Fan Fiction ❯ The Mirror Tells All ❯ Ninth ( Chapter 9 )

You Wish! Productions presents...

The Mirror Tells All

A Legend of Zelda fan fiction

By: Blue Taboo

Proud member of Darkscribes.org

Link hadn't thought he'd long to go back to the cool, drafty library and sit with Sir Cortain while he read histories, but after toiling about with Banon in the sun, which was growing hotter as summer began to emerge, he would long to be in the Ice Caverns, if nothing else. He hadn't remembered Hyrule being this hot, but then again, back in those times, he had the shade of trees and temples to cool him, as well as the speed of his pursuit for justice and peace in his kingdom. Standing out in a bare courtyard and knocking about with heavy broadswords, he reasoned, was a lot different that than.

However, one good thing about the heat was that Banon tired more rapidly than usual, and bade Link to leave early, so that he could wash the sweat of the day's training off of himself before dinner, but Link knew that he had plenty of time to get to the stables and still accomplish that.

Ah...dinner. He almost dreaded it. Link would have to face up to Zelda for his actions of that morning, and he had wondered all day if the Princess would be angry with him, or rather understanding, or even inquisitive.

He had reasoned with himself, in the midst of Banon's thrusts and parries, as well as the bald Knight's shouting at Link to keep his form, that he did have a reason for giving her the stone as he did. It wasn't completely clear to him, but he was beginning to understand his own mind and instincts at that point, on that morning.

He had never given it to her anyway. The Great Deku Tree had said to give it to her, yet he kept it, and only showed her that he did indeed possess it. Had he given it to her...would she have thrown it back to him with the Ocarina of Time, or would she have kept it, and thus, prevented Ganon from entering the Sacred Realm. The possibilities, like streams from a great river, broke off into many points, and it was Link's own vice that he constantly found himself thinking of them. There were too many what ifs. He knew that he shouldn't dwell on them, but he always found himself doing so in the end, and Link hated that.

But that wasn't just it. In the roar of emotion he felt, thinking on how Zelda had kept with her those seven years that he was bereft from Hyrule, and from protecting both the kingdom and it's heir, there was still much to sort out. A concoction of feelings set him off to do what he did, such as he'd never felt before. The Hero of Time had indeed gained his seven years that were due to him, but he still felt ignorant. It frustrated him as much as all the possibilities did. There was so much to know in the world...and so little he knew.

What was it, though, that had made him loosen the strings of the pouch, and speak of Farore as he did? Life...he reflected, walking towards the stables where Epona eagerly awaited his visit, life itself is so precious. Zelda remembers two lives as I do, but she has so much more of that one, but were those seven years she suffered through really worth all the life she had? Again with the possibilities.

"What is done is done," he told himself out loud, with no one save the stones in the castle walls to hear him. There would be a better time to think of all that, and to put it all to rights in his mind. He'd always told himself that, though, all along. When would that time actually come, if it ever did?

Link looked up as he tried to clear his mind and his eyes were greeted with the vast inner courtyard of the castle, which housed all that couldn't be contained within the massive stone structure itself. The stables, along with storage sheds, a blacksmith's forge, pens for cattle and sheep, vegetable and herd gardens, as well as the ever present marching Hylian guardsmen all claimed that vast openness as their own. The swordsman could see a few of the stable boys, most he'd met, a few he hadn't, wrestling and chasing each other just outside the vast, yet homey stables. Link couldn't help but smile as he remembered his days as a Kokiri.

"Hey boys," he greeted as he approached, and in doing so, commanded them to stop in their play, even though he hadn't meant to. "Have any of you seen Chasel around? The boy who cares for my horse? She's the big red mare."

After receiving a few confused looks, one boy, slightly older than most of the crowd, whose name Link had learned was Byron, shouted, "He's probably sleeping up in the loft. At least that's how he was after lunch a few hours ago."

"Thank you," Link said politely and left them to play again, wishing he didn't have to interrupt in the first place.

He entered the stables, which were always dark and cozy, smelling of fresh straw and horses. He knew where Epona's stall was, and where all her tack would be, but he still wanted to find Chasel, just to ask how his mare had been since he'd last visited. Sure enough, as soon as Link began to climb the stout ladder to the loft in the rear of the stable, he saw sleepy little Chasel startle from the straw, nearly rolling over the edge in doing so.

"Oh! Sorry Master Link!" the drowsy boy immediately apologized, his voice scratchy and groggy from his nap. "I felt weary after lunch, because it was busy here this morning, so I just came up here to rest for a while but--"

"It's all right, Chasel," Link assured him and got out of the boy's way by going down the ladder again. "I just wanted to check up on Epona and see how she's been for the last few days."

Chasel, then hopping off the ladder, instantaneously perked up. "She's a great horse, sir. She really is," he began, leading the way to her stall. "All the other boys think she's crazy and wild because she won't let them use a lead on her, but I know they're wrong. She doesn't need a lead! You just kinda have to push on her shoulder to guide her, and she always follows. One of the prettiest mares in the stable too. I think she's even made Freya jealous!"

"Who does Freya belong to?" Link asked, relieved to here the boy's simple and eager talk.

"Oh, that's the Princess' white mare. She fancies herself a princess too, but I don't take care of her. That's Byron's job."

Link nodded, though it went unseen to Chasel. If only he could spend more time here...instead of with all the lessons and formality.

"Here she is!" Chasel said both as a statement and a greeting. Epona, who had caught her master's scent long before, had her head out of the stall and accepted the stable boy's petting of her nose, though she awaited the carrots that she knew her master had hidden in his pouches. After enduring the boy, she nudged Link until he gave in and relinquished the vegetables, which were devoured almost as soon as they appeared.

He ran a hand through her mane then, when the food was all gone. "So she hasn't been giving you any trouble then?"

"Nope, none at all," Chasel confided.

"Well, I have a little time to take her out for a ride into the outer gardens," Link told his mare's caretaker, "And don't worry about her things and brushing her down. I'd rather do that myself, since I don't get to do that much these days."

Chasel nodded, looking slightly disheartened.

"They other boys look like they've got a good game going outside, why don't you join them?" Link suggested thoughtfully as he opened the gate to the stall.

"I...uh...I don't like their games," the little Hylian said hesitantly, with a look that one could clearly see a hidden emotion in.

"What do you mean? Are they unkind to you?" the hero asked, concerned as to why Chasel would say such a thing.

"It's not like they hurt me or anything, sir. They just don't like me playing with them, and they don't let me a lot of time, and when they do, they just tease me. Besides, they're games are dumb anyway, and they should be working instead." The last part was added almost as an afterthought.

"That's not very nice of them then, is it? What reason could they have to tease a good boy like you?" Link demanded as he soothed Epona, who was excited about what seemed to be the start of a good ride.

"I...I dunno. They're just stupid! That's all! Besides! It's their own faults that the stablemaster scolds them and doesn't scold me! They get all the important horses to take care of, but they never do it right, and I get all the scrubs and wild ones, but I do the work I'm supposed to!"

Link couldn't help but laugh a little. He recalled this same argument among the Kokiri children. He'd seen it dozens of times, in dozens of forms. Link recalled this one fight he had with Mido over why Saria always played with him, as opposed to the great Kokiri leader.

"She says you don't let her play what she wants the play when you are with her. Saria said you always make her play your games and talk about all the stuff you do and that's why she doesn't like you," a small voice from the past shouted across the forest.

"Oh yeah, weakling? I say she's a big liar! At least there's gotta be something wrong with her, if she wants to hang around with a loser like you!" Mido countered, stinging young Link with his words, as always, and never offering any consideration.

"Well, Chasel," Link attempted to advise the kindly little boy, a grin still showing on the swordsman's face, "I'm sure you've heard this before, but those boys say such cruel things to you because they're jealous of you. You are doing what's right, and you know this to be true, but take it from someone who knows this well; doing what's right is almost never very easy at all, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, does it?"

The boy nodded, taking a small amount of confidence from Link's words.

"Why is it though, that they get to take care of all the important horses and disrespect their duties, while you're left with...the less predictable ones?" Link asked, slightly confused as to Chasel's situation.

"The stablemaster says I haven't proven myself yet, that I still need to show him that I can keep up my responsibility. I don't know what more I can do, though, and I wish he'd hurry up and kick those lazy oafs out of their jobs, because they don't deserve them at all!" the boy protested.

"Easy now..." Link said calmingly, almost as if he was talking to the horse he was grooming, rather than the boy who stood just outside the stall. "Wanting for revenge isn't the way to go about it, at least in matters like these. It's best, sometimes, to wait and see what comes to you. I'm sure, though, that you're sick of waiting."

Chasel nodded vigorously to this.

"Well, you said that you think Epona here is a very fine horse, and even if they all think she's wild and strange, you know better. I'm sure the stablemaster will notice, sooner or later, how well you take care of her, and how well you work with her. It takes skill in any horseman to learn a horse like I know you've learned Epona, and so quickly as well. Let your master see that, and I'm sure he'll recognize your talents."

"Master Rurick is away on a trip right now, buying some breeding stock from a neighboring kingdom, but I'll make sure he sees when he gets back!" Chasel sounded with new-found determination and self-confidence.

"There, you see, that's the right way to go about it. It's okay to be angry, but you shouldn't let it get to you if you can avoid it. There's better things to do with one's time than be angry, right Chasel?" Link inquired as he patted Epona and exited the stall to go find his tack.

The boy nodded once again and Link ruffled his short brown hair in reply.

"Best see that your horses are the fittest in the stable for when your master gets back..." Link suggested and bid Chasel on his way.

The hero smiled a little smile to himself. He wished that someone would've taught him how to deal with things like that when he was just a little boy. His brief life as a Kokiri would've been a lot easier that way...

That in mind, Link saddled a now zealous Epona, who shifted about as he did so, ablaze with enthusiasm over the run she knew she was going to have. It was only going to be a short while, this her master knew, but he knew that she needed it. He sensed that she would have preferred to remain out in Hyrule Field and fend for herself, rather than stay cooped up in a stable with only a bag of oats and a few noisy boys for company. Link led her out into the sun when he was finished and stopped the wrestling boys in their game once again.

"So you're the one who's got the crazy horse!" Byron shouted over the head of his much smaller opponent, who gave him one last, but ineffective push before ceasing. "Chasel says you hang around with the Old Knights, but he's just as crazy as your mare, and I think he's just lying."

"You shouldn't fear something you're unfamiliar with, you know," Link offered in response, coolly at best, as he mounted.

"Just who are you anyway, Mister?" another boy, small for his age with a nasal little voice asked.

"I'm Link, Squire of the House of Red Lions, son of Sir Dorian of Red Lions, but you can just call me Master Link. It's a lot shorter, don't you agree?"

The boys the proceeded to gape at him, taking in the strong young man atop his rusty mare with a newfound respect, for both him and Chasel.

"I...I beg your pardon, Your Honor," Byron finally forced himself to say through his own shock and confusion. "I knew that you were taking up residence in the castle, but I didn't know--"

"Forget about it, boy," Link told him, now trying to sound a little warmer. "That sort of thing doesn't matter to me. I don't care for that whole 'manners' thing much myself, but I believe that it has some practical use. There's a boy hard at work in the stables right now, while you all are out here enjoying the day, and he doesn't have to be working all the time, even though he does his job very well. Why don't you let him join you for a day? You might be surprised how nice he is, as long as you're nice to him."

And with that, Link rode off, not even setting his heals to Epona in doing so. He knew he didn't need a response from them. Chasel, of course, would notice a change in their demeanor pretty soon, though. Link let himself laugh as his horses' hooves thudded against the thick wood of the lowered drawbridge, and out onto the dirt of the castle road. Another day for a hero...even if they kept him in a stone cage...

Epona was reluctant to stop when it was time for Link to go in and wash up. He untacked her and brushed her down himself, and he would've done it anyway, but at the time, Chasel was too busy playing with the other boys to offer his help.

Link himself longed to ride some more as he began to climb up to his chamber again. He also noted that the castle was way too big, but that was beyond his help. He sighed as he opened the door to his room, realizing that he would have to come up with a coherent answer for Zelda when he would escort her to dinner and she would probably question him about his behavior earlier, but his dread was quickly replaced with wonder as he noted that a new set of clothes once again awaited him, laid out on his bed lovingly.

"I shall have to find the tailor and thank him someday..." Link said to himself as he observed the new outfit, that was even done in his favorite color: green. It was obviously meant to be formal, with a great forest green coat that was much like his other one, but made of a lighter and obviously more expensive fabric. It was trimmed in gold, and even had the great pockets that Link found so convenient. To go with it was a lightweight shirt of an off white color that would be loose and coolingly so for the coming summer. The trousers were a lighter green, but also trimmed with gold. A pair of shiny black boots, much the same as the ones that Damen was so fond of, were also at the foot of the bed, awaiting their debut. Link then decided that the tailor had to be some spy as well, for there were black gauntlets set out to match the boots.

All in all, he was very pleased, and happy to be back in green again.

On cue of time, Vesta arrived just as he had finished trying on his new boots and brought with her water and the things she used to fix his unruly hair. As they did every evening, she let him wash and change, then helped him with whatever he needed. One quick look in the Mirror Shield and with a few moments to spare, Link bid her good evening and went off to the Knight's Den to meet with his friends, and probably a very confused Princess, at least on that evening...

He tried to think of explanations and excuses as he went through the stone warren his kingdom called a castle. None that came to mind were fitting, and Link could already picture himself looking foolish, stumbling over his own words, and then ending up saying some corny thing that didn't even make sense in the first place. It would have to do, unless, his mind took it upon itself to surprise him.

He shouldered open the great carved door and was welcomed by the warm, yet still dim light of the great hearth once again. This time, however, instead of seeing silhouettes in front of the fire, he only saw one. Zelda stood, looking into the fire and not even giving his entrance a mere glance as she kept her stoic watch over the dancing flames. She looked both stunning and appropriate in her pale pink gown, Link noted, but he then realized that her beauty wasn't what he had to focus on, though it was hard for him not to.

Link shut the door, feeling the need to put a barrier between them and the rest of the castle.

"I told the Knights to go ahead tonight," she told him simply once he had closed them off.

"I see," Link said, then paused for a moment, but figured it was now or never. "Look, Zelda I--"

A strange play of light caught his eye as the Princess interrupted him. Resting in the palm of her hand was the Kokiri's Emerald. "You spoke of Farore this morning to me," she began. "You spoke of life and hope with an understanding I didn't knew that you had, or that I had, for any measure. You and I, Link," her voice grew warmer as she turned to face him, "We share a strange destiny, one that requires more understanding from us than I ever thought we had to give. However, we have survived it thus far, and there's still hope then, right?" Zelda's smile beamed.

Needless to say...it wasn't what Link had expected her to say...

He could only nod.

"This stone you...gave to me, it's the Korkiri's Emerald, right? The Spiritual Stone of the Forest, the gem that represents life, and the one I dreamt about you having. I know that it means a lot of the old times, besides all of its power, but...Link, may I ask why you gave it to me?"

Now that...he was wondering if she was going to get to that...

"Well...that day...I was supposed to give it to you. I never did, though. I kept it as I went searching for the other two...and then I went to the Temple of Time and used it, and the others, to try and protect the Triforce and...you know the rest. Maybe if...well..." Link paused, trying to gather his racing thoughts, trying to grab onto one that fit, and trying to spot the insane pounding of his own heart.

"You said it yourself," Link continued, "That it represents life, and rebirth and that sort of thing. You and I, well, we could say that we've lived twice, really, but this life is different. You have a new life, fighting for Hyrule in a new way, as do I, and...Remember when I first came here...when...Courage and Wisdom are forever linked in their battles, while Power is left alone. You and I, Zelda, are always some how in one another's lives, and that's destiny for us. The stone, though, doesn't have to represent just life and rebirth, in fact, it can represent whatever its possessor wishes. Maybe, one day you can tell me what it means to you, but..."

"...When I gave it to you, I realized, that, for me, it represented how my life was intertwined with yours...and all the people of Hyrule, but you most of all. Without the Princess of Destiny, there can be no Hero of Time. Without Courage, there is no Wisdom...and because now you have the stone, and you are who you are, it binds me to you, because I've always been your servant. I...I wish that there was no one else I had to bow to but you, Zelda."

As contorted and strained as the words came, they were of the young hero's heart, and it was because of this that he had so much trouble saying them. There was, of course, something deeper within his heart that he could not yet define, but there would be a time for that, and a place. He then got on his knee, both to emphasize his strangled point and to relieve the sudden weariness he felt, yet that was accompanied with relief as well...

"Link...I...I don't know what to say," Zelda confessed as he looked up to see tears standing in her royal blue eyes. "I always knew that you would follow me if you saw fit, but I never thought..."

She walked up to him, clutching the stone to her chest with one hand, and stretching out another towards him. She gently placed a hand on his cheek, as he looked up, completely awed with her, from where he still knelt before his one and only Princess.

"You and I," she told him, "You and I have a very strange destiny, Link, but I feel, that as long as we're in it together, that things will turn out all right in the end. I have hope for Hyrule...so long as you still live. I need you, Hero of Time. I've always needed you..."

Her tears fell then, but they were also tears of relief, and knowing that she had said what was in her heart. There were parts of that heart she had yet to discover, and in all of her busy days, had never known of, but they wouldn't lay untouched for long.

Link rose...to wipe away her happy tears. Her fair, soft skin was warm underneath his callused fingers, and Link only wished that his heart would stop threatening to burst. There was so much there, when they touched, so much beyond magic and destiny, but...all in time. All in time...it was a phrase Link understood like no other person in Hyrule, save, maybe one...

"We...we should go soon," Zelda finally said as the two stood very close, but doing nothing except looking into one another's eyes.

"Yes...Let's go, Milady." He offered her his arm, but no longer in the same playful way he always did. It was different now.

Yes...All in time...

/_\ /_\

/_\ /_\ Blue Taboo /_\ /_\