LoZ: Hero's Blood- Chapter 4

             Clouds covered the sky over Hyrule Field.  It was as if the goddesses' eyes were to start becoming moist at the loss of the country's hero.   However, it was a victory for the goblins, who now ran to the west, huffing over the green fields from their tiresome canter.  One stopped, placed his hands on his knees, and panted; as many others followed the suit.
             
   "No resting!"  The blue bokoblin yelled, half entranced in his little red bottle, as he turned to his followers.

                "We're not goin' no further… till we've had a breather, Shriver." A bulblin grunted, his breath heavy.  The rest of the goblins followed his statement by nodding and yelling in agreement.  Shriver growled in protest, but agreed that it was now late, and it wasn't like they had Link to worry about.

                "Fine, fine… get a fire going," Shriver commanded.  The goblins caught their breath, then went out the nearest tree and chopped at the strong branches.  All except one.  One certain moblin held a lithe female Hylian over his shoulders, her hands bound and hanging around him like a cloak.  Soft breathing could be felt on his back as the girl slept, exhausted from trying to escape multiple times.  The moblin set her down gently on the grass, then stared at her, curious about the girl.

                "Crul, what are ye doin?  Get over here and help us; she's not going anywhere," the bublin screamed.  Crul simply nodded and clumsily ran over to the group.  He simply gave the tree in front of him a push, and it fell over with a crack and a large thump.  The horde of goblins stared at the moblin in awe but then shooed him off again.  Crul walked back to the lady with a pout.

                "No one like Crul," he grumbled, crossing his arms and sitting on a rock next to the young Hylian girl.  Upon further looking he saw that the girl was, in fact, not asleep.  Her eyes were wide open and wet, leaking into her bound hands.  Crul looked on with compassion, curious for her story.

                "Why pretty lady cry?"  He asked, his face leaning forward a little, to get a better look.  The girl took her hands from her face, and revealed an angry expression.

                "Why do I cry?" she asked, incredulous, "Did you not see what you monsters did? You did not only kill my dearest friend, you destroyed him. I… didn't even get to say goodbye." She held back a sob and sat up as much as she could, so that looked the moblin in the face, who was now a little afraid of the young Hylian girl.  "I would not wish the fate that befell him on any creature, human or otherwise; until now.  Your people are cruel and evil, and I will fight until the last of this race does not roam this earth, even if it kills me."  Crul the Moblin retreated as far as he could without leaving his seat.  The girl's eyes were so filled with fire, so full of hate that you could feel the heat coming from her gaze.

                "I no do it," he replied, the large creature nearing tears himself.  "I no like hurt people.  It make me feel bad.  I no like seein' hero hurt either, but can't do nothin'.  I no want to do this, but I have to."  Zelda's eyes calmed as she looked at the giant creature.  Was he showing… compassion?  Was he being sympathetic to her?  She had never thought of the fact that the goblins had to serve the Dark King.  The thought of a decent one had never entered her mind.  Crul looked around to see if any other goblins were around before he leaned in and whispered to the princess.  "I no like Master.  Master kill my brother."  The princess' eyes got wide.

                "Why?" she asked, no other words coming to her.

                "Little brother not strong enough," the moblin replied sadly, "On eastern march, he fall over.  I try to help him, but Master stop me, making me march on as little brother get crushed by crowd."  The Moblin almost started crying.  Zelda almost wanted to console him, make him a little less heavy hearted.  But if she had learned anything in the past few hours, it was that goblins were smarter than they seemed.  She would not be so quick to trust him, it would be unwise.

                Zelda turned from Crul, deciding to lie on her side and completely ignore
him instead.  The wind blew a little, making her shiver.  She tried as best as she could to gather herself to retain warmth, but she was not succeeding.  The black cloak she was wearing was doing very little, as she could not reach it from her back with her bound hands.  Perhaps she would just let herself die here, in the cold.  The more she thought on the idea, the more it disturbed and comforted her.  She soon shook the thought out of her head. 'No,' she thought,'that will never do.  I have a duty to uphold to my people… and… if I die… his death will have been for nothing.'  Zelda felt herself begin to weep once more, but she took a deep breath and relieved her mind of the thought.

  'But first, I must escape.  Think, think!  How would Link do this?' She thought, beginning to chuckle quietly, 'Well, he would probably not get caught in the first place.'  She began to work at the twine bonds; but the ropes were thick, and tied tightly.  She just was not strong enough to simply break them.  Thinking for a moment, she thought of something else.  She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, focused; then, with the utmost concentration and smallest power, created a tiny flame in her hand.  She slowly opened her eyes, staring at the fire dancing in her hand.  She breathed slowly, clearing her mind before ordering the flame to travel down to her bound wrists.  It came so close, the bonds began to burn.  Only a little further and she would be free, if she could concentrate.

"What's she doin'?!"  One of the goblins from afar asked, gathering the other's attention.  This broke the princess' focus, and her entire hand began to burn.  The flame began to envelope her arms, quickly making its way up to her shoulders.  The protection from the fact that she was producing the fire was very little, and she felt herself burning.  She could not stop it, and Zelda screamed.  The Moblin beside her gasped, and began looking around frantically for something to put out her flaming arms.
Soon Zelda felt a cold rush of water upon her person, relieving the searing pain a little. She was now breathing heavily from the shock, her tears and common thoughts taking a backseat to her now completely burnt arms, hands, and shoulders.  The pain was no longer there, though she knew that this was not by any means a good thing.  She was now shuddering, not noticing that her hands were indeed now free.  She didn't dare move her arms now; she didn't dare move at all.  The exhaustion from the day and the pain she had just ensued were now taking their toll.  A few thoughts went through her mind as she began to feel the darkness of sleep take her.  Who had saved her, the prisoner who was most likely sentenced to death?  She looked up, and the last thing she saw was a large half-pig-half-human creature holding a large canteen before sleep found her.
***
                Link felt fire.  Fire was all that was seen or heard… except… a scream.  It was blood-curdling, desperate with terror and pain.  The worst part was that he recognized the voice, but from where?  He had never heard a woman scream like that, scream as if they had met a fate worse than death.  He listened harder amongst the heat and the flames, his eyes closed.  On the account of another scream, his eyes shot open again.  Then, he saw it.
                
Deep azure eyes wet with tears and flames burning every bit of her being.

                "Link!  Save me!"  She screamed in her fearsome shrill voice.  Link's heart broke before him as he saw the tips of her hair begin to burn quickly, all the way to her scalp.  She cried aloud again as her felt her head begin to burn.  "HELP ME!" she shouted.  Link tried, but he could not move, he could only watch.  "WHY?" she asked, tears evaporating with the heat, "WHY WILL YOU NOT SAVE ME?"
              
  "ZELDA!"

Link shot up with a yell, his body unforgiving as he sat up.  He felt the instant pain in his abdomen and chest, making him breathe even heavier than before, his breath was loud and raspy from the liquid in his lungs.  He cleared his throat for a moment, which was a mistake. It led into a coughing fit that he could not stop; a little blood spit onto his hand from where he was covering his mouth.  This by no means was a quiet act, and suddenly awoke the zora doctor from his peaceful snoozing in his chair.  After a moment of surprise and confusion, he suddenly recognized the severe coughing sound coming from the bed.  

"Blast…" he muttered irately as he rushed to Link's side, placing a hand on his back and pushing slightly to make him lean over as to stop the coughing fit.  "Hold your breath," he said soothingly.  Link gave a questioning look from his pained face.  Why would he hold his breath?  He couldn't breathe already!  "Trust me," the zora said, rubbing his back a little.  Link did as he was told.  Surprisingly, the coughing did slowly wither down.  When he finally could, the knight took a deep, hefty breath, as if he had been drowning. He placed his hand to his chest, which was now covered by nothing then thick bandages; as his mail and tunic proved to labor easy breathing.

The doctor took this moment to walk over to his cabinet, pulling down a large blue glass flask from it.  He gave it a quick shake before uncorking it and pouring a little into a cup and then handing it over to Link, who accepted it graciously.  However, when he put the cup to his lips, he took it away just as quickly.  He swallowed his sip manly, but still a strange form of an expression fashioned on his face.

"Well, what were you expecting, fine wine?" The medic chuckled incredulously.  Link shook his head and drank the rest of the concoction in one gulp, grimacing at the foul, bitter taste.

"Dear Farore, what exactly is that?!"  The knight exclaimed.  The zora continued to laugh quietly, shaking his head at the knight.

"Old family recipe.  Should take hold in three," the doctor replied, counting down, "two," Link started to feel woozy and he held his head as the room started to spin, "one."  Link's cranium fell down onto the pillow with a soft thump.  The doctor sighed, and his smile faded.  The boy was worse off then he originally thought.  Link was in a cold sweat, which paired with a fever and wounds was not the best of symptoms.  He took the cup from the sick knight's sleeping hands and placed it back in the cabinet.  

"Dr. Gyo, I heard a loud scream, is everything alright?"  The voice belonged to none other then the young zora man who had helped him earlier.

"Yes, Elgrin, for right now, though I can't guarantee anything." Gyo replied sadly while taking out a rag from the cupboard.

"What do you mean by that?" Elgrin asked, walking over to the sleeping Hylian.  Dr. Gyo wetted the cloth with cold water and trudged over to the sleeping patient.

"His fever has gotten worse," he replied, placing the cold rag on his head, "And the worst part is that I think it's self induced.  He can't simply rest his mind and let himself recover, which is why I gave him my special blend."

"Which one," Elgrin chuckled, knowing the doctor's affiliation with experimental concoctions.  He looked over to the sleeping Hylian, and knew exactly which one it was.  Link was completely out cold.  "Your grandmother's?"  The doctor nodded.

"It does well to quiet coughing," he replied simply

"Ha, and everything else," Elgrin joked, but the Hylian's breathing still cut through.  It sounded as if he was rasping through water.  The pneumonia was still very much intact.  "Well, mostly."

"That also worries me.  But with that blend he should have complete, dreamless sleep for at least a few hours.  It will help immensely for him to rest without nightmares."

"Nightmares?"  Elgrin asked incredulously.

"Aye, at least the third one tonight," the doctor replied, "It's why he's sweating so badly."

"Fever must have really gotten to his head, huh?" Elgrin deduced, looking at the knight sympathetically.  Gyo nodded, walking over to his desk again.

"Partially; it's not helping any.  But I think it has more to do with stress.  The king didn't pick the most opportune of times to tell him of his next quest."  Elgrin nodded in agreement.  

"He needs to recover soon.  He's not going to just stay here and sit around while time isn't exactly on his side.  He'll try to leave on his own while he's still ill," Elgrin noted, thinking about what he knew of his new friend's character.

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" The doctor mentioned.  The hero did seem to put other's welfare before reason.  "Well, hopefully, he'll be fit to travel quite soon.  I sent Mikaru to the Castle Town for potions.  If she makes haste, she will be here by tomorrow afternoon."  

"How soon is 'quite soon?'"  Elgrin inquired.

"A few weeks, at the least," The zora doctor replied, writing something on a large piece of parchment as if this was no large problem.

"A few weeks?" Elgrin repeated in disbelief, "Doc, you have got to be kidding me!"

"You didn't seriously believe that he would be well so quickly?  It'll take a miracle for him to be well enough to leave any time sooner; perhaps by the goddesses themselves." The doctor mentioned, emotion still a little void from his voice.  Elgrin knew he was right, but even so, Link's sanity may very well be forfeit by then.   Dr. Gyo yawned largely and sat down in his chair.  The zora doctor was obviously exhausted.

"Hey man, go to bed.  I'll look after him," Elgrin stated, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.  The doctor smiled.

"Thank you, Elgrin," he said, nearly limping to the door from lack of sleep. "If there are any problems, come wake me."  Elgrin nodded as Gyo exited his office.  He sat in the chair closest to the injured knight's bed.  The smile that was normally playing on the zora's face was now gone, replaced by worry.

"Come on man, you can pull through this," Elgrin said as he took the now slightly warm cloth off his head and placed it in the cold water next to him, then positioned it back on his head.  The zora leaned his head back and closed his eyes.  The warrior didn't realize just how tired he was.  The next thing Elgrin knew was the darkness of sleep.


The night continued on.  Comforting, soft light seeped from a single candle on the side table.  Two sleeping figures, one in a chair and the other on the bed, snoozed on unknowingly as a small figure tiptoed into the room.  The sleeping zora in the chair snored loudly, and the lithe, little thing shook her head at the dozing fish-man.  She wasn't quite sure how the hero slept so soundly with such a racket in the room.  Her little doll dragged the floor a little as she crept in closer to the bed, then jumped on it without noise.  She looked at the ill Hylian quizzically for a moment, placing a tiny finger on his cheek experimentally.  He made a slight groaning sound and shifted his head, but didn't awaken.  She couldn't help but chuckle a little at his funny little noise.  

The little girl continued her work and placed her small head to his bandaged chest, making a face of concentration as she listened.  The breath definitely didn't sound normal, but raspy and slightly squeaky, almost as if he were choking.  The girl clicked her tongue in sympathy, patting his chest a little.  Curious, the little girl moved some of the bandages, not taking them off, but peeking underneath to see the damage done.  She couldn't help but make another concerned face.  A large wound, with skin barely covering the entry point, engraved his stomach.   If the man were to move the wrong way, they would open up again.  He was a little worse off than she originally thought but, it was by no means unfixable.  The girl placed her hand on his cheek for a moment, and then slapped him lightly.

"Hey there, wake up," she said calmly.  The hero stirred a little, but then fell back onto his pillow.  The girl huffed.  Of course he wouldn't wake that easily.  There was only one choice.  She held her hand behind her head and swung, leaving a red mark on his cheek.  The Hylian shot awake, giving a short yelp.

"GAH!... ow…" he murmured, placing a hand on his now stinging cheek.  Link opened his eyes, and then giving a very confused look to the glowing little girl that had awoken him, whom was now sitting on his chest.  Still a little groggy from the sedative given to him earlier, Link's introduction was quite as polite as it usually would be.

"Who the hell are you?"  The little girl gave a frown and a pout, crossing her arms.

"Now that wasn't very nice," she retorted, "Cursing in front of a little girl."

"It wasn't exactly polite to slap an ill man, either," he countered, grunting as he sat up a little.  The little girl sighed.

"Well, I couldn't wake you up any less rudely, unless you call pouring water on your person a nice way to be woken up," she replied, hugging her little doll.  Link was waking up a little more, and his rudeness fell back into his normal polite self.  He did, after all, have a soft spot for children.

"I am sorry; I didn't mean to offend you… Gruh," he grunted as a pang of pain shot through his chest.  He gripped the bandages near his heart, his discomfort growing.  Despite it, he tried to sit up a little more, making the little girl roll over backwards onto his stomach. "Oh, are you alright!"  

The child giggled.  "That was fun!"  She sat up and got off his torso, walking on the edge of the bed to the headboard.  "Now, to take care of you…" she trailed off.  

"No, no.  That's alright.  The doctor hasn't told this to me," he said, still smiling; though a little more sorrowful, "but I think that… I may be a little beyond help at this point.  I know it, I knew it all along.  I'm not going to have much longer, so I hope that Elgrin is as good a warrior as everyone says he is." His eyes fell on the snoring zora.  He really had been a good friend; even in the short time he had known him.  

The child crossed her arms once again, giving a scolding look to the worn hero.

"Now what kind of talk is that?  Heroes aren't supposed to talk like that," she said, almost encouragingly, "Heroes are supposed to overcome anything, or at least try!"
The hero chuckled under his breath for a brief moment.  "Child, I am no hero.  For heroes are also not meant to fail."  The child sighed and jumped off the bed, but instead of falling to the floor, she simply floated in the air.

"Do not speak of things that have not come to be."  With that, the girl began to glow.  Her back expanded into two beautiful wings of green, more graceful than a butterfly's.  Her tiny body gave way to a taller, lither one.  Her hair turned a slight greenish hue and fell long and gorgeous.  The light gave way to a soft glow, and before the hero stood one of the most beautiful women ever seen.  She stepped forward gracefully, placing a hand on his cheek lovingly.

"Do you know now who I am?  I am the Great Queen of the Fairies," she said, her face now mere inches away from his own.  Link was unable to say anything, but just sat there dumbstruck at the Queen.  She giggled a little at his speechlessness.  "Link, hero chosen by the goddesses; I now give you my greatest blessing.  Treat it, along with your life, as such."  With that, her lips softly touched his.  He didn't react, he wasn't sure how to.  He felt such warmth enter through his body and his pain simply disappeared.  A glowing light seemed to fill him as his breathing became easier and his wounds were soothed. It felt as though liquid gold now replaced his blood. The fairy departed her lips from his as she ended her kiss of life.  "Hero, you have not failed.  Your time has only begun."  Link nodded with his eyes wide.  He was still in awe over the events of the past few moments.  The Queen looked over to the sleeping zora in the chair.  He was still snoring as if nothing had happened.  

"This is to be your traveling companion, yes?" she questioned, giggling a little at his quite plain snoozing.  Link nodded, smiling a little at his new companion.  The fairy bent down to the tip of his nose, and kissed it lightly.  A little flow of sparks flew and covered him for a moment.  "Then I give him also my blessing.  He will now not need water to survive, and can endure the harshest of climates."  With that, she ran over to the door to leave, but then turned around.    "Goodbye hero, I wish you well.  If you are ever weary, come visit my fountain in the desert.  And by the way," she replied with a jingling laugh, "You really are adorable." Link's face burned and turned red, to say the least.  And with that, she faded away and disappeared.  A little dust followed her, and then proceeded to fly up Link's nose.

He gave a small sneeze, trying to be quiet as to not wake his friend.  But it was to no avail as Elgrin shot up like he had just been poked with the wrong end of a sword.  "HM? WHAT? HUH!  WHAT HAPPENED?"  Link laughed for the first time that night, happy it did not leave him in a coughing fit.  

"You may want to make yourself comfortable my friend; this is going to be a long story."