Giving up the most
By Timberwolf220
Chapter One - Broken is the link on the chain
I'll admit, before all this happened, I was probably the most generous person there was. I did a lot for everyone because they would be happy and that made me happy as well. Because I knew, and they knew, that I wasn't one of them, but they still, from to time, treated me with respect.
That all changed almost too soon. The Deku Tree died and I was…alone. Sure, I had Navi, but sometimes she didn't treat me in the way of a friend. I often felt that I was her 'duty' to the Deku Tree. And most of us know that doing a duty is a responsibility, not something done out of the goodness of the heart.
Saria was there and she cared for me. But in those blue-green that resembled the waters of Kokiri forest, I knew it was pity. Maybe friendship too, but there was always pity.
She pitied me because that's all she could give me.
Malon was a nice person for a Hyrulian. She trusted me from time to time, letting me touch Epona and later in the future, she remembered me and even, I think to a degree, loved me. It was a blessed feeling, one that removed all the ill-felt and dirty stains in my head.
Yet, she was not the one because she knew that I…could not give her what she wanted and because if that, we parted on friendly terms, but still not the friendliest terms.
Zelda, I thought, would care for me. She would love me. But I was…nothing but the Hero and that's all she saw in me. In her dark forlorn blue eyes, I was the Hero of Time, not 'Link'. She never knew me as Link. In fact, I think she went out her way to avoid that name as much as possible. Link, after all, is such an odd name, wouldn't you agree?
There were the many Sages, and though I respected them, I couldn't share with them the pain I had gone through. I was truly, truly alone.
But there was one person. Who saw through me like a pane of glass held up so that the piercing light of the Sun can cast rainbows on my reflection.
One……was Ganondorf.
I do not hate the man. I know I should. It was a fundamental rule, wasn't it? The Hero defeats the Villain. Hero hates Villain. Villain hates Hero and does torturous things to hurt him.
But truly, Ganondorf has done nothing to me. Sure, those blasted energy balls and black lightning can hurt, but considering the webs of deceit and hurt the Sages have woven for my grave, I almost welcome the oncoming pain of the physical world.
It's always the emotional scars that hurt the most.
I came across him once on the way to the desert. What was it called? Spirit Temple? Ah, yes, that was the one.
He stood a few metres away, an odd expression on his face. It was not hate. I have seen hate, but what adorned his stark features, I can tell you now it was not hate.
He glanced at me and those polished ruby eyes seemed to change into muddy red silt, the kind that washed up upon the Lake Hylia banks after a storm.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," He told me, his voice melancholy and deep. It rumbled like the pits of Dodongo Cavern, "I didn't think that it would go this far."
I couldn't bring myself to drive the sword home. I just stared at him, the sand drifting by, clouding my vision from time to time. However his dark almost ominous presence was as clear as a day on the Hyrule Field.
"They've hurt you, haven't they?" His voice said, still deep and sorrowful. If I didn't know better, I would have said that there were tears in his voice, "The delusional deprived Hero of Time."
It was not said in a sarcastic manner, but I felt my blood imperceptibly boil. This time I answered back, "Who are you to judge me, Ganondorf!"
He glanced at me, as if actually seeing me there for the first time. Then his lips twitched and he answered, "Because, Hero of Time, they did the same to me."
I couldn't answer. I could barely move. The numbing shock of his answer had dulled my mind. I couldn't hear anything, not even the constant blow of dust.
"They sent me and a few others to get the Triforce so that they might give this place a Golden Age. I was the only one who came back. I was angry, of course. My friends had died on a worthless trip. That's when I decided that Hyrule will change," His ruby eyes, hard and cold glittered, "For the better."
"You can't because you are doing the same thing," I said finally, my shoulders sagging, "You're no better than the Sages Ganondorf."
His eyes flashed at that insult before darkening, "So it is settled."
I couldn't hear my voice anymore. I was scared that the pain would show itself, like it always did, "Yes…yes, it is."
And he left, the dust blowing away his footsteps as if they were nothing more than a shadow that the darkness has swallowed. How could I hate the man Ganondorf? Honestly, I never could. Because he gave me truth.
My gift to him was death. I remember how he died all too clearly. Though people would say, 'How can the Hero despair for his enemy? Didn't they hate each other?'
A judgmental world we live in, wouldn't you agree? Where is the line between good and bad? Is there one? That one meeting with Ganondorf had thrown my beliefs into conjecture.
I remember how he died. My blade drove into his head so I could see his eyes. I had…wanted to see his eyes before he left for that darker world, the one that rips away the delicate curtain of sanity and insanity. They were yellow, but they were the butter mellow kind, the one that reassures you of green meadows and romance under twilight.
I hated that look because he gained that inner peace and I…did not.
Because I was the Hero of Time.
You'd think a hero is loved, but truly who really believed in me? Was it the people I killed for? Or was it the enemy I killed because that was my purpose in the world.
To kill or be killed.
I still go to his grave and sometimes if I wish hard enough I can remember his smirks and his laughs. They were never pleasant to hear, rather they were harsh and cutting like the dust storms of the Gerudo Valley. But sometimes when I lose sight of my beginnings and my inevitable end, I can recall that voice and everything seems to fade away in perspective.
This is the story of Hyrule when there was no evil and there remained the ghost of Link. And what he does with his life hereafter this story is of no concern to anyone except those who drive themselves for truth.
Do not disturb the lost
For they are never lost
They are searchers
A/N: Right. This fic takes place pretty much straight after the events in "Ocarina of Time". Basically, I'm trying to write a fic explaining why the disaster of Hyrule took place to begin with (in "Wind Waker"). Drop a review to be nice (trust me, it will be appreciated) and tell me if I'm going wrong. I spent a year working on this and I hope you will enjoy it anyway.