The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Navi's Redemption ❯ Chapter X: Navi's Redemption (p3) ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter X: Navi's Redemption (p3)

Beta Reader: Deej

Disclaimer: Zelda characters are owned by Nintendo. Kaula, however, is mine.

 

I have found, over time, that my visions can come from any pool of water or reflection off of one's eyes. However, some offer clearer visions than others. Blue eyes, I find, are the best while brown eyes are a little harder to focus on and red eyes are almost impossible to look away from. As far as water goes, the fresher and clearer the better, hence my delay in probing for the rest of the story. I had to wait for a rainstorm so I could collect the fresh rainwater in a silver bowl I use. The pure qualities in silver made it an excellent tool in vision quests, as Moeder Badria had once told me, showing me a silver charm she'd worn around her neck. My bowl had been far more expensive to save up for but worth every Rupee.

 

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, I squirmed in the wooden chair, checking everything. Having visions is easy, focusing on a specific event or item is a bit trickier. You need a focus, something that can be used to hone in on the right vision. When the Phantom God had asked me to look for his “farkas” (he wouldn't tell me what the word meant and had all but growled at me when I asked) he'd handed me a piece of green cloth with a dark stain to it. It hadn't changed the original visions I'd had regarding the Hero but it had allowed me to focus on more details; times, places, and minor things that would be important when recalled at a later time. This time, I was forced to use some special focus objects, as I didn't have anything from the fairy Navi.

 

I had a single candle on the table, lit, and to the right of my bowl. It was made from the fat of a white stag, very rare and hard to come by. To the left of my bowl, I had some dried herbs; Thyme, Meadowsweet grass, and Whisperwillows, set on the table. They gave off a pleasant yet sharp scent to help me center myself as I looked. Taking the herbs, careful not to burn myself, I lit them with the candle. They instantly smoked and caught flame, though the flames died quickly as they ate away the plant. Sprinkling the ashes around the water, but not in it, I inhaled the white smoke with one last deep breath and gazed into the reflection.

 

The reflection shimmered as it showed the Phantom God's farkas as a young boy, fighting a monster whose name I did not know. This image confused me, for he wasn't the one I was seeking. What had happened to the temple? The lights and voices? Where was the fairy Navi?

 

Wait…

 

Leaning closer and squinting my right eye, I could make out something to the right of the boy and monster, something that went unobserved by the two of them. The more I looked, the clearer it became, until I saw Navi standing beside him, unseen, watching the boy who wasn't a boy…

 

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ *_*_*_

 

Though I could no longer aide you the way I once had, I still continued to follow you and look after you the best I could. As I had been told, and even shown, there were some actions I could do that would affect the dimension you were in. Not much, simple things like moving objects or lighting torches. I tried not to do it too often because I was worried about scaring you.

 

I was with you when the fortuneteller gave you her words. Though she spoke honestly, she didn't speak the whole of it, or so it felt. I was glad when you left her, and Hyrule, but saddened because I knew full well that your quest to find your friend, me, would ultimately end in failure. I was hopeful that over time, you would forget about me and eventually focus on the more important aspects in your life. Settling down, marrying some woman, having kids… Your life had been so hard, it seemed only right that you find your happy ending.

 

But it was not to be.

 

I was with you when you met my children, my little Tatl and Tael. I knew they were mine the moment I saw them and my heart swelled. They were free to make choices and, while they had made a poor one in regards to the Skull Kid (playing cruel jokes and helping him cause trouble while he was possessed), at least they had the option of making a choice.

 

I was glad when Tatl came to be your partner, albeit for those three days (or however many days it really was) but I was jealous too. I wanted to be the one to help you, point out traps and treasures, be your partner and friend, speak to you the words I wanted to say, not those I had to.

 

I suppose it worked out well in the end. You certainly left a lasting impression on her, one that seemed to have changed her for the better, as she wasn't so sharp tempered and vindictive after leaving you. In fact, I think she was actually sad to see you go, something I could easily relate to.

 

After this journey, you headed further from Hyrule. I thought for sure that after dealing with the problems in Termina that you would be allowed to rest, that you must surely want to rest, yet you pushed on.

 

Through the years that followed you faced many other challenges. I do not mean those in the forms of monsters and dark magics, though there were plenty of that scattered along the way. No, the hardest battles were those you were unfamiliar with.

 

Like growing up when you had already been a grown up.

 

Many people who we, you, ran into were unnerved by you. I think you could tell for you were always silent around them, even more so than normal. It wasn't just the way you held yourself either, that gave you away, but the sureness that you had when you held a weapon, the swift and steady moves you used to dispatch monsters, the way you did not flinch away from the sight and smell of death, as a younger boy might. It caused them to fear you, because they could not understand you. What you had gone through.

 

Yet you could not go back to that boy you had been, the boy who'd laughed in the Kokiri Forest, danced with the Kokiri and fairies. There was no way to undo the lasting damage that Gannon's war had caused you, to erase those memories. You were, and are, the Hero of Time, despite how only you and I seem to know it.

 

I watched you age and gradually fill into the form you'd once had. By this time, you'd begun to seem frayed around the edges. Worn down. You never ceased moving further and further from Hyrule, though once you hit the shoreline, you had to head along the coast to other new lands. There were still monsters to be fought there too, though gradually it became that the monsters looked less and less like beasts and more and more like man. Deception and corruption ran deep, this knowledge seemed to fester within you and trouble you on a level I couldn't reach but vaguely understood.

 

How could you destroy evil with your sword when it lurked in the heart of man?

 

I could see it eating away at you from the inside, draining you of the power and strength you had once so easily radiated. It wasn't until you came to a small, nameless village that your viewpoint seemed to change.

 

The village, at best, could be described as “modest” though even that was exemplifying it a bit too much. The houses were really huts, made from claw and straw with sticks for thatching. There were no pens for the animals though only a stray chicken or two seemed about. There was a creek about a stone's throw away but the water was low, barely two feet, at most. The opposite way, there was a forest, lush and green but somewhat looming.

 

When you arrived, there was no one to greet you, none to welcome you with hospitality and good news. You rode Epona right through the village, no road either paved or dirt to travel upon. Seeing this desolate village, another sign of suffering not caused by some feared dragon or raging demon, but from the greed or uncaring of some lord, I thought you would ride right thorough this one as you had countless others.

 

I was startled when you dismounted.

 

Leaving Epona to graze where she pleased, knowing full well that no one would be able to take her (she wouldn't allow it! Epona was far too loyal and stubborn headed!), you headed towards what looked to have once been a field. I say “once” because nothing was currently growing there but short blades of grass. A few tools, a hoe and shovel, even a plow, had been left scattered in the dirt, the metal rusted and the wood old. Bending down, you rubbed the soil between your fingers, looking at it and muttering to yourself. I couldn't quite make out what you were saying, something about the soil being useless, before you picked up the hoe and headed towards the creek bed.

 

I watched, puzzled, as you walked along the creek, stopping every so often to pull at the grass or touch the soil. Finding a spot that met some unknown list of requirements, you began to use the hoe, tilling the soil.

 

I had never seen you do such a thing. And yet, you continued to do so until it was almost dark, clearing a good percentage of the grass from around the area, the soil now freshly turned. You stopped your job only to go to the woods and hunt, returning to the village with two rabbits, some wood, and some herbs. Settling by a hole in the ground that housed some ash, you set a fire going and skinned the rabbits, saving one stick to use as a spit.

 

It was then that you were approached.

 

“Who are you?”

 

I hadn't noticed the female and jumped, forgetting that she couldn't see me. You, however, were nonplused. I suspected you'd known she'd been there all along.

 

You didn't answer right away but the female grew more insistent as you worked on gutting the rabbit.

 

“Tell me!” She stomped her foot from across the fire pit, her actions meant to be bold and brave but even I could tell that they held fear to them.

 

“…Link.” You lifted the rabbits over the fire, holding the stick and avoiding catching her gaze.

 

“What are you doing here?” It was then that I caught sight of a flash of light from her hands, a knife! Wings buzzing, I tried to warn you but you couldn't hear my words.

 

You looked up at her then and I'm not sure what she saw in your eyes but it made her lower the knife. You didn't answer her question and continued to tend to the rabbits. She had nothing more to say, apparently, and when you didn't say anything else, she gradually sat down, body tensed to flee.

 

The two of you sat there, you barely moving save to spin the rabbits, her still prepared to run, while Epona contently stood to the side, munching on the grass that could have been once a road.

 

When the rabbits were finally done, you pulled out a tin plate from one of Epona's saddlebags along with your water flask. Sliding one of the rabbits on it with the same knife you'd used for the skinning, you offered her the plate but she made no move to take it. After waiting a few minutes you placed it to your right, opting to eat the rabbit on the stick.

 

“Why are you here?” Her voice was softer, less shrill this time, though still somewhat wary.

 

I didn't think you would answer her but you surprised me again. “Everyone has forgotten me… and so I want to forget myself.”

 

This response didn't seem to be one she expected yet she didn't ask anything more on the matter, instead, she shifted uncomfortably on the ground, her eyes glancing to the rabbit on the plate and the one Link was eating.

 

“You can have it.” You didn't even look up from your meal. “It'll go to waste if you don't eat it.”

 

She bristled. “I can get my own food!”

 

“Why do something you don't have to?” It was said without ridicule and asked in earnest, actually seeming to frustrate the girl even further as opposed to calming her down. She left in a huff, making for one of what we discovered later to be abandoned huts.

 

_*_*_*_

 

The next day, you went back to working in the field, this time, using Epona to pull the plow and make furrows in the ground. It took her a little time to get use to the additional weight and figure out what exactly you were asking of her, but Epona was a smart horse and picked up on the matter quickly.

 

You finished around noon and allowed Epona to rest while you still kept working. Heading into the forest again, this time with the shovel, you returned dirty but emulating a glow I hadn't seen in a long time, carrying several assortments of plants, some I recognized and some I didn't. This assortment was planted carefully in your field before you made at least two other trips, the final one having a dead bird of some sort tied to your belt. You hung the bird on the oak tree in the village, assumable to take care of it later, before finishing the last round of planting. When you returned, however, your bird was gone.

 

Or rather, someone had taken it.

 

Returning to the forest one more time, you settled on forging for berries rather than hunt anything else up. It couldn't have been satisfying, given the work you'd been doing, but you didn't complain and seemed to work all the harder after that.

 

The day after that, you began dragging stones from the forest and the field to the creek, toppling them in a distance away from the village. They sunk into the mud and slowly began to pile up, causing the water to swell and try and go over and around it. You persisted in this task till late in the afternoon, not ceasing even when the sun was high overhead. It wasn't until you were panting in large gasps that you ceased, by then, the rocks almost halfway filling the creek bed.

 

You returned to the village and had been about to head to the forest when you stopped. A fire was going in the fire pit you'd used the day before last. Plucked and seasoned was half of that bird, along with an apple and some blueberries. You cast a look around but upon not seeing the girl, you sat and ate alone.

 

After that, a truce seemed to form. You would hunt in the morning as opposed to the noon or the evening and work through out the day. The game that you brought and left by the tree would be removed and later cooked and left for you to find at the fire pit, along with a random selection of fruit or other vegetation. As time progressed further, we even saw more of her, or rather, she allowed us to see more of her, and even would go out of her way to seek us… or you.

 

On a particularly hot day, she brought you your water sack, filled with cold water from the now high river. Those rocks you'd pushed in had gradually damned up the creek, almost flooding the bed, until it began to cascade off the top rocks. The now engorged river helped to keep your plants moist and sated from thirst, the wild plants thriving in their new home.

 

Another day, she saw to Epona when the mare was favoring her foot. It seemed that she'd stumbled over something and sprained it so the girl tended to it for you, wrapping the ankle in mud and cloth, a method that helped bring down the swelling.

 

Eventually, she even began to speak with you and work with you towards your goal of revitalizing this once decimated village. Others began to come, first peddlers, bringing seeds, trinkets, and news, then travelers, those who'd been forced off of their lands and were looking for a new place to live. You and she welcomed them, cared for them until they could care for themselves. The worn huts began to get rebuilt as people moved into them, the grass that should have been a street grew worn, giving way to a dirt road from house to house. The oak tree began to become a gathering place where neighbors could chat and children would climb. The field that you once had only wild plants in expanded, soon housing many different plants, those wild and those bought from peddlers. Other fields were created, more houses had to be built to accommodate the expanding village…

 

And during this time, Mura, the girl who'd so reluctantly admitted you to her village, welcomed you into her hut.

 

_*_*_*_

 

It was the evening of the Kish'ta moon, when the moon is neither full nor empty, but somewhere between the two. You'd ridden Epona to the forest, due to the fact that one of the travelers recently coming the village (now named “Matana” by one of the first settlers, stating that being allowed to live there was a gift) had been wounded by what he called a beast lurking in the forest, looking similar to a great boar or bear. You hadn't wanted to but none of the others were strong enough or capable enough to handle such a task.

 

You brought forth your clothes of green, long since packed away, and your sword, also housed where none would think to look. You left during the night, giving no word to anyone, thinking perhaps to be back by the light of dawn.

 

This, however, would not be the case.

 

You sought the beast out for most of the night but not finding anything decided to camp for the night. This manly meant finding some soft grass and lying down to rest. You fell asleep shortly, though it took some time for you to readjust to sleeping on the ground after such a long time. Bending down, I lightly touched your cheek with my hand, smiling faintly as I wished for many foolish, wonderful things that would never be…

 

It was then that I noticed the subtle magic, gradually growing stronger.

 

Your hand.

 

“How dare you do this?!” I shouted upward, knowing full well that somewhere, some place, those three Goddesses could hear me. “After all he's been through, this is your reward to him?”

 

They didn't answer but Link awoke, as though you might have heard me. You didn't leap up, as one might normally do had they been disturbed from slumber, but lay still, looking around through half opened eyes. Seeing nothing, you began to rise, not noticing anything yet though you did itch at your hand absently. I held my breath, waiting.

 

It didn't take long for you to find, especially once you removed your glove. “No,” you whispered, voice filled with denial before you repeated with more force, “No.” Stronger still came the words, “I'm not going back there!”

 

Epona looked at you, shifting her weight a little, the leather saddle protesting as she did so. She seemed interested in what had you so annoyed but you were more focused on your hand and that damned mark.

 

You jammed the glove back on, as though trying to hide the mark, but it wouldn't be hidden. It began shinning brighter through the cloth and you began to grip at your hand, your eyes the only sign I had to show me you were in pain. It was hurting you?

 

<It will continue to hurt him until he either gives in or is destroyed.>

 

“You!” I spun, looking for the telltale flashed of light but not seeing anything to give away the red spark's location. “How dare you!”

 

<We did not cause this> The soft one answered. <Someone calls to him, someone remembers him.>

 

<He blew it!> The heated voice's anger perforated clearly from her tones. <He failed in his task!>

 

“He succeeded! Gannon is dead! Zelda is safe!”

 

<This is true.> The blue light twinkled before my face. <He did as he was suppose to yet one being was not vanquished. However, this is no more his fault than ours.>

 

“What do you mean?”

 

<The cycle is not yet complete on this spin.> The cool voice intoned, its blue light brightening and fading, fading and brightening. <The seven year mark is coming, the day Link should have passed on. The cycle is trying to complete this.>

 

“Well, stop it!”

 

<Don't you think we've tried?!> This came from the red light, which flashed to my left.

 

<It is beyond our hands> the soft voice fluttered its green light before fading.

 

<He needs to go back to Hyrule. If he does not, the Triforce in his hand will rip him apart. By going, he may have a greater chance of surviving.>

 

“And if he doesn't?” I countered the soft voice. “What then?”

 

<He will die. The cycle will continue.>

 

“Why are you telling me this?”

 

Silence, then, the blue light flickered. <You are capable of getting him to return.>

 

“I won't do it!”

 

<Then he will die.>

 

“He'll die if he goes!”

 

<He will be reborn. Again and again, more than a thousand times, before the cycle reaches the conclusion it is meant to. Your refusing to help will extend the cycle, by helping, you may be able to decrease it.>

 

“He will die either way, won't he?” It pained me to think of what they were asking. I was sending him to his death, and there wasn't anyway around it. My inaction would cause him death, my action would cause him death… what would cause him life?

 

<He will die. Both he and Zelda, the same day, as was their fate before.> The green light dimmed noticeably as it said this.

 

“Then what difference will my directing him make?”

 

The green light brightened. <You will start the flap of fairy wings that causes hurricanes in the foreign coast! Your tiny action now may be the very thing that ends this cycle later on.>

 

<You defied our laws once, you are outside of the very books the Gods wrote! If you could break yourself from the cycle…> The voice of flame trailed off.

 

<You should be able to break him free too.> The cool voice finished.

 

Looking at you, seeing the panic in your motions, the obvious stress around your face, I knew there was only once choice for me.

 

“I'll do it.”

 

<You must focus!> The soft voice seemed a tad louder. <Will him to see you!>

 

“I've tried that before, it never works.”

 

<We are here, we will make it work.> The red light alit on my shoulder, feeling hot enough that I feared a burn though no mark appeared on my flesh.

 

<It will not last long, though! You must hurry.> The green light touched on my other shoulder, feeling warm and light.

 

The third rested upon my head, cold but a relief. All three began to glow at once and I wished with everything I had that you could see me, that you could hear me.

 

~Link.~

 

You were looking down and didn't turn your head to my voice. I was worried that you didn't hear me. I moved closer to you, suddenly realizing that I was as big as you were. The thrill of this knowledge made me joyous up until the point I realized that my newfound height meant nothing to you, especially when I would fade back into the Twilight.

 

I reached for your face, as I had done before, my fingers lightly spanning your cheek. I wanted to ease your pain, even temporarily, and the faint pulse of light from the three granted you this temporary respite.

 

~It's not gone, I'm not strong enough for that.~ I stroked your cheek, marveling that I could feel you again, wishing that I could stay with you longer but already feeling myself being tugged at. ~You have to go back, Link.~

 

“No.”

 

~Link…~ Gently, I cupped your face, moving my forehead to yours. ~You must trust me. Go back to Hyrule.~

 

Your head slowly lifted, your eyes meeting mine. Recognition bloomed in your eyes, your hands reaching for me but I was already fading. They passed through me but I was still warmed by your attempt.

 

~I'm your guardian for life, Link. Don't forget that.~

 

You reached for me again but you couldn't touch me. I felt myself growing smaller again, back to my typical size as the three lights began to fade. It was fitting, rather, that you saw me the way I had been, before I vanished from your sight. I called out to you, in the language of fairies, the language I was sure you'd forgotten thus I had the courage to utter this one, final chime.

 

[I love you.]

 

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ *_*_*_

 

When I came to, the candle had burned itself out and my body was stiff from holding still so long. I was surprised to find that dusk was beginning to settle, making this the longest vision I'd ever had.

 

Hungry, I moved to the cupboards, pondering what I'd seen and trying to figure how this all tied in with the task the Phantom God had already deemed me. There was something important in what I'd seen, something that I think Navi was trying to tell me, oddly enough.

 

But what?

 

I was almost to the cupboards when I felt a breeze pass by me. I stilled instantly, as there was no window open, no door to allow such thing. Taking a breath, I glanced about but didn't see anyone. There was a sudden shifting in the light, however, and I looked towards the window, where the curtains were swaying through forces unseen.

 

“Navi?”

 

The curtains continued to sway until I walked up to them. When they ceased, I gently pulled one aside, looking outside, trying to find out what was going on.

 

There, as the Phantom God was walking toward the cabin with the sun setting behind him, illuminating his dark features all the more with shadows, I realized the answer.

 

The answer of how to end the cycle forever.