The Legend Of Zelda: The Curse Of Zant

Chapter 24; What Meets the Eye

Upon finishing the fresh batch of pumpkin soup, Yeto wiped at his mouth with the back of his arm and then handed the bowl back to Yeta, who set it down on the little table. It had been only a day and Yeto's condition had improved. As a thank you, Yeta had given him a bottle of the soup and even allowed them to spend the night at the mansion.

Link felt slightly more at ease, seeing Yeto's speedy recovery and being given another shard, but with two still left to find he couldn't allow himself to rest for too long. Having barely slept a wink, he was out of bed at the first sign of sunrise; dressed in the same green tunic, with his weapons and shield strapped to his back. He headed for the door when the slightest sound of movement followed by the creaking of floorboards froze him in place. He turned around and saw Midna standing beside the bed opposite to the one he'd slept in.

"Link? It's six in the morning… where are you going?"

His shoulders slumped and with a sigh, he moved away from the door and towards her. "We don't have the time to hang around too long, as much as I love seeing Yeto get back to his usual self, we need to find the remaining shards."

"And we will." She assured him. "But we can't rush or else we may miss something."

"I'm not rushing!" He snapped, instantly regretting it as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Sorry, I uh- I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to make an early start, hopefully meaning that we can find the missing shards and finally be able to go and challenge Zant."

Midna rested her hands on her hips, unimpressed with his tone, but choosing to ignore it. "Yeah, I know. I get it. You want to find these pieces, get to the Twili Realm and get Zelda back. I get it, okay? But trying to rush it will only cause mistakes, and we can't afford those. Not when we're this close to putting an end to Zant once and for all. Also, consider yourself lucky! You have someone to fight for, and not just a kingdom. You have an entire land filled with friends who are willing to jump to help you after all that you have done for them! Not all of us are as lucky as you, Link. We cannot rush this. Everything will be fine; Zelda will be fine. Missing something important will only hinder our quest. So, think about that before you go rushing out of the door."

Link stood frozen for a moment with his mouth agape. He wasn't rushing at all, and he hadn't meant what he'd said in the harshest way, but it was as though her words had flipped a switch in his brain and he realized that she was right; not everyone, in fact only a fair few, were as lucky as he. It was something that he easily forgot throughout all his travels and the mayhem that went down in the Kingdom that sent him trekking from a to b.

"Midna, I-" He stopped, unsure of what else to say. Instead he remained silent as he crossed the room and retrieved his bag, having only just noticed that he was about to leave it behind. "I'm not rushing. I just don't want to sit around doing nothing to progress." He sighed. "I'm sorry, sometimes I forget how lucky I am. Perhaps because it seems like I'm always off on these crazy yet dangerous quests… but I never really stopped to think that there are some that don't have what I'm fighting to keep. I guess I'm flawed in that way."

Rolling her eyes, she dropped her hands back by her sides. "It's fine, Link. No one is perfect, and I don't expect you to understand… it's okay to be flawed, just be considerate of the situation that others are in too."

Link remained quiet, responding with a small smile and a simple nod. He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for her to make a decision on what she wanted to do next; wanting to allow her some control over the quest too. This time, she was the one to move towards the door, but she stopped when she realized that he hadn't moved from the spot and turned around with a wide smirk upon her face.

"Are you just gonna stand there, Romeo, or are you going to join me in continuing our quest to save your girl?"

"I uh- I- yes." He stammered, almost tripping over his feet as he moved back towards the door. "Let's see if we can figure out where we go next."