Rebirth

Chapter 10: To Kakariko

The king had finally given Link his paraglider before disappearing, asking Link once last time to save his daughter. Link then turned around to see Ghirahim smiling at him, those brown orbs staring into his blue ones. The blond felt a small blush grow on his cheeks as he smiled back at the taller male, and together the two of them made their way off the top of the temple and towards the nearest edge of the plateau.

"I can easily teleport anywhere I wish," Ghirahim told him as they stared down from the edge. "I will meet you at that tower over there by the mountains. Remember: it's always fun to explore, but we have a mission to complete. Getting to Kakariko is our priority. Do you understand, Link?"

The blond looked back at the demon and nodded in response. Ghirahim nodded in return before lifting his hand and snapping his gloved fingers, causing him to disappear and leave multi-colored demons where he stood.

Link blinked in surprise. He knew the male could teleport, but what he had just witnessed was nothing like he had imagined it to be. It was way cooler. The blond shook his head immediately.

"No time, Link. You have to save the princess and meet Ghira at the tower," he told himself.

Link took one last look at the temple behind him before glancing towards the castle in the distance. He let out a sigh as he then turned back to look forward and jumped, lifting the paraglider above his head. The item had worked as promise, and the blond found himself slowly gliding towards the grassy field below him. He landed on his feet with a small grunt, and he put the glider away.

Link then looked ahead, keeping a mental picture to remember this moment. The land seemed so beautiful, despite being a part of a fallen kingdom. It amazed him how other parts of the kingdom managed to keep its beauty in such hard times. This gave him even more reasons to hurry and save the princess, and ultimately defeat Ganon.

Ω

Ghirahim waited atop of the inactivated tower that rested right in front of the left mountain, staring into the river below as he began to grow impatient. It had already been about 20 minutes. The plateau was not that far from the tower. How long would it take for the hero to arrive?

Ghirahim let out a sigh as he continued to watch the flowing river, where he spotted two green lazalfos swimming in it. He could only assume them to be mates or something. He was amazed at how much these creatures had evolved since his younger days. He remembered when those things couldn't even stand to be near water. Now they're swimming it it! Not to mention their appearance changed as well. Before, they looked more dragon like than a lizard. Now they looked more like what Hylians called chameleons, which was a new species that was just discovered about 10,000 years ago in Hyrule. At least, it was still new to the demon. After all, he had lived for over a billion years, though as a demon he was still considered pretty young. The oldest demon Ghirahim ever met was his master--Demise--who had been only a trillion years old (which in demon years was just being late middle-aged).

His master was also the strongest being he had ever known, the only person close to matching his power being Mireg. It used to be him before his childhood friend had joined Demise's ranks during the Great War with Hylia and her people. That man had trained day and night. Ghirahim would often catch him up in the early morning--around 3 am on the surface--doing push ups, pull ups, jogging... You name it. The demon smiled to himself as his memories drifted to his beloved friends.

He remembered the brother-like rivalry he had with Mireg when the man had become a general as well. The two of them always competed to earn Demise's praise, but whenever they were off from fighting they reverted back to their jokes and tales, almost like the feud had never happened. He remembered the look on Mireg's face when they were younger and met Vira, who was one of the lord's children back then before she was orphaned during the war. She was a beauty, he had to admit, but he found no interest in her. He only saw her as a good friend, and he continued to do so during their lives.

Ghirahim remembered all the good times they shared, just the three of them. But his smile soon faded as he embraced his final memory of them: the battle in the castle. He missed them during his time around the humans. He always blamed himself. If only he had stayed and explained to Vira he wasn't interested. If only he had defeated them himself. If only he had just never fallen for the hero in the first place...

The hero.

Ghirahim could not blame Link for any of what had happened. The two were not able to control how they felt. Vira just was not able to understand that, and went berserk. This was no one's fault. Not his, not Link's, not Vira's, and certainly not Mireg's.

"Wishing can't change the past you fool..." he told himself as he groaned in frustration. "It won't turn back time, and it certainly won't bring them back..."

The demon's thoughts were abruptly broken as he heard the cries of a monster, more specifically it was the two lizalfos he had saw earlier. His attention turned back towards the river below, and there he saw Link with a bow in his hand and strike the lizard creature in the water. The hero then put the weapon away before jumping into the water and swimming towards the other side. The demon smiled to himself as he watched from above as Link made it to the other side of the speeding river, climb the tower, and activate it with his Sheikah Slate. The hero may have changed in personality, for the most part, but his courage and caring heart still remained--as well as his looks. If Ghirahim didn't know any better, he'd say he was falling for Link all over again.

Ghirahim sadly chuckled in his mind at the thought. He could never replace his husband. No matter how many times he was reincarnated, he'd never truly be the same.

Ω 

Ghirahim and Link continued their journey towards Kakariko, the latter stopping a few times to complete some nearby shrines. They had also passed by a stable, and the hero learned how to tame a wild horse.  He had taken a beautiful brown mare with a white mane. It was similar to the one named Epona of which he had owned before Hyrule's fall, but the horse had a white snout. The blond named her Snowflake, for reasons the demon did not know.

The two were about to make their way off again when Ghirahim noticed the sun setting over the horizon.

"Link, I believe we should sleep here in this stable for the night..."

Link looked curiously at him. "But why?" he signed.

"Hyrule is dangerous at night, and there is the potential of a blood moon. Both events are bad news," he explained. "You are not strong enough for some of the enemies that lurk in the night. It's safer if we just sleep here."

Link, of course, was not happy with this. With a pout, he continued to argue.

"No way! I'm the hero. I'm able to take care of myself! I say we travel now. We have to hurry and rescue Zelda!"

"No, Link. First, you have not even fully recovered your memories yet. Second, you may be a hero but that doesn't mean you're invincible. I know many creatures that could kill you with one swing of a blade. Third, you'll need a special weapon in order to defeat Ganon and you will need to achieve it first. But like I said, you aren't strong enough. Finally, Hyrule can't be saved if you are too exhausted and if you get yourself hurt. So we are staying..."

Link continued to pout in response, and only turned away with a huff and his arms crossed over his chest. His childishness was adorable, the demon had to admit, but he was in no mood for this kind of behavior.

"Look, I don't like sleeping in a smelly stable place anymore than you do. You may not know, but I was once of high social status. I am quite used to living a life of luxury. It's been eons since I had to sleep in a place such as this," he told the hero. "So suck it up."

Link looked over his shoulder to see the demon was serious. Deadly serious in fact. He sighed before turning back to face the demon.

"Fine," he signed. "We'll sleep here."

Ghirahim smirked in victory.

"Excellent."