The Legend of Zelda: The Silent Princess

The Birth of the Village

I laughed as Aryll came running towards us with a whole plate of skewered meat and mushrooms. She handed me two of them, took two herself, and gave the rest of the plate to Link. We watched as he chowed down on his meal as we slowly ate ours, trying not to choke from laughter.

When a festive dance kicked on, Aryll immediately latched onto my wrist, guiding me into the dance. It was mostly jumping around and clapping, but it was merrier than any other dance I've been to. Link watched us from the side with a lop-sided smile.

As soon as the dance ended, we went back to Link, who leaned against a tree. We stood there by him, as Aryll gushed about how fun it was.

"Link, you have got to dance at least once tonight!" she said.

He rolled his eyes, but as the next song started to play, another upbeat one, he said to his sister, "A dance?"

She beamed as she took her brother's hand. I clapped to the beat as they danced around. Link spun his sister around then they bounced about. It was different to see him act so lively like he was pulled back to the days when he was younger. I could imagine the two of them as little kids, skipping around while their parents danced.

As they came back to me at the end of a song, they were out of breath. That's when calmer music started to play. The dancing I was used to began as couples moved in gentle steps.

A young man came over to me, pushing back his long dark bangs. "Care for a dance?" he said, extending his hand out.

Before I could respond, Aryll got between us, "She's already taken! You didn't think Link came here without a date again, did you?" She winked at her brother and said to him, "Don't think I didn't notice you made her a bracelet."

Then she took the young man's hand and yanked him away. I crossed my arms as I looked over at Link. He got a frightened look as I stepped closer to him.

"What did your sister mean by that?" I asked, my head tilted to one side.

"It . . . um . . . if a boy makes a girl a bracelet during the um . . . the dance, it means they're together. But I really didn't mean--"

His face was getting redder and redder by every word he spoke, trying to explain himself. My laughter was what cut him off. I knew it was rude to laugh and that bringing my hand to my mouth didn't help cover it up.

Dropping it, I finally said with a smile, "It's alright. In a sense it is true. Now how about we give your sister something to talk about."

I took his hand, leading him to the other pairs of couples dancing. From afar, dancing with the young man from before, Aryll looked over at us with bright eyes. Link hesitantly placed his hand just above my waist while I put mine on his shoulder. He started to lead us to the music.

"It's been a long time since I've been to a dance," I said, staring off at the glowing lights the village had put up.

"What about balls and all that?" Link asked.

My eyes looked at him as I gave a faint smile, "I can't even remember going to one. Since I was six, I was always spending my nights praying to the Goddess, especially when it was my birthday."

After a long moment of thought, racking my brain for any ball I could remember, I came upon a very distant memory from when I was three. Because it was so long ago, I couldn't remember all the details, just one little flash.

My head planted itself in Link's chest as I began to laugh. To him, it probably looked like I was crying. He even asked me if something was wrong. I shook my head as I brought my head back up, tears running down my face because of the laughter I was trying to hold in.