This chapter is a bit on the shorter side, but it's still important! Enjoy!
-Jooostan
A Terminian and the Twilight of Danger
Chapter 20: Dark Shadows Follow Me
"The thousand years of raindrops summoned by my song are my tears. The thunder that strikes the earth is my anger!"
That phrase was all that could course through Link's head as blew the final note. Then the storm came rolling in. Rain pelted the ground like a volley of arrows soaring towards their target. Each drop was filled with sadness, regret, and grief. When the humidity got dense, the boy knew what was about to come next.
A blinding flash of light came forth from the sky and hit the dirt road leading Link from Hyrule Castle back to town. More followed, making the clouds rumble with rage. Each step felt heavy, but the boy in green pressed on back home.
Link was a little happy that he could manage to come to an agreement with the rightfully angry princess of Hyrule, but the conversation he had to make next was the cause for all his dread. The things he would need to confront and explain just made his grip on the hat in his hands tighten. When he realized how firmly he was holding the memento, he cursed himself and unclenched his fists.
The rain didn't last long, as it always did with the Song of Storms. The splash of Link's boot hitting a puddle kept him alert. When he entered Castle Town again, he sighed, thinking about how he'd set everything up.
Pushing some crates around, he managed to get a line of them positioned just beyond the front door. It'd be a good place for them to sit while he explained himself.
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Romani woke up just as the sun began to peek through the bedroom window. Slowly sitting up and stretching, she gasped when she saw that all she had covering herself was Link's blanket. Fumbling around the room, she retrieved her dress that was tossed into the floor and slipped back into it.
When she sat back down onto the bed, a small sheet of paper on the nightstand caught her eye. Reaching over and grabbing it, she could tell who it was from by the handwriting alone.
"Meet outside when everyone else is up. -L." That was it.
Romani stared off into space for a moment, thinking about the night before. The reflective conversation she and Link had was still fresh in her mind. All the things they said. Children, mottos, the future. She hoped they weren't just said to buy time.
After some time, Romani reluctantly left the bed and exited the room. She decided to go to Jim and the fairies' bedroom. Spotting another note on the middle nightstand, she knew what it must've said, as she closed the door and made for the kitchen.
Only 10 minutes later, Romani could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Romani?" Anju asked, rubbing her tired eyes. Kafei was right behind her.
"Hm?" Romani turned to face the innkeeper.
"Where's Link?" Anju held the note she found on her dresser up and Romani mused about how efficient Link was at sneaking around. Three notes all in everyone's respective rooms without waking anyone up? Impressive.
"Romani doesn't know. She found a similar note, too." Romani controlled herself. She had no clue what Link planned, but she didn't want to get anyone else's hopes up.
"So... What did you and Link talk about last night?" Kafei piped up when he got to the stove, just next to Romani.
"About stuff." Romani kept her smile a secret.
"What kind of stuff?" Kafei wasn't in the mood for keeping things unanswered. The events of the day prior made sure he didn't get much sleep. Not because of haunted dreams, but because of what he feared his son was becoming.
Romani thought for a second. "The future."
Kafei concealed his groan and started to prep something to eat for everyone else. Anju sat next to the ranch woman and kept quiet. Hands folded underneath her chin, she propped her head up and remained lost in her own thoughts. She felt she only had herself to blame.
The only sound coming from the kitchen was the sizzling of a frying pan and the occasional clatter of utensils. The sound forced Jim out of his sleep, and the same happened for the fairies. By the time the Bomber got down the stairs, Kafei was already plating the eggs.
"Hey..." Jim mumbled, pulling up a stool and sitting at the table. His presence was acknowledged, but he got no response from the others. Together, they all ate, the words on the papers they found floating through their heads.
Before any plates were cleared, Tatl grew too tired of the unnerving silence.
"Can someone just talk about it! I'm tired of pretending like nothing's wrong!" Tatl's voice made everyone else in the room jolt in their seats.
"Tatl, please calm down." Navi said soothingly, flying a little closer to her.
"Nav- I just... Please, don't. I'm annoyed, let me be annoyed." Tatl's tone wasn't any nicer with the blue fairy.
"Sis, I get it. I'm... annoyed too. But I think someone else has to be here for this if we are going to talk about it." Tael didn't look up at his sister, not wanting to deal with the glare she was probably giving him.
"Fine..." Tatl grumbled, facing away from her brother.
"Grasshopper wants to talk about it, don't worry." Romani said, putting her fork down. She pushed the empty plate away, finished with breakfast.
"Well, when?!" Tatl barked.
"When everyone else got up." Kafei said, collecting his, Anju's and Romani's plates. Jim wasn't quite done yet, but all the bickering made his appetite get lost much like his mood.
"Speaking of which, shouldn't we...?" Tael pointed his thumb towards the front door, and everyone got the message. Almost simultaneously, they all rose from their seats.
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The sound of the doorknob turning broke Link out of his trance. He quickly stood up and put the hat down. One look at the crates situated before them and how the boy was standing across from them, they knew what to do. Silently, they all took a seat on the boxes.
Link withdrew a bit as he felt all the eyes focused on him. The plan he had on how to start simply flew out the window, nervousness descending onto him.
"I-I'm sorry..." Link said, just loud enough for the others to hear. He didn't follow it up for a good minute.
"That's it?" Tatl huffed in annoyance. Tael elbowed her and she hushed.
"About... a lot of things." Link continued. "About what I did yesterday, about staying silent for so long, and about what happened to..."
All looked towards the orange hat that sat on the ground between Link and them. A sniffle came from the hero, and he averted his eyes from the rest.
"So much was going on..." Link looked visibly pained when he started speaking again. "I miss him."
Jim looked down with remorse. He had only ever lost a member of the secret society once before, which happened to be Skull Kid, albeit for very different reasons than now. He couldn't stop thinking about how much hate was strung his way just because of that stupid mask.
"I do too..." Jim said meekly, followed by a slow nod from Tatl and Tael.
"I can still hear his voice in my head." Link admitted. He started to choke up on his words. "The... The last thing he said to me. It just won't go away. It was something that I had taught him."
The ones in the dark were drawn in, intrigued.
"'Don't let fear make your decisions.'" Link repeated, and then the feeling of melancholy overcame him. "I told him... after the fight with the Thunderbird, that he shouldn't let his injuries make him feel useless. But now..."
"...He's gone... and it's because of me."
Everyone took what Link said in. In all the time they had known this boy, he had never looked more dejected, vulnerable, tired, and weary than he had before them. His exhausted eyes conveyed more words than any speech ever could. Anju hadn't seen this side of her son since that night in the kitchen. She wished she never had to see it again, but fate was cruel.
"I did what I did yesterday because... I felt adrift in space. A part of me feels like I'm useless without my sword. I feel like I'm nothing, so I ran back to it." Link unsheathed the Gilded Sword and held it out. It still gleamed in the sun, impervious to anything that could taint its luster. Knowing what it was covered with earlier, it nearly made him sick.
"Link..." Kafei thought about what he last said to Link as he spoke up, arms no longer crossed. Everyone turned to face him. "If you're nothing without your sword, then you shouldn't have it at all."
Kafei kept his eyes on the hilt. The way his son's hand wrapped around it so naturally gave him the crutch to get by what he meant. "You have that for a reason, but you're not bound to it. I know you're strong enough to stay above that influence."
"He's right, honey. You... You are so much more than that sword. You've lived your life without it for so long, and you lived it well." Anju thought back to when Link 'retired'. It was odd for him at first, but he quickly stopped giving his weapons brief glances and let the dust on them settle. He seemed so happy.
"Y-Yeah..." Tatl mumbled. "When you visited the hut, there was a-always a smile. Now it's almost rare to see one."
"I just think... Maybe... I should just walk away from it all. All of..." Link gestured towards his sword, item bag, and shield. "...this."
That got the others to visibly react. Some with shock, some with a look akin to disgust, but overall it wasn't very good. It was clear he would have to elaborate if he wanted even a sliver of a chance to get through what he wanted to tell them.
"Doing this... It's not healthy. Every time I have to... do things, I feel like a part of my soul gets taken." Link couldn't fight the images of all the bloodshed from invading his mind. "I need to escape with what little I have left."
"But what about everything else?" Tael asked, parting his hair to meet Link's own gaze. "We still have work to do. There's no good... about a goodbye when there's still things to be done."
"I know, but... A part of me doesn't want to do anything." A unified gasp filled the air.
"This was never my problem in the first place. I don't want to deal with this. I want to go back home and live with you guys... my family. I just don't care anymore. I'm tired... of it all. The fighting, the sadness, the grief." Link had never said 'I' so much in his life. The worst part of being a hero was how much he had to sacrifice. He wanted more than just memories of a life that was somewhat normal.
"I kind of agree." Jim said with shame. "I never thought that this journey would be so... unforgiving."
Navi just retreated into herself. It was her who had ventured to Termina in the first place. She was the one who tore Link away from his life he had started there.
After a long while of silence, Romani decided to ask a question. "Well... what is grief if not just love?"
"W-What?" Link asked.
"I-Isn't the feeling of grief just from love? How much we all loved Skull Kid?" Romani was the first person to say his name out loud during the whole conversation. "Love that grows?"
Link was stunned. His mind raced to process Romani's statement, all the while staring at the orange hat. The rest of the eyes gravitated to it, and they thought about it as well. Tatl and Tael kept themselves from tearing up. Navi hadn't known the imp for long, but he was generous, affable and caring. Her grip of Tatl's hand grew as she let the latter's sadness get to her too.
"But what about... him?" Jim was the only one brave enough to go into the person who struck his friend down. The teenager who proved to be evil incarnate.
"I..." Link stuttered. Anger and rage welled up inside his heart, and his fists tightened. His voice deepened slightly, and his words were uneasy. "I want to kill him. I want to tear him apart."
The look of controlled venom inside Link's eyes startled all in attendance. That part of him was truly foreign. The vengeful, brutal side of the hero was something they never thought existed before yesterday. It was terrifying to see such a normally heroic, noble boy become so consumed with negativity.
"B-But he wouldn't have wanted that. He wouldn't have wanted any of this." Link started to crack. He got on one knee and picked the hat up off the ground and held it protectively. Moisture started to materialize in his eyes, making his vision blurry.
However, he then thought back to his talk with Romani. The sky falling, facing everything together, and the future. The words revolved around him like a windmill during a storm. Or like a kite flying into a hurricane. The winds had already torn off so much of him.
"Haven't you always dreamed of making things better?" Anju and Kafei said together. Link just lifted his head to see them.
"Baby, you've always wanted to let the sky be bluer. If you leave now... then it'll be left in the clouds." Anju stood from the crate and put her hand on her son's shoulder. She removed the green cap from his head and weaved her hands through his hair before sitting down next to him.
"Is that what he would've wanted?" Kafei added, staring at the hat.
"No..." Link mumbled.
"Exactly." Jim said, hopping off of his crate and squatting beside Link. He put his arm around Link's free shoulder and pulled him in for a half-hug. "He cared for you, and you cared for him. None of us can just let that go. We can't... because we're all heroes. Like you."
Link recalled when Skull Kid called him a 'brother'. He didn't show it, but he was never more shocked than he was then. The hero never had any siblings, or anyone really to fit the bill, but when things calmed down after Ikana, a part of that void was filled. By Skull Kid and Jim.
Unshed tears covered Link's eyes as he looked at the leader of the Bombers, but he could see more clearly. Such a valiant person Jim was, and the same extended to Skull Kid. They, alongside Romani, were the only people that were like him. Solace and comfort warmed his broken heart at that overdue realization.
"Romani's always said that Grasshopper shouldn't face things alone. Not ever." Romani joined the group, all gathering around the damaged boy. The only ones not to move from their spots were the fairies.
Tatl shifted positions and turned away from the rest of the group. An exaggerated 'hmpf' wafted through the air and her brother and closest friend gave her unamused looks.
"Sis... I think we should be here for him." Tael crept toward his sister but was shooed away by her right hand.
"Tatl." Navi said in a stern voice.
Tatl gave them both the side eye and tried not to give in. She was fed up with all the words being strewn about. Each time she glanced at her friends, the more the ice melted.
"Ugh... fine!" Tatl said, flying up and over to Link, sitting on his head. Tael and Navi just chuckled and joined her.
Link, Anju, Kafei, Romani, Jim, Tatl, Tael, and Navi embraced. For a while, nothing was said, for nothing needed to be. It was just that moment, seemingly locked in time. The family sat there, only glad to have the company of each other. A large weight that overshadowed Link's heart was gone at last.
"So... What's our plan?" Jim was the first to break the long bout of silence.
"I need... to fix things. With a lot of people." Link muttered as the others let go.
"Are you going to need any help?" Anju asked.
Link paused.
"Yes." Link said, standing up, hat still in hand. A weak, but genuine smile formed on his face. "Yes I will."