Children of the Hero

Chapter 8

Link whipped his head around towards the other heroes, who all looked as stunned as he was. The arrow had embedded itself in the wall behind him, burrowing deep into the wood. On the opposite end of the hall, Saria stood, another arrow already knocked and ready to fire. "Are you crazy?" asked Link simply. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't put the bow down. "Uther... you eight, down stairs, Saria, we need to talk" the other heroes didn't move for a second, and Uther stepped between his father and his sister, a little stuck. "I said go, this doesn't concern you" the other heroes finally made their way down stairs, but Uther stayed where he was as Saria put her bow down. 

"Uther, get downstairs" Link growled, pointing down the hall as soon as the heroes were out of ear shot. Uther was shaking, afraid. Their father had never laid a hand on them.... never once. In fact, even when he was angry, the most he would do was yell at them... And then apologize later. But now? Uther was scared, very scared. "No... Stay away from my little sister" he growled back, fists clenched and in a fighting stance. "Uther, get down stairs" Link repeated. "NO! YOU'LL HURT HER!" 

It was then that their father seemed to realize that his kids were afraid... of him. The last thing he had ever wanted. "Uther... Saria, I'm not going to hurt either of you" he promised. Uther didn't respond for a moment, just stayed there, ready for a fight, until Saria put a hand on his shoulder. Realizing that Link wasn't lying, he relaxed, still breathing hard. "I'm sorry" he whispered, pushing past Link and running down the stairs. "Please, put the bow down Saria...." said Link, stepping a little closer to her. She didn't move for a second, just gripped her bow a bit tighter. But finally, realizing that he wasn't going to hurt her, she placed the bow down on the wall, and backed up a bit.

"I'm not going to hurt you... I promise. I won't ever hurt you" he promised, stepping forward again. "Can we sit down and talk?" Saria still didn't answer. "I promise I won't hurt you... I just want to talk" She finally turned around and stepped back inside the room she shared with her brother, sitting down at the little table in the corner of the room. Link sat down across from her, and they sat in silence for a minute before he started to talk. "You've lost your bow for the next week" he finally decided. Saria nodded, looking at the ground. "And don't ever do anything like that again. I don't know what got into you! You know that we need Nabooru back, we all do. And I can't just let one of you two go after her..."

"Why not?" she asked quietly. 

"What?"

"Why not?"

"You don't need to go through all that. Going across the Gerudo Desert? It's dangerous and can kill you easily. Not to mention the Gerudo! Without their permission to enter the town, the first one you see with kill you. I'm not risking either of you like that. Just... listen to me, please"

"We're not defenseless, you said it yourself, I'm 15"

Link groaned. "You dare use my own words against me?"

"Dad.... please? Let one of us go! Let us prove to you that we can... we can take care of ourselves!"

Link paused for a moment, as if realization had dawned on him. "You don't need to prove anything to me" he promised, embracing her. "I'm not trying to prove anything to you" Saria lied, pushing away from him. "Didn't you ever want to see the world when you were younger? Of course you did! You didn't just want to be the boy without a fairy, you wanted to be something more! You told me yourself! Well maybe we want to see Hyrule, just like you and Aunt Zelda did" Link raised an eyebrow, not impressed. "Using my own travels against me now.... I guess I deserve that... But... As I remember telling you, Hyrule was not what I thought it would be. There were demons, evil things, and it was a place where even your own shadow could turn on you in a second. I don't want you two... three... to go through that type of thing"

"We could handle it dad... Please, let us go after Nabby. She's our sister, and plus, the Gerudo don't allow men inside their town. If I'm there.... maybe they'll let me in" she pointed out. He raised an eyebrow. "You only listen to what I say when it benefits you, don't you? Didn't I tell you that the Gerudo allowed me inside their town..."

"By being an annoying Son of a Gun and destroying their entire culture"

"Again, only when it benefits you" he said, biting back a laugh. 

"Please dad.... Just don't leave, I'm begging you. Don't leave again" 

Link put his face in his hands, shaking his head again. "Fine, I'll leave in a few days and then...." Saria cut him off again. "Why don't we just send a letter to the Gerudo? If Nabby wants to come back, they can send her back.... If not.... Maybe Uther can go and talk some sense into her" Link glared at her again, but Saria just stared back at him, a blank expression on her face. "We'll talk about this tomorrow. For now, consider yourself grounded" Link got up and walked across the room, grabbing the bow, sword, and shield in the corner. "That's Uther's"

"You really wanna back talk me right now young lady?"

"No"

"Didn't think so. Good Night"

He slammed the door behind him, grabbing the bow and arrows that were in the hallway before heading down stairs. Everyone turned to him as he made his way down stairs. "You guys can go back upstairs" No one moved. "Or not, I don't care" Wind looked up at Time, and flinched, Warriors put himself between the two. Time caught this, and shook his head. "I'm not gonna hurt you Sailor, I'm not gonna hurt any of you" None of them moved. "My father used to get really drunk and beat me and Aryll" Wind finally said. "I thought you were better than... than that" Time stood there, shocked. "What the... Wind, I didn't lay a hand on Saria.... I promise, you can go up there right now, she's fine. All I did was take away her bow"

"That's my bow" said Uther. 

"And you'll let her use it. We'll talk about this later.... For now, Wind, know that contrary to popular belief.... I'm not the most terrible father in the world" he then walked away, leaving the other heroes where they were sitting.

"Wind?" asked Twilight, looking down at the youngest hero. He was crying into Warrior's shoulder. "Wind, Time would never hurt anyone... you know that. Here, do you want to go see Saria, and make sure she's okay?" Wind nodded, and Twilight took him by the hand, leading him upstairs. The door was slightly ajar, and inside, Saria was sitting at the table, writing in a little notebook. "Saria?" asked Twilight, poking his head inside. "Yeah?"

"Wind just wanted to make sure you were okay" The youngest hero broke free from his gasp and ran to Saria, tackling her in a hug. "I thought that he... hurt you...." Wind sobbed, hugging her a bit tighter. "Hurt me? Wind, neither of our parents have ever raised a hand to any of us. I promise, there's nothing to be worried about, okay?" He looked up at her, and nodded, wiping the tears off his face as they stepped apart. "We should all get some sleep. I convinced dad to not leave tonight... hopefully, but we still have to go to school tomorrow"

"I don't like school"

"You seemed to have fun today" Twilight pointed out.

"But it was to much work"

"You sailed the seven seas to save your sister, and school is a lot of work"

Wind nodded, blushing a bit as he followed Twilight out of the room. "Ms. Saria?" he said, poking his head back in one more time. "Yeah Wind?"

"I'm glad you're okay"

"Me too Wind, me too"