Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku - A Wind Waker Tale

To KR - you mean you didn't see that coming? Well truth is neither did I until Tetra told me...Link's right she leaves out way too many details

This chapter (in comparison to the others) is short, but that can’t be helped. If anyone notices any glaring errors, please feel free to let me know what they are. The changes to this chapter are actually pretty minor. Slipped in some better descriptions, made the answer to the ending just a tad bit vaguer and deleted some pointless rehashing...

Something to note: I do not believe the Goddesses are compassionate or even benevolent to their chosen ones. They use them ruthlessly to serve their ends ... is kinda depressing when you think about it. Since Link's grandma has been a bit of an enigma up until this point, I suppose I had best start explaining a few things...




Chapter 39:
“Everything is possible with time…”

Link’s eyes opened at the sound of his Grandmother’s voice. Still not quite awake, he looked around and realized Tetra no longer sat next to him. He pulled off his hat and gave it a shake. Kage was gone as well, Perfect, he thought. Without the kagenmi or Tetra’s odd brand of magic, he was stuck. His stomach growled loudly and Link closed his eyes as he rested his head on the tree behind him. Deciding he should eat something he was surprised to see the packet of rations so conveniently lying in front of him. Tetra must have left it behind, Guess she really did know I was lying about being hungry. He opened it and examined the contents. Blech, he thought…dried, salted fish and stale bread.

He ate the food quickly, and all the while, Link could feel Tetra confused thoughts. He couldn’t make heads or tails of them though, since he was a little afraid to go wandering around her head to find out why… You let her talk you into this, he thought, and decided he’d better get over his apprehension and just deal with it. It took him a few tries, but Link was eventually successful and managed to focus on that part of his brain where Tetra had taken up residence. Within it, he sensed that she was upset, but still couldn’t tell why. One more try, he thought and after a deep breath, he tried to relax, but it didn’t work. He ground his teeth and felt his grip tightened on the staff.

The world around him flickered and Link carefully opened his eyes. While he expected to see that golden light again, he was a little surprised to find everything appeared exactly the same…Link glanced down and noticed the emblems on the kibou staff were glowing slightly. That’s weird, he thought. Link was sure he hadn’t called on any magic, so just to be sure, he channeled a small amount into the staff, being very careful not to send any directly to the emblems and felt the flicker again. This time, his surroundings changed and he found himself sitting on the floor at the foot of a bed in a cluttered room.

Link stood but the room was out of focus with only the small patch that surrounded him appearing clearly. On a hunch, he pulled the mirror out of his pack. Its surface glowed eerily, but it was not a reflection of his face that he saw but a mirror image of the cluttered room. Link lifted the mirror and the area behind it came into sharp focus, while the hand that held the mirror fuzzed out. Weirder and weirder Link thought.

Weird or no, he decided it must be important that he see this and Link wondered if this were another side effect of the kagenmi. Was this more information from the past or something else? His answer came when he used the mirror to look around the room. Link raised and eyebrow when he noticed a figure off to his left. The person turned and came into focus and Link recognized him now. It was Jinchi. As Link looked at him, it dawned on him how much the Guardian looked like his mother, but Link set those thoughts aside as he got a look at the person lying on the bed.

Fascinated, Link watched Jinchi move a person that looked a hell of a lot like him off the bed. What the hell? Link thought. There was no sound as Jinchi maneuvered the unmoving Link onto the floor and under the bed. The Guardian stood and tilted his head, listening to something Link could not hear then turned and spoke to someone who was still out of focus behind him.

Link wondered briefly if that person was Aryll, but dismissed it. The person behind the Guardian was too short to be his sister. Where was she then? His attention returned to the Guardian as Jinchi closed his eyes, raised his arms, and seemed to be chanting. If Link hadn’t seen it he would never have believed it. The Guardian simply came apart. His body melting into a thousand points of light that swirled slowly for a bit, then spun rapidly into a tight circle. They coalesced with a small flash and he saw in place of the Guardian an exact copy of himself. His eyes were still golden, but clothes, hair, everything right down to the staff he now carried was the same.

The copy lay down on the bed and looked for all outward appearances to be asleep. The other figure, which he never saw clearly had already disappeared from view. Link was startled briefly when the vision rippled and a wall nearby blasted silently open. Books, debris, and hundreds of small items scattered around the room and Link’s attention returned to the bed, but the Guardian did not move when the shadow entered the room.

Link’s hackles went up as the Shadow looked at the bed with his face twisted in a snarl. Link looked back at the opening and saw the other figure there and he recognized him now and thought, Tingle? Link felt suddenly ill when the Shadow walked right through him. He knew he wasn’t actually in the room with the Shadow, but understood better what the Hitokage was since his little talk with Kage. Why his thoughts became so clouded when he took the offensive during that fight on Outset, the Shadow had been stealing bits of Link’s soul. Now there was a little bit of himself in that Shadow, undoubtedly making it easier for the Shadow to locate him.

A strange sort of uneasiness hit Link when the Shadow turned around and stared at the spot Link would be occupying if he were physically in the room. It frowned and returned its attention back to the bed, which it eyed suspiciously. The Shadow yelled at the unmoving form on the bed and when Link’s copy remained unresponsive, Hito grabbed and shook the Guardian. For whatever reason, Jinchi/Link still did not respond to the shadow, which only seemed to make it angrier. Link watched as the shadow then carelessly dragged his copy to the hole in the wall and tossed him through.

Link took two steps back to avoid the shadow as it passed back around the bed. It was looking for something but did not appear to having any success. Obviously not satisfied with his first inspection, Hito’s eyes glowed red as he walked back toward the bed. Link knew if the shadow looked under the bed they were sunk and since the he could feel the shadow, maybe Link could distract it so Link stepped up behind it and passed the staff through the Shadow’s head. Though the contact had been very brief, Link still felt a level of vileness that slid off the shadow through the staff. It was enough to make Link want to wretch, but had the desired effect. The shadow appeared momentarily confused then turned away from the bed and began to tear apart the rest of the tiny room. Still not finding what it was looking for, Hito blasted another, even lager hole in the ceiling. It rose then out of view, Link assumed, to search the upper floors.

With the Shadow gone, Link’s copy peered cautiously back through the hole he’d so recently been thrown out of. The Guardians golden eyes glowed in the still settling dust as he entered the room and pulled nappy Link out from under the bed. The Guardian carried him outside and Link’s eyebrow shot up when a big piece of ceiling fell and crushed the bed underneath. A sudden burst of vertigo made Link waver as the scene shifted suddenly and followed the Guardian outside Tingle’s Tower toward the King of Red Lions. Link was not surprised to see the boat, it always found its way too him, but was a little amused to see Tingle was already in the boat. What were those two up to? The Guardian placed nappy Link in the boat and said something to Tingle, who only shrugged. Jinchi stopped and looked back at the tower and frowned.

Link paced as he watched the pair from a short distance away and looked up at the tower just as Hito blew another hole in it higher up. Link glanced back at the pair by the water when he noticed the whole scene seemed to have paused. Link studied it. No, he thought, as he noticed a small movement, it had just slowed down a lot. Why would…? Link inwardly suppressed the urge to scream. “Oh, great,” he said as he lifted and growled at the mirror, “A puzzle? Now?” Link took a deep breath to clear his head and sighed. You know you can’t fight it, so don’t even try Namaki, “Alright,” Link said to the mirror, “show me.”

A series of words appeared. TWIN GODS flashed twice followed by, KING’S CALL this faded was replaced by PENITENCE EARNED. Link stole a glance back at the action. If they were still moving, however slowly, there was a time limit of some sort involved. Link looked behind him at the Tower again. He saw new smoke ‘frozen’ as it rose from the Tower about halfway up. He more than likely only had until Hito got to the top of the tower or found what he was looking for. Link looked carefully at the pair in an effort to figure out what he needed to do. It occurred to him then, that neither Tingle nor Jinchi carried his pack. He wondered briefly, where it had got to since he had it with him in the kagenmi. They must need something from my pack, but what? Link looked back at the mirror again. The words continued to appear on the mirror, when the phrase KING’S CALL appeared again he thought of the Wind Waker. If that was part of the answer then how can I get it to them or for that matter, how can they use it if I’m unconscious? Link set the mirror down where he could still see its face and pulled it out the Wind Waker baton.

He thought about the words now static on the mirror’s surface TWIN GODS. He only knew of only two, Cyclos and Zephos. The twin gods of the winds had done a lot to help him seven years ago, but since Link did not exist in this time, he was unsure of what sort of reception he’d get from the pair. Their volatile nature made him a little nervous at invoking the ‘King’s Call’. Link stole a glance at the Guardian and his unlikely accomplice again and briefly wondered what Tingle would be getting out of this, since that one never did anything without some kind of fee. Jinchi’s foot was now on the King of Red Lions, as if he were pushing the boat away from the shore. He must be hurrying Tingle off the island.

No more time for hesitation then. Link thought and conducted the Ballad of Gales. That only took care of one of the Wind Gods and the message said ‘Twin Gods’ so as the last note faded Link realized what the last phrase meant and how the melody known as the Wind’s Requiem got its name. Penitence earned. Link whispered to the winds and conducted The Wind’s Requiem. The winds waited while the Hero of the Winds decided what he needed and Link pulled a gentle southerly breeze toward him. Maybe it would warm up here a little.

Link watched the sky, and though it was really only a moment, it felt like forever until both Cyclos and Zephos appeared. The mirror’s scene dropped away as the frog-like Gods of the Winds, one blue, one orange, circled him on the clouds they used for moving themselves. Link did not move as the pair, moving very quickly dove this way and that. He looked up at them as they came to an abrupt halt in front of him.

“You have used the King’s magic to call us and we have come,” Zephos said, “but who are you?”

“My name is Link Namaki.” Link answered the blue one.

“Link?” The orange Cyclos asked and turned to his brother. “That is a very curious name, eh brother?”

“Yes, curious indeed,” Zephos answered and looked back at Link with a calculating stare. ”When last we were summoned, it was by the King of Hyrule. How is it that you now hold the Wind Waker?”

“In the future, it will be given to me by the King of Red Lions. With this,” and he held up the baton, “and your help, I will become the Hero of the Winds.”

“The future?” Cyclos asked and gave him a disbelieving look.

Link nodded. “The King of Red Lions, who I would later discovered was His Majesty, in disguise, gave me the Wind Waker to aid me in my quest to stop Ganondorf from gaining control of the Great Sea.”

“Great Sea?” Zephos asked, No such place exists.”

“It will, in the future. That’s a little hard to explain, actually, but I need your help...or…I will.”

The Wind Gods looked at one another, rose a little higher, and spoke amongst themselves in the language of their kind. Link did not understand a word of it, but neither sounded negative so he figured there was still hope. When they lowered themselves back in front of him Cyclos said with a curious grin, “Explain then, Hero of the Winds. Tell us what it is you need us to do.”

Link explained the dilemma faced by the pair on Tingle Island and why he needed the Guardian made up as a copy of himself, and Tingle to succeed in what they were doing. Link asked Cyclos if he could take the boat to wherever they needed to be on that specific date.

“I see now why you need my brother’s help,” Zephos stated, “but what is it you need from me, Hero?”

Penitence Earned…confession is good for the soul, right? Link thought, so he stood a little straighter, looked the blue Wind God in the eye and said, “Two days prior to the date I just gave you, just after sundown, on an island named Outset…” Link paused and looked past the pair as he continued, “I’ll need you to stop me from doing something incredibly stupid.”

When the blue Wind God said nothing, Link knew it was not enough. He would have to tell the Guardian of the Triforce of Courage why and in as few words as possible, Link explained the events that led to him almost murdering his fellow islanders.

Zephos’s frog-like features showed no surprise but when Link finished, the Wind God nodded to him. “Very well, Link Namaki, Hero of the Winds. It will be as you have asked.”

Zephos’s brother the master of cyclones laughed and said, “You are a bold one, Link Namaki, so full of the Hero’s confidence. I look forward to meeting you in the future.” The orange Wind God smiled and laughed again. “Fare you well Wind Waker!” Cyclos cried and the pair lifted and disappeared into the clouds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jake looked at Tingle’s Tower and cringed when he heard another explosion.

“Mr. Fairy?”

The Guardian turned to face his accomplice.

“What shall we do now?”

“First, ju must stop callink me zat,” Jake said, irritated with the little man.

“But Mr. Fairy, how will I…” Tingle trailed off when he saw the dangerous look in Jake’s eyes

“Ju,” Jake said pointing, “weel row.”

“All the way to Mother and Child Island?”

“Jes, eef need be.”

“Will there be enough time?”

“Goddesses willink,” Jake said and watched as Tingle struggled to reconcile his fondest wish with his innate laziness.

The mapmaker sighed and asked, “Where are the oars?”

“In zee hold.”

Tingle flipped open the hatch and both looked up when a fourth explosion was heard from the tower. “My beautiful tower,” Tingle lamented.

“How many levels are eenside?” Jake asked.

“Five.”

“Then Eet ees time for ju to go.” Jake said as he placed a booted foot on the prow of the King of Red Lions and gave the boat a shove toward open water.

Tingle turned to take up the oars and he gave off a high-pitched squeak when he found himself faced with a shockingly orange frog.

“Greetings mapmaker, I see you are in need of a little assistance.”

“Jes, I mean yes.” Tingle stammered.

The God of cyclones looked at Link’s unconscious form in the boat, “So bold.” He chuckled and looked up at Jake. “We meet again Guardian. It is to Mother and Child Island then?”

Jake nodded and bowed in thanks to the Wind God. When he straightened he laughed as he said to Tingle, “Hold on Mapmaker, you’re in for one heck of a ride.”

The cyclone came down and Tingle ducked as the boat’s spin picked up speed. It lifted from the water and after a moment was out of sight. Once the boat was gone, the Wind God was as well. Jake had no idea why the Wind God appeared as he did, though fortuitous, he did wonder who called him. Jake knew the Wind Waker was in the Hero’s pack under the island with Kotori. The answer came when Jake heard, whispered on the wind, the Guardian Prayer. He’d not heard it in ages, but the voice was familiar and Jake smiled.

Guardian’s song, bring us light.
Shining strong, burning bright.
Aid us now in this hour of need.
Help us strengthen word and deed.

Guardian’s song, bring us light.
Shining strong, burning bright.
Chosen four through darkest night.
Guide us with the Guardian’s Light.

Another explosion, made the Guardian turn and he watched the large head atop Tingle’s Tower come crashing down. The whole structure began to shake violently and Jake returned and grimaced as he lay back in the awkward position he’d landed in when he’d been thrown out earlier. Tingle’s Tower finally succumbed to the damage and toppled into the sea. Jake closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of protection for Kotori and the Princess now buried under the rubble. Jake was not sure how long his little trick would last, but for now, it bought them all some much needed time. Something they were running out of very quickly.

Link knew he unlocked the puzzle but wondered again at how that was possible. Tetra said they should not be able to effect any change here in the past, but he clearly just did. Well at least he hoped he did and let out a sigh. Another puzzle for another day, he thought as he put away the Wind Waker baton and picked up the mirror.

It went dark for a moment as its glow subsided and now only his reflection stared back at him. Link worried now that Jinchi would be discovered. The prayer he’d recited was a rhyme his mother taught him to help him get over his own fear of loud thunderstorms. She said it once was a blessing of protection, he hoped it still was. It wasn’t much, but it was all the help he could offer from here. He had to find his way out of the kagenmi soon. He really needed to find Tetra.

His brain jumped back a pace. It was the first time he realized Tetra was not with him in the mirror’s vision. They should be together. Where was she? he wondered. He sat back on the ground and decided, he’d better stop fooling around and learn to deal with the new binding the Wind Waker created. It dawned on him then, why he recognized whose children Jinchi and Chiyuu really were and wondered. The southerly breeze he called earlier flowed by him and something on it, whispered to him of approaching danger. Link felt it before when they first sat down to rest and he again pulled out the staff and rested it on his knees. Better to be prepared, he thought.

He tried at first, unsuccessfully, to focus on his missing pirate captain. Instead, he kept hearing his Grandmother’s voice. When Link finally stopped trying to fight it and paid attention to what she was saying, what he heard he could not believe. She could only be talking to Tetra, how that was possible…he didn’t have a clue. However the things she was telling Tetra suddenly made so many odd things that had happened when he was a child make a lot more sense. No wonder she knew who Al was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tetra took another gulp of the tea in front of her. She swayed a bit and looked again at Link’s Grandmother. Link was awake now but not paying attention. What the hell is he doing? she wondered. Tetra had no idea how the old woman was here, or if she was just seeing things.

“If you’re here, who’s back on Outset, in our time?” Tetra asked.

“This will be difficult to explain.”

“You ain’t kiddin’ there,” Tetra muttered to herself.

“I’m not even sure I can. Though I’ve waited almost three generations for this day to come.”

“What is it with that damn Nohansen family?” Tetra said. She was still muttering to herself and only half listening to Grandma Namaki. Tetra took a deep breath to clear her head. Grandma Namaki explained that when the boy who had been Link in this time became Guardian, it had not been his choice to do so. Because the gift was not freely accepted, he became something different. By changing what the hero should have been, the Fairy Queen inadvertently made the shadow more powerful.

Tetra thought of Speck’s description of Hito, "…The shadow was created to be the shadow of the Hero. Whatever form the Hero takes, so shall his shadow…” Tetra glanced at Chiyuu, Did he just move? Hmmm, he is an unusual boy.

“So whatever strength the Hero gained, the shadow gained as well?” Tetra asked still watching the boy.

“Yes, I believe it’s why the Fairy Queen agreed to his plan to help Dalkin and Delia. Because he existed as he did, things were out of balance. So he found a way to reduce his effect upon the world, by unmaking himself and at the same time making them all forget.”

"All except you."

"Yes."

"That's odd, because your sister seemed to think there were two others." Tetra said and still watched the boy in front of her. From what Link had told her about the dolls and other random bits of information, Tetra was sure, Jinchi and Chiyuu were the other two. He’s most definitely moving, Tetra decided since the smile that was on his face a few moments before gone.

Tetra noticed that Link’s Grandma now looked at the small boy still asleep in the cradle.

“He never told me exactly what they agreed to,” Grandma Namaki said sadly, “He only told me not to worry because our children would be safe and Al and Delia would have a better life. He'd been gone for several months before the dream came and the fairies appeared. Perhaps he had the Fairy Queen send the dream…to let me know what had happened to him. But I was changed from that day forward and found myself aging very slowly.”

Tetra found herself thinking of the prophecy again. The past and future woven together so tightly amongst the lines, she purposely took it apart. She felt a chill as she reassembled the pieces of it.

Ere winter's solstice, relations lost remembered pain.
Gone, the promise of one day to return.
Journey into time's murky fold.
Returning to life a thought, lost by magic.

As Lady Natsumi, now Link’s Grandmother told her story, the remaining lines began to make terrible sense. To stop the shadow and return it to ‘normal’ … Tetra tried to shut down that line of thought, but found she couldn’t as the more of the puzzle unraveled itself.

Darkness pierced with light sent by true love's hand
Shining above all, needs reflected, a life completed.
Condemned to hell, by one command.
Times sage will free the memory bound by departed hope

“They can’t ask me to do this,” Tetra said in a shaky voice, “Anything else…”

“You are a daughter of the Royal family of Hyrule, Tetra. We are born as servants to the Goddesses and to our people. Whatever role the Goddesses choose for us we must accept… To protect the future, rescue expectation. Pass the tests of loss, grief, and sacrifice. To surrender our joy, the gull and speed the ravens flight.

Tetra recognized the voice from the prophecy and with hers barely above a whisper, she said, “It’s not right. Isn’t there some other way? I just…I can’t.”

“Then Hitokage will win, the Guardians will be lost and my grandson will be doomed to shadow.”

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

© 1999 - 2024 Zelda Legends. All Rights Reserved.