Laments of a Hero

Lullabies in the Wind

Malon wandered the battle worn fields of Hyrule, keeping to herself in the dead of night. She closed her tired eyes as the wind danced around her, whistling melodies she knew far too well. Ones of death and life, ones of love and hatred. She sang with the wind, allowing the notes to carry her to the past. The past that took place not too long ago, and yet it felt like an entire lifetime had passed since.

Tears escaped her closed eyes, and her voice cracked. The wind cried, too, howling forlornly. The fields reeked of death; of Hyrule's failures, hatred and greed. She remembered the bloodstained grass, his smile¸ the fields littered with the bodies of soldiers brutally killed, his eyes.

This war was one of Hyrule's worsts. Ganondorf, that pitiful man, had to ruin everything over and over again. Why was it that he desired the Ocarina of Time so badly? And why was he willing to kill everyone in his path to get it? No, it wasn't the destruction of land, the hundreds of deaths, or loss of trust between Hyrule's races that left a hole in her heart, but instead it was the loss of that boy, the one to whom she'd give the world, the one she'd sacrifice everything for, the boy from the forest.

She fell to her knees, and tears took hold of her like chains, pulling her further into her despair. She tried singing – that always helped her, didn't it? – but the sound came out as sobs, as heartbroken cries from a broken girl.

Malon... the wind whispered. She wasn't really hearing anything; this was all in her head, she told herself. This was her delusion—Malon. She tried ignoring it, thinking that it would go away if she did, but the wind cooed in her ear, and she hated it. It comforted her, and it made her cheeks burn with rage.

Malon.

Stop.

Malon.

Stop! The wind was silent. She missed the comfort of the cold. Come back.

More silence. She cried. She cried until she thought she couldn't cry anymore.

She felt a gust slice across her face, like a whisper in her ear. I never left.

Her head shot up, her eyes wide and glassy with tears. Her heart had almost jumped out of her chest when she heard his voice, those all too familiar tones of comfort. She looked around, then sighed when reality hit her. He was gone. He was gone, and she was delusional. He's gone. The words repeated over and over again in her head until she had to scream at them to go away. For him to go away.

I'm here.

No, he wasn't. He was dead. He had been for almost a week now. He wasn't coming back, and yet she couldn't accept that. She was being delusional. But he wasn't coming back. No one would ever come back. The ring on her finger felt like it was burning her flesh.

The wind faded again, and once again she pleaded. Come back.

The breeze circled around her, like it was giving her an embrace in its arms. No. He's gone. I'm being delusional. Delusional. Delusional, delusional, delusional. Wasn't that how it felt? She was so, so stupid. She thought everything would be okay. How would that even be possible? She should have known that he wouldn't survive, that he wouldn't be hers forever until they grew old. She should have known, but she was delusional.

She was so stupid.

Why did she have to love him like she did? Why did she ignore all the signs that they would never be truly happy? Never truly alive?

He was dead. She barely felt alive.

The wind was whispering, but not words. The wind was singing. It was singing her song—her mother's song. The song she would always sing with him. The song that she always sang when she was upset, the song that even made him feel better. There was just something so soothing about the notes, like it was somehow magic. Had her mother known that? Is that why she always sang it to her as a child?

But her mother was dead now. And so was the only person she ever loved.

She cried more (how was that still possible?), and the wind felt colder. Urgent. She felt drops of water on her exposed arms and face, then looked up at the dark sky. It was raining. The sky was crying, too.

All hope felt lost.

Just then, a star fell from the heavens, shooting across the sky – that infinite darkness – and into a land unknown. Malon closed her eyes as the wind began to fade.

"Fairy boy..." Silent tears spilled down her cheeks.

I love you, the wind whispered finally.

When she opened her eyes, he was there. His blue eye glowing, and golden hair shining. He smiled at her, and his eyes filled with tears. He reached out, and he aligned his ghostly hand against hers. She smiled bittersweetly. "I'll find you, my fairy boy." She swallowed her tears and sniffed loudly. "In the next life. Until then... rest peacefully, my love."

He wouldn't, though. He was stuck in this world for who knew how long. He died too soon, with countless troubles and regrets and sorrows. He wouldn't move on. He was cursed to wander the battle worn fields of Hyrule. He would only be able to pass when Ganondorf was defeated, no longer able to harm anyone else ever again. All he wanted was for his family, the one of which he wouldn't be there to take care of, to be safe and happy, even if that wasn't a life he himself had been blessed with.

Now he was the wind, and he'd be there to guide his family.

The spirit cried silently, smiling at the woman he'd promised a lifetime of his love. He would find a way to do that. He promised her that now.

Malon ignored all of the scars on his face, across his eye, the blood stains on his armour, the unnerving pale of his skin, because all she saw was her hero; her knight in shining armour.

He faded into the wind, causing a sound to echo in his place. A sound that was similar to the howl of a wolf.