Neither of them knew how long he had cried for, but there was much more to his tears than what had been eating him the past few days. He himself had never cried at such a magnitude before. He'd been borderline hysterical.
And Fluttershy, bless her heart, let him cry his eyes out for as long as he needed. She gently rocked him from side to side and hummed softly to him, stroking his head and simply being there for him. Of course, it got him to thinking about Navi again, and how, if he could not escape, he would not be finding her. Period.
The thoughts broke fresh tears out. It was all he could do. He barely even noticed when Fluttershy picked him up and walked into her home. She sat down on the couch with him in her lap and rocked him gently some more.
No words were needed. As he gradually calmed down, he began to just focus on her calm yet strong heartbeat. It almost made him drowsy.
When he had quieted down and all that was left of his break down was the stray sob here and there and some hiccups (Link always got hiccups whenever he cried), Fluttershy risked opening her wings and revealing him to the world again.
He looked up at her, his face still glistening and eyes still red. He felt mortified, emasculated, and like a helpless infant again. When he saw the tears soaked into her coat, he wanted to cry. But then that would add to the issue and he didn't want to completely soak her any more than he already had.
"I'm here," she whispered to him. "Tell me what's wrong, Hinka. What hurts?"
"Home," was his one word reply. It was the first time he'd spoken in several days.
"What about home?" she asked, rubbing the back of his head gently.
"Can't get back," he replied. "Ocarina won't work."
He wiped his eyes and hiccuped, a dry sob racking his chest again. "Can't find Navi. Can't find mom. Just want to find mom and be together again. Just want..."
His crying renewed itself for a few moments, but died down again.
"Just want to give up."
Fluttershy kissed his head. That's why he hadn't left? She thought he decided to stay for a little longer! "Oh, Hinka, I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to go home."
He shook his head slightly. "I just want Navi back. I want my mom."
Fluttershy held him a bit tighter in reflex and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. He'd told her about Navi a little. Her kind, supportive smiles, her protectiveness, her tucking him in at night and telling him stories, her scolding him when he got out of line, and the praise she gave him when he did something to make her proud. She was just a fairy, and yet, she was so much more.
And she just walked out of his life one day without an explanation. It made Fluttershy very angry. Nopony has the right to walk out of their child's life like that. It mattered not if it was a child by birth, adoption, or anything in between. You don't get to walk out of the life of your young. If she could, she would have words for the fairy.
She decided then. So long as he was here, she would be his mom. If he would accept her, that is. And she had no doubt the others would come to a similar conclusion in time. In the place of one mother, he could have six.
She gave him a gentle smile. "How would you like some warm milk and cookies, Hinka?"
His only question was a vaguely disinterested, "What's cookies?" He'd seen them before but had not tried them, and in his current emotional state, had completely forgotten them.
Somewhere in the distance, Pinkie Pie fainted.
Link spent the rest of that day held close to Fluttershy, drinking warm milk and nibbling on cookies (he loved them). She drew with him and hummed more to him. He ended up falling asleep in her arms.
He felt awkward and embarrassed, but Fluttershy must have had mind reading capabilities, because when he awoke she told him he had nothing to be ashamed of and that he could always come to her when he felt sad.
It was not new to him. When he was sad when Saria was around, she would always be there for him. When he had Navi, she was always there for him. Even Tatl showed concern for him when he was especially sad, and she never liked to show emotion. She was the one who taught him the phrase, "When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."
Fluttershy smiled at him, and he felt butterflies within.
"Hinka, what happened earlier was totally natural. It's okay to cry and be sad. But you don't have to do it alone. And I think that you need to hear this more than you even realize."
She nuzzled his cheeks and kissed his forehead.
"I am very, very proud of you."
They left for Twilight's after dark. Fluttershy had managed to help Hinka out of his funk. He did not walk with his head held high, but he did have life in his eyes once more. She knew he was still sad and it wasn't something that would go away out of the blue, but for now he was comfortable, and that was what was important.
"Hinka, you remember how to use the phone, right?"
He nodded slightly. While he was there, she told him that if he needed her he could call her at any time on the phone.
He shivered a bit as he recalled his first interaction with the infernal device. Why did this horses need all this fancy schmancy stuff? They could walk and they got mail too. Send a letter or go visit someone if you wanted a talk.
When he first heard the machine ring it sent him right back into his memories. For some reason his mind made the connection of the ringing to the screams of lonely souls.
He would never forget his first encounter with the redeads. His quest had left him in need of a mysterious melody by the famous composer brothers, Sharp and Flat. They had achieved such renown that even the reclusive Kokiri knew who they were.
He heard on the winds of a song that would prove vital to his quest. If he were to play it on the Royal Family's ocarina, time would pass in an instant. He could make day night and night day at his leisure. In addition, the melody was said to have another underlying power, though what it really was had been lost to time.
Naturally, his question was where to find the song. He was directed to Kakariko Graveyard, the plot in the very back. It was the tomb of the Royal Family.
It was strange. When he got to Kakariko that day the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. When he made it to the graveyard, the clouds rolled in. It took him no more than two minutes to get to the grave in the back, at which point thunder and a torrential downpour started.
That was the first time he ever saw the golden triangles on his right hand. The bottom right triangle glowed bright, and as if in response, a lightning bolt from the heavens came down to the tombstone, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The debris had caused him to stumble, and he slipped on the already slick mud back down the path some.
He looked back up the path at where the headstone had been moments before. It was almost as if nature itself was giving him a chance to leave now.
Link was not known for his cowardice, however. He chose to proceed, and carefully entered the hole in the ground.
He'd expected to find maybe a few skeletons here and there and then a slate with the melody he sought imprinted on it. He believed that it would be a small grave, just like those the Kokiri would build- when a person died among the Kokiri, they were buried in a grave just 6' by 3'. At the time he was very unfamiliar with the culture he was now exploring.
First, however, he needed to light his torch. Behind him the rain poured into the hole like a waterfall. His rucksack was water resistant, though, and so his firemaking materials and torch itself were safe.
As he set about lighting the torch (he was used to doing so without being able to see what he was up to), light suddenly flooded the small grave.
Torches along the walls suddenly lit up, and the grave wasn't so small anymore. The torches led him down a hall deeper into the Earth. Link slowly put his torch and firemaking materials away.
"Link, be very careful," whispered Navi. "I can sense the spirits of the dead lurking in this grave. They are warning you away."
He swallowed hard. Just because he was courageous and didn't shy away from danger did not mean he was immune to fear.
"Link, would you like to turn back? I think it would be for the best. We can find a way without this song."
He shook his head, and drew his blade. Funny, it had only been two days since he saved the Gorons of Death Mountain and he neglected to have it sharpened again. Still, it appeared to be ready for action. He would have to have it sharpened after he was done here regardless. The blacksmith was having a sale.
Navi stopped in front of him and cupped his cheeks. "Please be safe, Link. I'm here with you."
He smiled, and walked forward.
The first room was relatively easy to get through. It was full of mostly Keese, which Link had killing down to a science.
They were venemous bats, but so common in Kokiri Village that the Kokiri had built up an immunity to their poisons but for high doses. The venom, when it worked, robbed the victim of muscle control temporarily, though only around the bite.
When a Kokiri suffered just one or two bites, which was not uncommon, the poison would not work. Link was no exception. His home had been filled with the annoying flappy things as some sort of bizarre hazing ritual by his fellow Kokiri more times than he cared to admit. Mido even had a pet Keese he called Basil1.
In a swarm of the creatures, though? If enough bit anyone, it would be a death sentence. As it was, Link suffered a multitude of bites in the tomb before he cleared the room of the Keese. At the end his shield arm hung limply by his side (he carried a heavy metal shield on his back and his trusty wooden shield on the arm), and he had difficulty moving the toes on his left foot anymore. He shuffled into the next room, and that was where the nightmare began.
It started out as just a low humming and a foul odor in the air that burned the eyes and sinuses. The door opened to another hallway that led down into a larger room. Link gagged on the stench at first and opted to crouch. He would have more air to breathe the lower he got.
Slowly he trudged into the room, and that was when his heart stopped.
The tomb was full of bones and corpses as expected, yes, but none of them were standing. The creatures in the room with him, however...
There were six of them standing around a large pool of what seemed to be tar. The remains of a few small animals were trapped within it, along with one or two skeletons of long dead foolish adventurers.
So going straight through the tar pit was out. It meant having to approach these standing corpses, which brought fear to him. Navi said nothing, though when he looked at her she appeared to be horrified; stunned speechless, even.
He noticed, however, that none of the corpses had moved towards him when he entered the room. They simply continued standing around the tar emitting that low hum of theirs.
He took a cautious step towards the nearest one to him, his blade held high. His shield arm was already recovering some of its feeling, but it wasn't enough yet.
Fortunately, he did not need it to be enough. The creature did not react to the step forward he took. To make sure it wasn't a fluke, Link stepped back again, and then forward once more. No response.
He looked to the tar pit again, and then the rest of the creatures. There was another door at the opposite end of the room.
Though he hadn't been attacked yet, Link was still very wary of the strange creatures. He decided that in order to get to the next room, he would move past them all as quickly as he could and recite the Kokirian Prayer of the Dead for them.
Perhaps it would put them at rest? All he knew for sure was, the sooner he got past them, the sooner he could get out of the tomb. He would have to run, which would not be easy with his leg under the effects of Keese venom.
He ran but two steps before his plan came crumbling down.
The one nearest to him emitted an ear piercing shriek, and Link was stopped in his tracks, as if an otherworldly force had gripped his legs.
He turned his head somewhat as he covered his ears, and to his alarm, the creature was slowly walking towards him. Its head remained low, and Link tried to ready his blade for a strike.
To his horror, he realized that he really had been stopped. His arms would only move so much and his legs were totally nonresponsive.
The remaining creatures, however, did not seem interested in joining the attack. Maybe it was a territory thing? He didn't know.
The large lanky frame seemed to wrap around him like a snake. One leathery hand covered his mouth and nose tight and his head was being pulled up some. He found it difficult to breathe. The legs were around his waist like he was giving it a piggy back ride, and the other hand was firmly on his chest, gripping, as if it would tear his heart from its cavity at any moment. He would receive a bruise from that grip alone.
All of a sudden there was a sharp pain in the left side of his neck, and then what sounded like a groan of absolute hunger.
Goddesses... it bit me!
Link's eyes widened and he rolled them to look to his side. Sure enough, the creature's head was at his neck. He could feel his warm blood flowing freely into its maw.
His blade arm was trapped by his side by the awkward angle that the creature had wrapped itself around him. It was so tight that he was actually able to release his blade without it falling to the floor. Moving his sword arm itself was nigh impossible. He was getting dizzy.
Navi began to fly into the creature's head repeatedly to no avail. She attempted to cast her holy shield again, but it failed. She later admitted to having panicked, for most considered redeads to be mythical creatures. She apologized profusely when he awoke and swore to be a better guardian. She redeemed herself during the incident with the Dead Hand.
She was hysterical. She was crying and begging it to free him. Link would have been touched had he not been slowly getting tired.
He was not through yet though. He was aware enough to know that his shield arm was still mostly free, though also still under the effects of the Keese bite. He began to clumsily smack it into the creature's head as hard as he could, which was not particularly hard at the moment. The monster did not react, and only continued to drink from him. He was growing desperate now as the vision began to blur somewhat. In a bid to free himself, he bit down hard on one of the monster's fingers. It came off in his mouth and tasted of the worst thing in the world, but the monster still did not slow down.
This was it. Now he was going to become one with the tomb. Would he become one of these monsters too now? He hoped not. He did not want his dead body doing to others what this one was doing to him.
His legs finally too weak to hold him up anymore, Link sank to his knees. The sudden jolt seemed to startle the monster enough that it stopped feeding and lost balance. Its grip loosened somewhat as it moved to re-adjust itself.
The opening was all Link needed. With his last burst of adrenaline, he grabbed his blade, turned about and buried it into the stomach of the monster. It made no noise, but the blood it had stolen from him began to seep out. He pulled the blade free, and then stabbed it again in the abdomen.
Then again in the leg.
Then again in the chest.
Finally, once under the chin.
It fell limp under him, and he put his hand to his bleeding wound. It was still bleeding heavily, and he was growing much more tired.
He heard a groan, and looked in horror at the monster he thought he felled. It was still down and unmoving. He looked to the others and terror filled his features once more. They were all on approach now.
His adrenaline beginning to wane, he opted to use whatever energy he had left to make it to the next room. The creatures seemed not to pay him mind now. They had all started to wander over to the one he felled. He would have found it touching if he weren't slowly dying.
As soon as he made it to the next room, he was relieved. There were no more monsters within it. He could be safe here for a while. Perhaps he could steal a nap, then?
He sank to his rear and shut his eyes. Navi would wake him if there was something wrong. Just a short nap. Just a little bit.
Just...
He was jolted back to consciousness by the fairy in question bopping him on the head. Repeatedly.
"Link!!! Do not even think about sleeping in here! You're hurt bad. Please, just get up and let's go."
He was surprised, but he could hear the intense, almost motherly worry carried within her words. Not that Link knew at the time what having a mother was like.
He did not know just how he managed to get his feet under him again, but he did. He spared a look behind him. The monsters had formed a semicircle around the one he fell. One appeared to be shaking it, trying to rouse it from its very long slumber.
It was just a few steps up to a plaque on the wall. Link did not initially recall everything it said. Navi memorized it. Kokirian guardian fairies were known to have eidetic memories.2
"There's a poem inscribed here...
'The rising sun will eventually set,
A newborn's life will fade.
From sun to moon,
Moon to sun,
Give peaceful rest to the living dead.'
This is a pretty interesting poem, don't you think?" she asked him. He was too groggy to respond. She bopped him again to rouse him and flew over to a small carving at the bottom of the plaque.
"Look! This must be that song!"3
Link shakily brought his ocarina to his lips, the triangles on his hand glowing. He played the song softly, once to himself, and then louder for the tomb.
After the second playing, the moaning and humming behind him instantly ceased. He looked behind him. The monsters had completely frozen in place, enveloped in a holy light.
"Restless souls wander where they don't belong," read Navi. "Bring them calm with the Sun's Song."
That was coincidentally the first time Fluttershy saw fit to hug him. Until then she had settled for sitting with him if he needed her or putting a hoof on his shoulder to provide some support.
She had just walked into the house, presumably to do something about the ringing and found him cowering under a blanket. When she hugged him, he tensed up and his heart almost beat out of his chest. He thought it was a redead for a moment.
When she calmed him down and explained what the device was for, he felt really really dumb. A device that lets people talk at all distances triggered a flashback. He scoffed to himself a few times about it. When she asked what about it scared him so much, he declined to answer. He wasn't ready to talk about the things he'd seen and done yet.
He gave his head a shake and looked at her. She giggled into a hoof. "You didn't hear a thing I just said, did you?"
He blushed a bit.
"It's okay Hinka. All I was saying was to think about opening up to us. We'll all be glad to help you."
He smiled a bit. He trusted Fluttershy. One day he would tell her what happened in the past, but not today. His emotions were still frayed.
He was in better spirits when he returned to the library with Fluttershy. Twilight wondered for a moment if he simply missed her and developed some kind of separation anxiety. Spike had the same issue, though in regards to Twilight. He mostly grew out of it, but there were still some days when he insisted on sharing her bed with her. They were usually right after a night terror, of which Spike suffered many.
When Fluttershy explained that Hinka was feeling homesick and wasn't sure how to go about getting home now, Twilight knew. She could help him! She could teleport him back home. She could do it right now!
Images of burnt up letters, active volcanos and what she thought was tea but really wasn't flashed through her head. She gave a shudder. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go about teleporting somepony yet. She'd also have to first locate where exactly his home was. Still, she gave him a smile, and Hinka gave a small smile and a wave in return.
Why did he have to be so darn cute? It seemed to be the popular opinion among the girls (except Rainbow Dash, who insisted that he was just 'leaking awesomeness'). Whether he was just drinking milk or giving a wave and a shy smile, or just existing, Hinka was downright adorable to them. She would have kept staring, but Fluttershy had warned them all against that. Hinka did not like being stared at.
Smiling at him was okay though!
Hinka looked down at his feet after a few moments, unknowingly increasing his cuteness levels as his bangs fell over his eyes. Twilight had to resist the urge to just tackle hug him.
"I told him he could call me whenever he needed to. Could you maybe go over how to use the phone with him, Twilight?"
The alicorn gave a nod. "Of course! We can go over it tomorrow. Fluttershy, I've been meaning to ask: did he ever make mention of any type of technology in his home? Any whatsoever?"
The pegasus thought for a moment, and looked to Hinka, who was staring at his wounded leg with poorly hidden irritation.
"Umm... I think he said he knew what drawbridges and moats were. His people seemed to be more in tune with nature than anything else."
They were interrupted by a soft yawn. His nap at Fluttershy's must have worn off.
"Hinka," asked Fluttershy softly. "Why don't you go lay down? Get some rest, okay?"
He nodded sleepily, and she smiled down at him. "I'll be up to tuck you in soon. Remember what I told you, okay?"
One more nod. Hinka began to trudge towards the stairs without a word, as was his wont. When he got further away, they resumed talking.
"Fluttershy, I think spending some time with you was just what the doctor ordered. He looks like he cheered up a lot."
Fluttershy blushed a bit. "I, umm... think the others helped a lot too. I didn't really do too much."
Twilight gave her a hug. "You're a good pony. We're all lucky to have you."
Fluttershy responded with a trademark "Eep."
Twilight's lips inched closer to hers.
"In fact, I think that you and I should celebrate. It's a beautiful night. We're both single mares. What would you say to..."
Twilight abruptly pulled away, and a board game came floating into the room courtesy of her magic.
"...A nice game of Life?"
Fluttershy sighed in relief.
