Tears of a Broken Kingdom

Chapter Eight ~ Unsung Hero

Zelda took a deep breath.

Today was going to be Link's funeral.
It was going to be a bit weird without a burial, but it would still offer closure of his life- as sad as that was. She needed to acknowledge that.

She was in black for mourning, a dress with long sleeves made of lace and a dark cloak for the cold that had begun to seep into the land as autumn approached. A silver diadem adorned her brow for formality, a weight upon her head.

Zelda held her gaze in the mirror, her eyes ringed with a bruised black purple from lack of sleep, her face pale.

She tried to lift her lips into a half smile, she almost convinced herself. Her eyes continued to portray her true emotions, the sadness in her eyes. People have always said eyes were the windows to the soul.

It had been a few days since Ashton had asked about the tomb, and she had spent a lot of time thinking about what she was going to do.

Zelda didn't want it to be a large funeral, she didn't think Link would have wanted that either. Most people in Hyrule weren't well aquatinted with the hero anyway. Most had no idea what had transpired, and although she had no recollection of his heroics in Hyrule herself, she knew he had played an instrumental part in the execution of the Gerudo King, Hyrule's forgotten, unsung hero.

>*<

"It's time to go sweetheart," Zelda said, her hand on Ashton's bedroom door.

She heard a click as the knob turned from the other side, her son appeared in the doorway.

"I'm ready." He said, fingering his black tunic.

Ashton looked like he wanted to cry but wouldn't allow himself. She took his dark grey hood that was on his bed and put in over his shoulders, as gentle as she could, looking over his face with silent concern. His blue eyes were ringed with red almost constantly now, his hair fell into his eyes.

She brushed the hair away, it was almost the same color of Link's, although a few shades darker, and it stuck out just like his had.

Zelda put her hand on the side of his face, a sad smile on her face. Reality faded away as her mind fabricated a false reality. Link appeared where Ashton was.

"Let's go Link," she murmured.

"Mom?"

"Oh," she snapped out of it, her eyes wide with shock and sadness over her slip up, "oh... I'm so sorry Ashton, I'm sorry... let's go honey."

The two went downstairs, Zelda fought tears the whole way down. She felt awful that she had done that, but she couldn't show her sadness. Her compute was gained by the time they walked into the stables, Impa and a pair of guards already waiting for them.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting... we can leave now." Zelda said, her years of diplomatic training put to good use, her voice the perfect amount of amiableness while also mixed with grief, the appropriate level of grief.

She heard a few "yes your highness"s from the guards, and then Zelda and Ashton mounted their horses and they were off, the tombstone stashed in one of Zelda's saddle bags, wrapped with cloth to keep it secure.

The field was overcast, the clouds dark with potential rain. A small breeze buffeted over the land, the grass rustling.

As they neared the entrance to the forest, trees rose up from the field, slowly growing more dense as they went around a bend in the path, coming to a hollowed out log.

The Lost Woods had seemed fitting for the funeral. She had wanted to choose someplace that was important to Link, and she thought the Woods would be good- since it was his childhood home. Zelda didn't know much about it, all she knew had been from her husband.

She knew people got lost in the woods and never returned, hence the name, but the funeral wouldn't take place far from the entrance- so she tried to assure herself it would be okay.

The log opened up to a worn wooden bridge, like an entrance to another world, the atmosphere of the woods already so different from the rest of the Hyrule. The Kokiri were an isolated race, even more so than the Gerudo or the Zora.

Impa signaled for them to cross one by one, the bridge didn't seem to be capable to handle all five horses at once.

The forest seemed to glow green, rich and full of life. It was almost ironic they were having a funeral here.

The trees grew in dense and then a clearing appeared in the distance, the village of the forest children. Everyone dismounted their horses as they neared the village, Zelda took out the tombstone and held it in her arms, the weight of the stone dragged her down.

She saw a few eyes peeking out of their houses, small wooden buildings, their eyes sparkled with curiosity and mistrust.

Zelda didn't know if she should say something, she stood there, returning eye contact to a few of the kokiri.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, Ashton looked up at her and then away.

A kokiri with green hair stepped forward, her eyes dimmed but she smiled.

"I'm sorry it was such short notice-" Zelda began.

"It's alright, you chose the right spot." Saria said, her usual jovial manner was gone.

Zelda nodded, letting Saria take the lead as she took the group up the slope and into the beginning of the Lost Woods.

The tree canopy covered the sky, the woods bathed in green light. Small vegetation grew on the root of the trees, ivy snakes up the tree trunks.

After a few turns they reached a stone archway, it stood out from the rest of the forest.

"What's this?" Zelda asked, to no one in particular.

"It's a portal, takes you all the way up to Goron City." Saria said, smiling now.

"Oh... I see," Zelda replied, she realized what that meant.

A few seconds passed and then a goron walked out, Darunia.

He was the only other person Zelda had thought to personally invite besides Saria, and the other kokiri.

Zelda adjusted her hold on the stone, checking that Ashton was still next to her.

"I've heard only bits and pieces, what happened to my Sworn Brother?" The Goron Chief asked in a commanding voice, full of concern.

The Goron's eyes met Zelda's, and she put her head down to the tomb she carried, "He... got captured and tortured until death by the Gerudo." She said, her tongue bitter as she said it aloud.

She heard him mutter an "I hate the Gerudo" under his voice, surprised at his strong words.

The procession continued on until they reached a clearing in the woods, the grey clouds once again visible, so low hanging Zelda could almost touch them.

Some of the other kokiri appeared, including a boy with a almost sad look on his face, but he tried to hide it with a smile. She looked at him, that was probably Mido, she remembered hearing about him. He looked much more sad compared to the descriptions she'd heard.

Zelda took the thick cloth off of the stone, she let it drop to the floor.

The tombstone was engraved on the front, Zelda had done it herself.

She spent a lot of time and thought on this, but she still hadn't found the right words to say. The problem to her was that there was so much he had been and so little room on the stone. She hoped she had done a good enough job.

In memory of Link
Hero of Time
Forgotten hero
May he be remembered

>*<

Hey guys! I thought maybe I'd try the Wednesday updates along with Fridays! Tell me what you think of that, I could keep it to one day a week if that suited y'all better.

I don't know why but I really don't like this chapter. Ahh I'm sorry it's bad.