads dancing with wild orange lights, and Link yanked Epona to the right to evade half the assault then banked left. He tightened his legs around Epona’s middle, released the reins, and allowed her to steer him straight toward one of the riders. He held his sword at the ready as he shifted his shield between the oncoming flares.
Multiple arrows jabbed his defense and it sprang into wildfire. Link tossed it away. At least it wasn’t me.
He leaned to the left and swiped his blade, taking two heads off. Their boar bucked and continued onward with their loose bodies until it collapsed.
An arrow then grazed Link’s sleeve, and although the lethal point had missed him, its fire had spread to his shoulder. He patted it down with his free hand and then grasped the reins again, jerking her in another direction. The ogre was now far off in the distance, the two remaining riders following it toward the Bridge of Eldin. Link pressed on.
When Link arrived at the entryway of the great stone bridge, he halted Epona. The two boars that belonged to the riders were now left to the side, and on the other side of the bridge, he could see a distinct figure. The ogre, facing him, the pike now attached to the front of the boar’s armor.
Link’s senses warned him of ambush, but his desire to rescue Colin surged stronger and was intermixed with a feeling that he had not been aware of until today: revenge. His eyes narrowed. It was his duty to rescue Colin, no matter the cost to his own life, no matter that both the spirit and Midna wanted him to purify the mountains. They would have to wait. Colin would be dead without his intervention.
He flicked the reins and Epona started forward.
Just as he passed the two pillars that attached the bridge to the field, the bulblins retreated from their hidden holes to each quickly toss a pile of wood into the exit. The last one sent an arrow into it from above, and fire now burned at Link’s back as a flare heated his heart. There was no turning back now. He would battle the ogre and he would only face three obstacles while trying to defeat it: the narrowness of the bridge, its mighty weapons and armor, and the hazardously swaying Colin—who could drop at any injury that the master undertook.
The huge boar underneath the ogre reared and charged. Link followed suit, brandishing his stained blade low to one side. He would not be able to deliver a direct blow, but maybe....
Epona remained center of the bridge, just like the boar creature, but in the last seconds before they were about to clash, Link pulled her to the right and struck with his left, slashing the lacings of a piece of armor. As the heavy metal clanked to the stone and fell into the wide expanse below, the two continued to their separate sides. A pile of fiery wood greeted them both and they turned around to face one another again. They started at each other a second time, this time Link feinted to the left but as the ogre swung a mighty axe, Link turned to the right and leaned over so that the arc of his left arm could reach the exposed flesh near its armpit.
Momentarily stunned, the ogre lost its axe. As the boar continued onward, it slipped from the saddle and fell to into the abysmal canyon below. The only honor Link gave the monster came from holding his blade high, covered in the blood of the deathblow. Epona reared to her fullest height on her back legs and snorted and neighed.
The humming nerve within Link’s soul—the one that had demanded vengeance—began to calm, and he turned to the boar that had broken through the fire and collapsed only meters away. A few flares were slithering up the pike, and Link ran his sword through the wood and caught the upper end. He worked hurriedly to untie Colin’s limp body, for eve though the four bulblins at the bridge were too dumbstruck to fire at them, he did not want to take the chance that they would recover while his back was turned.
Link sheathed his blade, pulled the boy into his lap and started off toward Kakariko.
===============
By the time Link had reached the road in the village, Colin—lying down across one of Link’s right arm—was beginning to stir. His blonde hair was matted to the sides of his face from the smoke of the fires. Their blue eyes stared back into the other’s. Colin immediately smiled, but weakly.
“Link? Is everyone okay?” asked Colin, his voice cracking.
Link smiled and held the boy tighter. “They’re all fine. Look, just up ahead.”
Colin dragged his head to the side, and smiled when he saw the faces of Beth, Talo, and Malo. Renado and Luda were gathered behind them. “Good.”
Link halted Epona before the mass, but stopped dismounting midstream when he heard the boy speak. “Beth,” began Colin, “I’m sorry. You know … for shoving you. Are you mad?”
With all eyes now on her, Beth could only shake her head. She was truly thankful that he had saved her life and sorry that it had been at the cost of his own life. Link could see that she felt solely responsible.
In the pause that ensued, Link took the opportunity to slide of his horse.
“He can has a bed in my house,” said Renado, and Link nodded.
He and started for the house, but arrested his step when he heard Colin’s voice again. “I think … I finally understand.”
Link looked down. “Oh?”
“I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link.” Colin took a breath as he examined his fist. “He wasn’t talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave.” His fist relaxed and he looked up at Link again. “You saved me, Link, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Colin beamed. “You … you can do anything.” His attention turned to the mountain in the distance. “You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine, too, can’t you?”
Link looked at Renado first, before answering. “Yes.”
A weak smile toyed with the boy’s lips, and it was either from relief or exhaustion that he collapsed in Link’s arms. The other children gasped, fearful, and Talo even tried to help Link carry him into the house, but Link knew that the boy would be all right, that he only needed rest. His injuries would heal.
Link lay Colin down in one of the upstairs beds and covered him gently. The children, Luda included, remained at his bedside. Link turned out of the room and set to examining the frayed sleeve that had been partly singed. He then felt the stickiness of his face and remembered all the blood that had collected there from his kills. He must look a fright!
Renado came up the stairs, just as Link had wiped a hand across his face, looking at the blood now on him palm.
“Please,” the shaman said. “Take a bath in the spring, we’ll wash your clothes, too.”
“But—”
“I don’t think you’ll be impressing anyone, not even the Gorons, with such an appearance,” returned Renado. “The evening hours are leaving us. Soon it will be nightfall. You should eat and sleep before moving up the mountain.”
A smile tickled at Link, and he nodded. He stepped past the shaman and retreated down the stairs and through the front door.
Renado watched him leave … and frowned. He wanted, with all his heart, to believe what Link had said to Colin was true. With any hope the Gorons would bestow their trust upon the young man that now knew hardly any pleasure in life at all.
Chaos had made him a man.
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REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
~Zenu Aug 4, 2007 HA! That is my favorite part of the WHOLE freaking game! and when my bro controls the wii, I can read about it!
~nasanerd09 Apr 10, 2012 Good chapter! I like that you included Fado this time, and gave us some insight to their childhood. It makes the bonds between them stronger, really shows us why Link is so worried about Ilia. I'm also very impressed with the scene where Link faces the bulblin horde and their leader. We get to see that Link is indeed not perfect. Even he succumbs to feelings of revenge occasionally, and a flaw like that makes him very human. Also, it was something almost certainly present in the game. While reading this I could very clearly see the face Link had as he rode through Kakariko after the bulblins, the narrowed eyes and teeth bared in a snarl, his whole body tense. He looked ready to tear them apart by hand if he had to. But I also like that this flaw doesn't overpower him. He does what he has to do, he slays the evil, but as soon as Colin is safe, he stops. He doesn't go on a killing spree, riding about and slaughtering everything in sight. He doesn't allow his rage to overcome him.
~nasanerd09 Apr 10, 2012 Good chapter! I like that you included Fado this time, and gave us some insight to their childhood. It makes the bonds between them stronger, really shows us why Link is so worried about Ilia. I'm also very impressed with the scene where Link faces the bulblin horde and their leader. We get to see that Link is indeed not perfect. Even he succumbs to feelings of revenge occasionally, and a flaw like that makes him very human. Also, it was something almost certainly present in the game. While reading this I could very clearly see the face Link had as he rode through Kakariko after the bulblins, the narrowed eyes and teeth bared in a snarl, his whole body tense. He looked ready to tear them apart by hand if he had to. But I also like that this flaw doesn't overpower him. He does what he has to do, he slays the evil, but as soon as Colin is safe, he stops. He doesn't go on a killing spree, riding about and slaughtering everything in sight. He doesn't allow his rage to overcome him.