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༄ Brightness stung my eyes through my eyelids, causing me to tense up in discomfort while my arm raised to block it off. Squinting, I opened an eye, slowly adapting to the light in the room. The light that had left me yesterday had greeted me this evening in its full glory.
I think I'd slept most the day.
I grunted, lifting myself up with gritted teeth attempting to sit up. Sighing, I looked up to find Uli and Rusl discussing something a couple feet away from me. I looked down at my wound which felt much better. But the slight blood that creeped from it was dark and old, it smelled of sweat. I should clean it up to avoid infection. . .
It smelled of warm soup which intrigued my senses a great amount. Before I could scan the room, my eyes trailed off to the sword beside me. "Huh?" I whispered in confusion. I noticed it was no longer there. Perhaps Rusl might've taken it.
"Y/N! Oh, you're up!" Uli said relieved as she walked up to me, interrupting my thoughts. "I have a question for you, dear—forgive me for bugging as you have barely awoken," she smiled as she stood beside me. I looked up at her, nodding. I noticed Rusl walking up to us as well, his hands on his hips. "Do you happen to know where the sword is?" She asked warmly.
My face instantly expressed confusion, averting my gaze from Uli to Rusl, who then held his arms crossed, and back to Uli. "You didn't take it?" I asked in disbelief, my words a bit slow, "I thought—I thought you left it here." I looked down where Uli placed it, gesturing towards it with my hand. "How could I know?" I asked, looking back up at them with slight stress.
So it's gone. They trusted me and it's gone.
Rusl shook his head and walked closer to me, placing a hand on my shoulder to reassure, "it's alright, Y/N, there's no knowing what could've happened—but I believe you." His face showed a warm smile.
My stare fixated on the floor soon after his words. Rusl retrieved his hand and there was a short silence. I had a feeling that perhaps they were looking at one another. Uli then placed her hand on mine which was resting at the corner of the couch, "I'm gonna switch out your bandages, alright?" She stood up and walked off to the other side of their tiny abode, presumably to collect some first-aid supplies.
"I'm continuing my search," Rusl spoke, catching my attention as I looked up at him. He took a last glance at Uli, smiling. Uli could barely return it, since she seemed mostly worried. She walked towards him with bandages, a rag, and alcohol in her hands. She managed a hug around his neck with the items still in hand, standing on her tiptoes. After burying her face in his neck, he returned the hug with his hands around her waist, careful of her pregnant belly.
"I love you," she whimpered, letting go of him. "You better be safe! Don't be reckless!" She pointed a finger at him with the bottle of alcohol in her hand. She tried to express sternness, but her sadness and worry easily drowned it out. A chuckle and a loving smile escaped him, "I promise." He gave her a kiss on the forehead in which she leaned against, soon leaving her as he opened the door. "I'll be back later," he waves off with that same smile towards me, closing the door behind him.
The scene was a touching one, leaving even myself sad. I looked over at Uli who let her stare drop to the ground in sadness. She quickly began walking towards me though, sitting in the chair in front of me. I didn't know whether to comfort her or say nothing, but I decided the latter when we exchanged looks of empathy.
She readied the supplies on her lap and pressed on my shoulder gently for me to lay down. I did as she needed me to and allowed myself to relax on her couch, getting comfortable on the pillows they had there. Assisting me in lifting my waist, she gently but hastily began unwrapping the old bandage.
I barely winced since it no longer hurt, but it hurt enough for me to grit my teeth just a bit.
She finished up, lifting the final piece slowly as my skin began unsticking from the fabric in an audible, unpleasant, moist sound. It caused discomfort for only a moment. When she finished it off she rolled it up within itself, placing it beside her on the floor meanwhile. She then damped the rag in some alcohol.
"Fado came around asking for you, you know," she broke the silence, beginning to clean around my wound. I could barely begin to think about what she told me before I hissed in pain just a bit, clenching just one fist to endure it. She continued talking to me, "he was real worried. But he said you didn't have to worry about losing your opportunity there or anything." I sighed in relief, "I'm glad, I'm just remembering how he told me to show up as soon as I saw Link off."
I felt a feeling of pain further than just on my wound, but in my heart.
You know, I hated him.
I hated him for preparing to leave and not telling me, I hated him for avoiding me, I hated him for not talking to me, I hated him for showing me so much compassion as if he were an older sibling, and then abandoning me. But how much hate can a heart hold? If the heart is nothing more but for love.
It was as visible on my face as the 5 stages of grief are visible on a person of great desperation. How can I hate him if he is now gone? I never got to thank him, or question why—no, all I was capable of was keeping my silence. As much as I want to believe in him, I also don't want to hold onto false hope. But I'll let myself for only the next couple of days. Until then, Link is alive to me.
"Y/N," I heard Uli speak in a soft, yet concerned voice. I had not noticed that I was tearing up until she called and so I sniffled, wiping a tear. "I know this is very hard," she kindly comforted, motioning for me to lift my back up again since she was gonna wrap the new bandage around. "It's hard for all of us, and we wish nothing more for Link, Ilia and the children to come back," she began wrapping it around, taking a short pause in her words to hold back any spill of emotions. She only wrapped it about two or three times before cutting it off at the end and tucking it.
"But Y/N," she began again, placing the bandage roll on the ground and focusing her attention to me. She took my hand in hers, "please don't lose hope, for the both of us. For my son, please."
She gave me a pained look, "for Link."
I looked down at our hands, my brows furrowed in sadness. My lips quivered a bit before I looked back up at her, "yes, of course."
She gave me a last smile, taking a moment to ponder while she stared off to something on the floor. Then she stood up, walking over to a pot atop her fireplace. I assumed that's where the smell came from earlier. "Do you think you're ready to head home?" she asked me from afar as she poured soup into a tinier pot. I definitely didn't want to burden her any further so I said yes. Uli let out a subtle laugh and closed the tiny pot off with a lid, walking over to me with it. "In that case, take some of this. I hope it helps soothe you," she beamed, her eyes closed in delight with both her hands on the pot. She stretched it out to me for me to grab.
I looked at the pot that looked almost like a vase, made of the same ceramics. It had a bunch of beautiful swirls around it, and was of a peculiar brown color.
"Thank you," I smiled at her, taking ahold of the pot with both my hands. "This was—is, Colin's favorite soup. I hope it makes you as happy as it made him," she clasped her hands together, giving me a sad smile. I stared down at the pot with the same smile. Before leaving, I set the pot aside to one of my arms and hugged her with the other. A quite awkward hug, since her baby bump got in the way. She embraced me back as if she needed this hug. "I appreciate everything—the comfort, the treatment, the soup-" She cut me off as we let go of one another, "don't have to, you're our family too Y/N."
That struck me like gold. The words repeated in my head while the sad smile that once lingered on my face was replaced by a genuine one. Tears almost escaped my eyes but I just gave her the brightest smile I could offer, one that seemed to even resonate within her.
And with that, I left.
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༄ On my way home, I made sure to carefully carry the pot with both my hands. The warm light from the sun above me hit my skin, and it felt good. This place did not feel of evil, no, not like that forest from yesterday. It felt like home, as it always did and as it always has been for these last couple of years. Thinking about it now, I felt the same way when I was engulfed by that golden goat's light.
I looked up at the sky, squinting my eyes from the fierce sun that seemed ready to set soon. This sky did not look of a dim light shadowed by tints of grey. It's brightness was enough to make anybody who looked upon it happy, but not us. Not Ordon, not this time. For the only assets were the children who filled the village of laughter, and Link who gave Ordon courage and reliability.
I walked up the slope with caution and had finally gotten to my house. My doorframe was a prettily carved out bulk of the tree that curved around the edges of my rounded door. Walking up to it, I shifted the pot to a single arm, reaching out my hand to my doorframe and getting a feel for it's smoothened, yet rough-textured wood. I could smell its scent of moist wood as most trees are here in Ordon due to it's mildly humid weather.
Looking up towards the top of the tree I saw that big branch that reached out proudly. Staring at it, I could almost see Link's tiny self staring back with his big grin. A smile unconsciously creeped up on my face, as I whispered the words, "not fair, Link," in a faint and faltering whisper.
I felt my eyes water, almost crying once again but I stopped it before I began. One tear had escaped before I dried off my eyes with my arm, going ahead to open my door. Of course, my house had to be built in the tree that he loved climbing and hanging out at.
Entering my home, I set the pot on my table in the center of the room and plopped down in one of the chairs. It was hard not to let out a long and sad sigh in that moment, allowing my forehead to fall onto my hand that was resting against the table.
Examining my view from that point, I stared down at my wooden floor, then averting my eyes to my wound hidden below my torn and worn out shirt for that day. Slowly, my gaze shifted to my thigh. I stood up and decided to clean myself.
I walked towards the room divider that separated part of my one-roomed home. This room was slightly elevated, about 5 stairs was enough to lead onto the platform. In here, was a large tub, an even bigger and taller water boiler I made myself, and a laundry basket. The water boiler was able to sustain enough water for at least 5 baths, but after that I had to refill it, so I did that weekly. I'm not complaining, my first couple of tries in it consisted of 1-3 baths. After hearing that, you'd definitely think 5 is more than good enough.
I looked outside the window that towered over the bathtub, it's view practically being the same as the view from my bed's window. But the village was more-so in sight on this window. From here, I could see the mayors house and partially the waterwheel. I'd also be able to see Rusl's home if it weren't for the rest of the tree I live in blocking the view, but I can see most the path that leads towards them.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen baths in anybody else's home. Often times, I believe they wash up in the river or simply use river water that they carry in buckets or gallons in barrels. When washing in the river of course, they do not dive in fully naked as to respect the community they use undergarment.
Personally, I like the naked experience. This way, I am more in touch with my own body along with the comfort of my own home. It feels peaceful.
I took a deep breath as I let my clothes fall and pool underneath me. I was careful to take my shirt off as to not hurt my wound. After becoming naked, I grabbed my clothes beneath me to throw them in the laundry basket, but then I stared down at my wrapped up wound. Uli had just wrapped this, and I felt bad taking it off already.
Biting my lip with a pondering expression, I began to unwrap it, but then stopped and asked myself if I had any wrapping bandage. Thinking about it for a second, I convinced myself I did and just proceeded to unwrap it. As I got to the final part, I slowly pulled it from my skin but it wasn't as bad since it was newly placed.
Eventually, I brought myself to light the fire under the water boiler to heat up the water meanwhile. I leaned my butt against the tub to wait and stared at my exposed wound a while. It looked nasty, but it was healing overall. The stitched wound held scabbing blood across the closed line of the wound.
But my attention was distraught by something else. The scar in which I had inked down an image on my thigh. I brushed my hand over it, tilting my head with a sigh. I've had this scar for a long while, perhaps even at birth. It's three triangles together at their edges to create one large triangle, but the triangle they create in the middle was more shaded in scar tissue than the other triangles.
I smiled. One day I found out Link has one just like mine but it was smoother in texture, like if it was meant to be on him, not scarred. However, a different triangle, specifically the right bottom corner, was shaded. It felt weird to have birthmarks so similar, I almost convinced myself it even meant something once. But then it did, the day Link did something so memorable for me that I had to ink over my scar in black long ago. Although a painful process, it felt necessary to tattoo over it in his honor. He's never seen it himself, though. He doesn't know of my scar, and I've never told him.
I shook my head to brush off my thoughts with a smile before standing up and putting out the fire. The water was steaming from the boiler's top so it seemed ready. I pulled down a handle that connected itself to the exit of a small slope that cradled the water and led it to fall into the tub. I waited for it to fill, admiring the way the water reflected against the sunset's rays of light and against the shimmering quartz of the tub. It was practically a giant quartz rock, carved from the inside to create a hole in it which suited for a good tub. It is not perfectly circle or oval shaped, it's pretty rigid and it randomizes in curves and edges on the outside, but the inside of the tub was perfectly smoothened.
Once the water filled enough, I reversed the handle to shut the water source and placed a leg over to dip in.
It felt nice, you know. To finally relax in a steaming bath. My wound had burned on contact, but it eased as I slowly slipped in. I couldn't help but to admit there was still discomfort. This bath would have to be a short one. I kept my supplies on the smoothened thick edges of the tub. My hair wash and body washes I made myself too, of different ingredients and scents I loved and found around Ordon.
I gave a sigh, watching the sun set and slowly lower to hide behind the mountains.
As the sun always sets is as it always comes back, so you better come back too.
Please.
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