Legend of Zelda: Deluge November Part 8

     For the third time in five minutes, Link found himself flat on his back on the cold, stone floor, his head ringing. Dolo was laughing again and as Link pulled himself up, Golo was still standing across from him. He was leaning forward in place, his stance ready, grinning encouragingly.

     “Let’s try again!” he said. “Remember to keep your knees bent!”

     Nodding, Link rubbed his chest where the Goron had just managed to strike him and knock him over. “What is this called again?”

     “It’s from a southern form called sumo,” spoke up Dolo before the Golo could say anything. “We changed it some, but that’s it.”

   “Don’t worry about trying to knock me over yet, Durmuni said you need to be faster.” Golo frowned as they stood across from each other, ready to fight. “It must be hard to be so small, only really able to rely on your speed!”

     Link did not answer as he leaned forward, bending his knees, adjusting his weight. After a moment, Golo lunged at him and he immediately sidestepped. The form of wrestling they were practicing as focused on coordination and judging one’s own reach and the reach of the opponent. Used to knowing the reach of a sword, Link found the weaponless form to be unusual, but enjoyable, and was not discouraged. He knew that the blows he had and would sustain during practice would probably turn into impressive bruises, but he was not dissuaded.

     That morning, awoken early by Auru, they found intense, gigantic hail was assailing the castle. While the sturdy structures were wholly unaffected, it made going outside for even a minute or more impossible. And so when Link had gone to the stables, he found Malon already up and taking care of very bored and restless horses. Over the morning they calmed down as Malon took each of them out and walked them up and down the stables a few times and brushed them, but she still tittered about their lack of exercise. Several times when she spoke to Link about her own experiences with bad weather back at her family’s ranch, he would only take half of it in. More often he’d be distracted by a detail like the water from the melted hail in her hair that made it look smooth and shiny or, when she pulled her hair up, her ears and the beauty mark on the back of her neck. At this point she would often ask him for some confirmation or feedback, to which he would just nod amiably and promise himself to try to pay more attention to her words the next time.

     After the horses were given mash at noon, Malon sent Link off to get them lunch. On his way back from the dining area, Link ran into Golo, who invited him to train with him in a few hours in an old sparring area that the knights did not use anymore. Returning to the stables, Link told Malon about it as they ate. She had nodded in encouragement.

     “You want to be a lone warrior or something like that, right?” Malon asked. “This sounds like it’d be a good thing, I suppose.”

     “You wouldn’t miss my help, would you?” he asked.

    “Oh, I think I can manage for a while, as long as you’re back before dark to help me out. I’ll be fine. Just don’t get in too much trouble!”

     And so Link had been training with Golo for a couple hours now. Dolo stood nearby, making critical comments throughout, but otherwise doing nothing. The training stayed inside a chalk-drawn circle drawn for the sparring ring and was largely structured; it seemed like very light wrestling without any actual wrestling. At the most, Golo would reach out and give what was supposed to be a stunning slap, but it wound up pushing Link over each time. The Goron was much faster than Link thought he would be, and for the first hour he was knocked over and usually out of the ring several times. Soon however, he grew to instinctively judge the Goron’s reach and movement, and managed to largely avoid the Goron’s strikes. He quickly tuned out anything that Dolo said and all of his jests, and soon found the practice to be nearly verging on easy. Every now and then Golo would do something unexpected and would wind up pushing Link out of the ring with just one blow.

     As evening began to fall and they ended their practice and parted, Link was sore yet excited as he hurried back to the stables. Thinking back to the night with the Stalchildren attack, he wondered if he would have responded better if he had done more types of training than just sword fighting with Purel.

       After he finished helping Malon to settle the horses down for the night in the stables, it was pitch black outside, and the sound of the hail was only all the more deafening. After a young stablehand in training came to watch the horses for the night, they left and quickly got some food left over in the kitchens. After a quick farewell, Malon departed to her own sleeping quarters and Link slowly made his way back to the knights’ quarters. On his way, he met Auru, who was looking at something in his hands. His expression was full of nervous anticipation as he stared at it, and he was so preoccupied that he walked next to Link for a couple minutes before noticing him.

     “Oh! Hey, Link.” He folded whatever it was into his hands and then put them behind his back. “How’ve you been these past few days?”

     “Fine.” Link frowned. “Didn’t I tell you about it last night?”

     “Oh, yeah.” Auru smirked weakly. “That farm girl, Malon, was it? You said she was cute, eh?”

     Feeling warm, Link looked down at the ground ahead of them. “I-I never said that.”

     “You didn’t really have to.” Auru suddenly stopped, his expression thoughtful. “Speaking of girls, I was thinking about Layrel…”

     Link came to a halt. “What about her? I’m sure she’s doing fine. Purel will look after her.”

     “Well yes, yes. But, there’s the matter of the engagement jewelry.” Auru looked at Link nervously, then pulled his hands out from behind his back. Opening them, he revealed what first looked like a very loose bronze and gold bracelet. Link reached out and picked it up delicately, examining it. One side of it was largely undecorated, pure bronze, while the other side was full of detailed handiwork and the gold plaiting. Inlaid in this side were three gemstones; two were simple quartz, clear with a slight pink hue, signaling good luck. In the middle was a small, imperfect, but still lovely emerald. Holding it up and looking at it, Link realized it was not a bracelet, but a fine chocker necklace.

     “What do you think? Will she like it?” Auru grinned tensely.

     “Yes, but…” Link handed Auru back the necklace. “Where are you getting it from? How are you affording it?”

     “The merchants in the castle, they offered it to me at a cheap price because I’m helping them.” Auru held the necklace up, smiling at it. “You can’t tell while it’s on its own like this, but it actually has a lot of flaws compared to most jewelry. So, with the money I brought with me as well as the additional work I am and will be doing for the merchants, I’ll be able to afford it fine.”

      “I see. You know, choosing this kind of jewelry was a really good idea.” Link leaned forward, his hand on his chin, imagining his sister wearing the necklace. “It won’t get in her way like a long necklace or a bracelet or anklet might. And she always looked at the emeralds in the caravans…” He nodded, grinning. “It’s great.”

     “I knew you’d say that!” Beaming, Auru happily punched him on the shoulder that Golo had struck hard during training. Link winced, gritting his teeth. Auru’s face fell slightly. “What is it? You got a bruise? Don’t tell me you’ve been fighting with Bolek!”

     “No, no.” They started to walk again towards the knights quarters. “It’s the Gorons, and my training with Golo. He’s pulling his punches, but it’s still like getting a rock thrown at you.”

     “If it’s that painful, maybe you should stop.”

     Link shook his head. “No, it’s not really that bad. It’s different than anything I’ve ever done, and I think I’ll be able to learn a lot.”

     “So, what? How are you going to use this type of training at home? It’s not like we need warriors or anything around there.”

     When Link could not come up with an answer, Auru began to talk about the merchants in the castle and the quarries of numerous stones and gems that they went to in the western mountains. He kept talking even as they reached their quarters and readied for bed. Castle curfew was shouted through the halls each night by the few servants and patrols that stayed up through the night. As they passed by, Auru went silent, but later on he kept talking.

     Link shifted in the bed he was using; it was wood with no mattress, and he was accustomed to having some padding, even just of extra cloth. The hard bed was unrelenting on where Golo had hit him, and he tried to find a position that pressed against the fewest amount of sore spots.

    When Auru finally quieted down again and the only noise was the distant rapping hum of the hail, he asked, “What about the storm? Did the Magicians say anything else about that?”

    “Oh, you didn’t hear? They said they know what the spell is. They’ll be able to break it in a few days. It shouldn’t do too much harm, but we should stay inside. The hail is getting bigger. They’ve boarded up all the windows or sealed the glass ones with magic.”

     Auru sighed loudly. “Though, the Magicians aren’t saying who could have made the spell or anything. The merchants said they probably don’t know, since the castle household is usually pretty open about everything, so they wouldn’t hide it. Probably.”

    “Purel said the same thing, about the household not being secretive,” Link said. “Besides, at least, the Princess doesn’t seem like a sneaky type or anything. But…”

     “But what?”

     Link sat up and stretched his shoulder out a little as he answered, “If someone was trying to hurt people in the castle, wouldn’t they have done a spell that would have gotten through the walls? This hail is rough, but it…” He shrugged.

    Nodding, Auru said, “I see what you mean. It’s such a big spell, they were saying, but it’s not doing much harm. If they were trying to really cause damage, or death, they would have made it more severe. I mean, what’s the point of making something this big if it’s really only inconvenient in the end?”

     Sitting back down, Link was frowning. The only reason he could think of for the storm was to stall someone, to keep someone inside of the castle, to stop them from leaving. He shook his head at the idea.

     I have no idea who would want that, or why. It doesn’t make much sense. There were knights in the city itself, so it’s not a security problem. Purel has told us about storms worse than this that the castle and the city got through. Rolling over onto his undamaged shoulder, Link pulled his single, old quilt up and closed his eyes. There’s no way I can figure it out, and besides, it has nothing to do with me.

     Over the next three days, Link developed a schedule of helping with Malon in the stables in the morning and evening, and training with Golo during the afternoon. Dolo grew increasingly quiet with each day, looking more bored by the hour. As they practiced different styles of fighting within the chalked ring, Link found himself growing faster and more adept to Golo’s attacks than he would have thought possible on the first day. They kept things basic, and it was a given that Link would not try to actually strike Golo; the one time he did so on impulse, he knew he barely avoided breaking his wrist.

     Eventually, with Dolo unwillingly stepping in for demonstration, Golo started teaching Link how the smaller Gorons would use the weight of the larger Gorons against them during certain points of particular matches. Being still very lightweight, Link was not able to use the techniques well against Golo, though on the third day he did manage to make him trip over his own weight when he lunged at him. He grabbed the Gorons arm and pulled him past him, driving his weight forward, sending him stumbling out of the chalk ring.

     Golo was elated at this small success, clapping Link hard on the back. Link heard a small applause and, expecting Dolo’s sarcasm, turned around glumly. He froze to see Malon there, beaming. Before he knew it, she was over to them in the circle and as she neared, he realized with acute embarrassment that he was shirtless, having taken it off earlier for mobility.

     “So that’s what you’ve been doing?” Malon was grinning at them all. “From what Link was saying about this training, sounds like that was a big step, finally getting you out of the ring!”

     “Hardly,” Dolo said, his voice sounding almost too bored to be a drawl. “This sort of thing is the most basic technique that Gorons learn when we’re children. It’s hardly a great feat.”

     “But still, for his size, it does mean something,” Golo said, nodding, still smiling triumphantly.

     “D-did you want something, Malon?” Link managed to ask, wishing he could go and pull his shirt back on.

     “Oh, I just wanted to tell you to come back a little early tonight. I’ll need your help with this one old mare; I found a small infection on her that I didn’t spot this morning. I’ll want to clean it out tonight, but she’s an awful kicker. I’ll just need you to help steady her.”

     Link nodded, but out of the corner of his eye, spotted the Gorons go tense. He frowning, he noticed the echoes of someone’s footsteps, walking down the hall to the small, secluded room and looked towards the entrance. Malon turned towards the door as well just as Bolek ambled into the doorway. At first his expression was sour, but it lightened quickly when he glimpsed Malon.

    “What are you doing down here?” Dolo asked immediately. “Knights aren’t allowed to be around here, you know that. And you never use this room, correct?”

    “I’m not here to steal any of your big secrets, or whatever,” Bolek said, walking over beside Malon. “I’m here because the Magician’s Guild wanted everyone to know immediately that the spell will be broken in just about an hour. The weather should clear afterwards, and so if anyone sees any sign of clouds or strong winds or rain or sleet or whatever, even just a bit, you’ve gotta let someone know about it, because it means something else is up. That’s all, alright?”

     “Why is that?” Malon asked.

     Bolek cleared his throat and stood up straight before answering in a more polite voice, “The Magicians’ Guild said that they cast another spell that will give us completely calm weather. So any sign of bad weather at all means that whatever it was that was making the storm isn’t completely gone.”

     “All this fuss over spells.” Golo shook his head. “I don’t really understand. Magic is certainly strange, but it does not seem very powerful. This storm was not too great.”

     “Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be if I was made of rock, but most of us aren’t.” Bolek’s tone was dismissive, but not excessively rude.

     Still, Dolo walked out towards the ring, saying, “You’re that knight who got his nose broken, eh? Getting your nose broken by a mere civilian, that’s gotta be pretty humiliating!” He laughed lightly, but humorlessly.

     Bolek shot a glare at Link, saying, “That was because this jerk took me off guard.”

     “Off guard? Well, that’s to be expected for a knight.”

     “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

     “You really punched Bolek in the nose?” Malon whispered to Link as Bolek and Dolo began to loudly bicker.

     Link looked away, folding his arms. “It wasn’t…my best moment.” He thought of mentioning why he did it, but when Malon just looked away to listen to Bolek and Dolo, abandoned the thought of making excuses.

     “You’ve got a lot of nerve to be that rude with your allies,” Dolo was nearly spitting.

     “I didn’t think he was really that bad,” Golo was saying, uneasily shifting on the spot in an uncertain, hesitating way that did not fit his gigantic stature. “Dolo, you’re tired, just—”

     Dolo rounded on him, nearly screeching, “Don’t you tell me how I am!”

     “I just think it’s strange that you’re oh-so-secretive about your special…” Bolek gestured wildly at the chalk circle, “wrestling match or whatever! What can you know that’s such a big deal, anyways?”

     Dolo grinned, showing his teeth almost as though he was threateningly baring them. “Do you want to find out? But, oh, you’re so slow, you must be afraid you’ll get your nose broken again—”

     Before he knew what was happening, Link found himself and Golo being shoved out of the ring by Dolo. Malon stepped back with them as Bolek quickly took off his helmet and some of his armor, while Dolo snickered, stretching his neck with a gravelly cracking noise.

     “You might want those scraps of metal to protect you, boy.”

     “I don’t need it. I’ve never lost a real fight in my life!”

     “You did get your nose scrambled.”

     “That wasn’t a fight! That idiot” he jerked a hand out towards Link, “just went crazy all a sudden! And I would’ve had him flat and done the same to him in no time if—”

     “Yeah yeah, all talk.” Dolo was still grinning, his arms were already raised eagerly, ready.

     As Bolek stepped in the ring, Link looked over towards Malon, “Maybe you should leave?”

     “What are you saying, fairy boy?” She wildly shook her head, her expression excited and vibrant. “I love wrestling!”

     There was a pause as both Bolek and Dolo froze in the circle, squaring each other up. Bolek lunged first, and the fight started.

     It was over before someone would have had time to toss a coin in the air to place a bet and catch it. Bolek, who was clearly still used to shoving his weight and height around to win fights, was on his back outside of the ring with one hit, all the wind knocked out of him. Yet when Dolo kept laughing and with Malon excitedly screaming at him to get back up and fight, he grunted and slowly rose back up. Still stunned from the blow, he almost blindly ambled back into the ring. He attacked, and Dolo easily got knocked him away. This time however, he had enough sense to not take a breath and to be winded by the blow. Managing to get back up quickly, he returned to the ring.

     The cycle repeated itself several times until Dolo hit Bolek on the shoulder with full force instead of just pushing him away in the gut. Letting out a strangled shout of pain, he went flying, almost right into the wall. Before either of the fighters could move or speak, Malon whistled loudly, piercingly, using two of her fingers.

     “Dolo wins!” she exclaimed, waving towards the Goron, who smirked broadly, casually stretching his neck and arms. Immediately Malon hurried over to Bolek, her expression was concerned as she knelt next to him, slowly helping him sit up. Link followed, but kept distance, with Golo behind him, both watching. Each time Bolek tried to move the shoulder that had been hit, he winced and let out a sharp hiss of pain.

    “What’s wrong with it?” Malon’s face was pale, and she looked up at Link and Golo. “I don’t think it’s broken…”

    “No, I didn’t hit him that hard,” Dolo said, still stretching in place.

    Squatting down, Link said, “I think it might be dislocated.” After watching for another moment as they tried to move it, he nodded. “Looks like that’s the case.”

     “What does that mean, dislocated?” Golo asked as Bolek slowly rose to his feet, trying to wave away Malon’s steadying hands from his arm and back.

     “Means that I popped him just a little too hard,” Dolo answered, finally walking over. Neither his voice nor expression looked concerned, and his sigh was casual, free of any sign of worry. “It wasn’t a bad fight, boy, but you’re made of meat, after all.”

     “Dislocated…I don’t know how to fix this,” Malon said.

     Bolek shoved her away and stepped back from everyone, red in embarrassment and in pain as he snapped, “Well, it’s fine! I get it, I lost. I don’t need anyone’s help, I can take care of it myself!”

     “Have you ever had a dislocated shoulder before?” Malon was asking Link.

     He looked at Bolek and nodded slowly. “Yes, I have.”

     “Humph! You musta cried real hard then, you couldn’t have handled this,” Bolek managed to shoot out, his voice sounding tight with the pain.

     “Actually it was three summers ago when we got into that fight during May Day, and you knocked me against the pole stone,” Link said, his voice deadpan, trying to resist any feelings of anger at the memory.

    Bolek frowned. “How did you get over it? Did you fix it? Who fixed you up?”

     “No one helped me. I knew you were probably going to pick a fight again, and I didn’t want to have it hindering me—”

     “Well, what did you do?” Bolek snapped impatiently.

     “I ran against another rock and bumped it back into place.”

     Malon was staring at him, aghast. “You could have hurt yourself! I mean, even worse!”

     “Uh, I guess so.” Link scratched the back of his head. “I guess it wasn’t exactly the brightest idea.”

     Malon shook her head, an incredulous smile on her face. “You’re something else, fairy boy.”

     At first, Bolek insisted on trying the same thing with the walls in the room. When Malon insisted otherwise and offered to accompany him to the medical ward, he reluctantly agreed. As they left the room, he looked back at Link and the Gorons.

     “No one hears about this, okay?” he snapped, giving his most pointed glare at Link.

      Golo was nodding, but Dolo just snorted, saying, “You’re not in a position to insist anything, now are you? But, you weren’t supposed to be here in the first place. So let’s all forget about this and not mention it.” He looked at Golo pointedly. “We won’t mention it to anyone, alright?”

     His face falling, Golo reluctantly murmured agreement.

    A few minutes later, they resumed training for a while, but Golo was clearly preoccupied with what had occurred and moved very slowly, with no force at all behind his punches. Link did not comment on his lack of enthusiasm; in fact, he himself was also inattentive, wondering exactly why Golo listened to Dolo so much despite being so much larger and heavier. He remembered Purel explaining how personality, more than skill or size, would often determine who was dominant in a chain of command. As he tried to analyze the two Goron’s personalities a little, he nearly tripped over his own feet, stumbling out of the circle. The thoughts buzzing in his mind drowning out Dolo’s usual sarcastic remark, he stepped back into the ring and tried to focus on the small, underwhelming fight.

     Falling onto his bed that night, Link hardly bothered to even take off his shoes, his body aching and exhausted. Auru was there, putting the necklace for Layrel in a small leather pouch and storing it under his pillow. After moment, Link reached underneath his own pillow and pulled out his green, pointed hat. Finding the tear in it, he recalled how it had gotten torn by the Stalchildren. He had promised himself that he would fix it a while ago, and yet here it was, nearly forgotten.

     Ignoring how tired he was, he sat up and put the hat down on his quilt, reaching over to his supplies packed together at the end of his bed. He rummaged through them until he found a needle and thread that Layrel had packed for him and began to sew his hat back together. The tear was big, but it was largely clean, and he did not need any patching done.

     “Didn’t Layrel get that for you?” Auru asked, watching as Link worked.

      Link shook his head. “You did.”

     “Oh…that’s right.” Auru sighed and lay down, still watching. “Layrel helped me choose it though. Seems like such a long time ago! It was just a year ago though, last Eventide.”

     Smiling at the memory, Link said, “I was surprised you had got me anything.”

     “Well, you got me something. It’s a good thing I already had something to return the favor with.”

     Frowning as he tightened what he had sewn, he said, “You were always so busy reading when you weren’t working.”

     “Really? I wasn’t really all that busy, actually. I mean, I had time enough for Layrel and everything. You could have talked to me any time.”

     Keeping his gaze focused on his hat and away from his friend, Link just shrugged, unsure what to say.

     Auru sighed and sat up, saying, “I wish Bolek could come back to the village.”

     “Why’s that?”

     “He doesn’t seem to fit in here, does he? Maybe he likes it a lot, I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to talk with him much. But still, it’s no secret he’s pretty much all alone here.”

     Pausing in his work, Link asked, “Did you hear about his shoulder?”

     With a groan, Auru put his face in his hands. “Yes, though I practically had to pry it out of him! Were you two fighting again? He wouldn’t tell me what happened!”

     “He was fighting someone else, Dolo, that Goron. But, he wasn’t supposed to, so keep it a secret, would you?”

     “Of course. Ugh, that idiot, those Gorons are made of rock! I mean, he was annoyed when he heard they were teaching you, but—”

     “How did he hear about that?” Link tightened the sewing again; the tear was almost mended.

     “Uh…” Auru looked back down at his bed. “See, I didn’t know it was a secret, so I might have mentioned it. But he hasn’t told anyone else!”

     Keeping his mouth shut and keeping a sigh down, Link just nodded.

     Auru had turned around, sitting his legs crossed, facing Link. “This might be a bad time to ask, but…” He waited for Link to look at him, but when he kept sewing, he went on, “After this trip, and all that’s happened, what do you think? About Layrel and I, I mean.”

     Finished, Link pulled the thread tight, closing the tear, and tied the thin thread into a small knot. Although he knew Auru was waiting, he thought of the thread and needle in his hands, and how Layrel had the forethought to pack them for him. She had also taken excellent care of their house and family, both pathetically small compared to most. As he finished the knot with the thread, a part of him wondered what would happen to him without her. Grabbing the small, old clipper to cut the thread, feeling Auru watching him, he remembered the night before they left. He remembered Layrel’s expression, her voice and sincerity.

     The image of her through the years began to float before his mind. Sighing, he put the clippers down and leaned his head on his hand, letting the memories wash over his mind. He pointlessly turned his hat over in his free hand, clenching it tight when he remembered the time that he and Layrel had almost been eaten by wolves. Then he smiled and released the hat as each peaceful or fun day they spent together floated past, followed by his last glimpse of her as they left the village. She had been excited, her expression and eyes alight, but her forehead was creased, touched with concern. Her hand waving farewell to them had the calluses of her many years of working to keep them both alive.

     “Link?” Auru asked hesitantly.

     He glanced over, realizing he was still kneading his brow with his hand.

     Auru looked worried, unsure, but he slowly asked, “If how much time I spend reading is really bothering you, I promise I can cut back on that.”

     Shaking his head, Link smiled and sat up straight, his hands working on folding up his hat. “No, I think Layrel likes that side of you. She’s always talking about how smart you look when you spend all that time studying.”

     “So, it is too much time?”

     “No, I…” He rubbed the back of his head, then said, “No, I don’t have a problem with you and Layrel.” He cleared his throat. “I think you’ll be fine together.”

     “Oh, good. Bolek didn’t scare you off, either?”

     The corner of his mouth twitched. “If he says anything bad at the wedding, is it alright if we…” He made a throwing gesture, grinning.

      Auru laughed a little too loudly, looking relieved. “Yes, that’s not a bad option to keep open, just in case. But he has to come. He is my brother, and…I just want to rub it in his face a little that I’m marrying first. And, maybe he’ll be different by then.”

     Link pulled his hat. “You don’t give up on him, do you?”

     “He’s not a bad guy, he’s just…”

     “After what he said about Layrel, I don’t know about that,”  said Link flatly as he pulled the quilt up and over him.

     “He apologized for that.”

     Link’s mouth fell open as he stared at Auru, who nodded.

     “You’re kidding. He never apologizes for anything. Does he?”

     “He did!” Auru nodded again. “I mean, he didn’t exactly take back everything, but he admitted he went a little far. He said he was just surprised by the news.”

     Link opened his mouth, but shut it before he could say anything. Instead he lay down and only after he had settled into a comfortable position did he say, “I just don’t know.”

     “I don’t blame you.” Auru stood up on his bed and blew out all but one of the candles hanging in the open ceiling lantern right above them. “He was always a bit of a bully.”

       Laughing, Link said, “I guess so, though I have almost died thanks to him. Like the time where he got me lost in the woods for a week.”

     “He apologized for that, too!” exclaimed Auru, getting back into his bed.

     “Yes, and then he…” Link shook his head. “He was always bothering us.”

     “True. Remember when he followed us when we went hunting for fairies after you saw one when you were a kid? We almost got eaten by those boars because he ran ahead of us and bothered them!”

     “The wolves are nothing compared to those boars.”

     “I agree.” Auru shuddered. “I still just hate them. Pigs, too.”

     “Especially after you got sick on that pork.”

     “What? You remember that? That was horrible!”

      Despite weariness and the darkness, they stayed up talking well into the night about old times. As they relived the only Link pulled a prank on Bolek they laughed so loudly that a knight came to their door, demanding quiet. Still they kept talking and only an hour later when Quin came and threatened them did they finally stop reminiscing and settle down quietly. Auru fell asleep first and as Link felt himself drifting away, he noted in his mind that his friend hardly snored at all.

     Another reason why he’s good for Layrel. She’ll never have problems sleeping through the night.

     Smiling to himself, he curled up in the blankets, and as he closed his eyes, the soft noise of a whispering, whistling, moaning wind lulled him into sleep. 

The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo

"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan