Breath of the Wild: Link and Friends

Chapter 28

   Elyza was very glad to get out of the Lost Woods and back to the stable. The middle of it was fine but the rest was just thoroughly unsettling. She made a mental note to never go back in there if she had a choice.
   Elyza looked behind her. Link was falling behind because he was busy inspecting the Master Sword. She had to admit it was the finest blade she had even seen, though, to be fair, she hadn't seen too many swords. There was something very special about it. She guessed that was why they called it the sword that sealed the darkness.
   Link looked very determined and more confident with his sword. He seemed extremely happy to have found he was still worthy of the sacred blade.
   "Hey, Link, do you know how to get to the Rito?" Elyza asked him, breaking him out of his trance.
   "Wha—oh, no. I'm not sure. I don't have that part of the map," Link answered, sheathing his sword.
   "That's ok, guys. I know how to get there," Kenton said.
   "How do you know how?" Elyza asked, irritably. She was still sour about his archery skills.
   "Well, it's a place I've always wanted to go to, and the stable has a lot of passing travelers who've been there or near it and they had maps that I...Uh...memorized. So, I know exactly how to get there," Kenton explained sheepishly.
   "Oh, Elyza, don't be so aggressive. The Rito are renowned archers, and excellent bow makers. That's probably why Kenton wants to go there," Zalie said, gently chiding.
   Elyza huffed. "Hmph. Whatever." She turned away and went to walk next to her brother. Elijah rolled his eyes.
   "You know, Zalie is right. You are being kind of aggressive. Kenton is cool," Elijah said, eyes forward.
   Elyza folded her arms, pouting.
   "You're just jealous. You can't be the best at everything. No matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better," Elijah continued.
   "Thanks a lot. That really made me feel better," Elyza said, sarcastic.
   Elijah shrugged. "Reality hurts."
   "Yeah, I know that." Elyza stalked away and walked far ahead of them, wrapping her arms around herself.
   She numbed her mind, thinking about nothing. It was a trick she'd learned after her parents death. She taught herself how to not think, not feel. He just had to drag that up.
   Elyza just walked. Grief didn't hurt so much until you thought about it. Time dulled, but not as much as people thought. Maybe she was overreacting; he hadn't even said anything about their parents directly.
   She continued walking, not processing anything. Just her feet on the ground.
   "Elyza?"
   She didn't hear anything.
   "Elyza, hey, are you ok?"
   Elyza started as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to the side and saw Kenton there. She eyed him warily.
   "What do you want?" Elyza asked, voice slightly hostile.
   Kenton raised an eyebrow at her tone then replied, "Just noticed you were upset. Thought I'd ask what was wrong."
   "Are my emotions not clear enough? Should I spell. It. Out," Elyza growled. She whipped her head a away, not even a little bit guilty as her long red hair thwapped him in the face.
   "I guess you're upset. I can guess the jealousy but I don't think that's all there is. What else has pushed your buttons? I'm trying very hard to be nice here. The least you could do is talk at least tolerantly to me," Kenton said. Elyza glanced at him but he didn't look very angry or anything. More confused. "Look, how about I tell you a secret and you tell me what's bothering you."
   "Well, maybe I don't want to tell you, regardless of your secret," Elyza retorted. "I can take care of myself."
   Kenton sighed. "Ok, but I was gonna tell you what happened to my parents."
   Elyza glanced at him and nodded reluctantly. "Alright fine."
   "In exchange for what happened to yours."
   Elyza looked away and nodded.
   "Alright. Well, it happened when I was 10. 'Mae doesn't remember it. I do though. I didn't always live at the Woodland stable. Actually, I lived in Akkala. One of the stables there. I wouldn't expect you to know the name of it but that's where I lived. My parents were the best. My mom was adventurous and—when she deemed it safe enough—we would go explore together and I first learned the bow from her. She started teaching me. The basics at least," Kenton started, words coming fast as if it was a story he'd never told. "She was always looking for a challenge. Not necessarily a fight though it often was.
   "My dad ran the stable. Naturally, he didn't go out as much. He showed me how to take care of horses and stuff, so that I could run the stable one day. He didn't really know how to fight at all, despite how dangerous Akkala can be. He never went to far unless he brought mom with. She'd protect him, and that didn't seem to bother dad," Kenton continued. He was silent a moment.
   "And?" Elyza prompted, now curious.
   Kenton looked up at the sky. "Well, one day, my mom decided she wanted to take on a lynel. I don't know if you know what that is—"
   "I do. Sorta," Elyza interjected.
   "—but my mom was craving a challenge. A lynel is a big beast with a horse-like body and the face of a lion with massive Hylian arms. There was one not too far in Akkala and my mom had known about it for years," Kenton went on. "My dad had advised against it. He'd seen a couple travelers go there and not come back, thinking they could take it. It wasn't a weak lynel either. A silver one if I recall. Could take a real beating without a scratch, I reckon."
   "Link has fought one but I don't know if it was a strong one as you describe," Elyza said.
   Kenton nodded, glancing back at Link, emotion flashing in his eyes. Elyza frowned. "Anyway, he protested her going but she left anyway. She hadn't gotten very far before my dad realized. He told me to watch my sister before he ran off to find her and hopefully stop her.
   "Well, he did find her but that was the last time I saw them like they had been. My mom had taken on the lynel, and was wounded pretty badly. A passing traveler happened to have medical experience and they amputated her leg. However, that devastated my mom. She had loved to get out but she couldn't after that. It drove her crazy and she got really sick because her leg got infected. There wasn't anything we could do and we lost her." Kenton looked down at the ground.
   Elyza didn't want to pry more, but she wanted to know what happened to his dad. He obviously wasn't with them. She needed to know. She gave him a minute before asking quietly, "What happened with your dad?"
   Kenton replied sadly, "Well, naturally, he was driven crazy with grief. He let someone else run the stable and I started to take care of myself and my sister. My dad—who had been so stable and calm—completely lost it and went and got himself shot by a guardian and died about a month or 2 after my mom. I saw the explosion from the stable. After that, I moved here." He fell silent.
   "My parents died in a fire," Elyza said, after a pause. Kenton looked at her. "I was 14. Only a couple years ago. I lived, or, well, I live in Hateno Village. Elijah is my twin and only sibling. Zalie is my cousin though we don't really look like it.
   "Anyway, I woke up one day with my house on fire. I quickly escaped. I had been the only one in the house. I didn't know what had happened until I ran into Elijah. He told me they were gone. But I didn't want to believe him." She felt a lump in her throat before continuing. "So, I ran to where the fire had been and I saw their...bodies. I felt like my whole world had just fallen dead too and collapsed." She took a deep breath. "We continued to live in Hateno though and the memories haunted me till this whole thing started."
   "I'm sorry. At least I've had time to move on from mine," Kenton said, sincere.
   "I mostly past it. I only hurt when I think about it," Elyza said.
   "How did his whole thing start anyway?" Kenton asked.
   Elyza gave a small smile. "With me. Technically Link, but whatever."
   "Right, but, how did you meet?"
   "You wanna know the whole story?" Elyza asked. "It's kinda long."
   "You'll have to tell me after we get the horses," Kenton said.
   "Sure. Do you have your own horse?" Elyza said. They were walking up the stable right then and sitting themselves down by the fire.
   "Uh, not really mine but I might be able to get a horse," Kenton said, scratching the back of his head.
   "You can ride with me," Zalie said, walking up. Kenton blushed and looked away. Elyza looked between them and grinned mischievously. Oh, she could have fun with that.
   "Th-thanks, but I'll see if I can get my own horse. I don't want to be a burden," Kenton said, not meeting anyone's eyes now.
   "Oh wow! I need to go grab something and—woah!" Elyza exclaimed in an exaggerated manner. She "accidentally" fell into Zalie, making her fall over onto Kenton, who reacted quickly and caught her, their faces suddenly much closer.
   Kenton flushed so thoroughly red—Elyza couldn't help but die laughing—you'd have thought someone had dumped a bucket of paint on his head. Zalie—characteristically so sweet (but oblivious)—smiled at him and got her feet back under her and stood up.
   "Nice catch, Kenton," Zalie said, patting him on the arm.
   Elyza just kinda gaped at her. Wha...what? Did...does she really not see? Do I really have to point it out? Elyza thought, incredulous.
   "Er, no problem, Zalie," Kenton said. He glanced at Elyza and flushed even darker which didn't seem humanly possible. He awkwardly walked away.
   Zalie turned to Elyza. "Is he ok?"
   Elyza just looked at her. Really?
   Zalie waved in her face. "Elyza? You in there?"
   Elyza shook her head. "Really? You really don't see?"
   "See what?"
   "I'm gonna have to spell it out for you?" Sorry Kenton. This might embarrass you but...
   "I guess because I don't know what you're getting at," Zalie said, shrugging.
   "Hylia. Ok. Well, judging by what I have observed and social cues, Kenton likes you," Elyza said, talking slowly.
   "Um, I like him too? He's nice. What's not to like?" Zalie said, still looking confused.
   Elyza rubbed her forehead. "He like likes you. He. Has. A. Crush. On. You."
   Zalie stopped. "Wait. Really?"
   "Yes."
   "Oh." Zalie looking like she was deep in thought now.
   Zalie wasn't stupid, she just was so nice that she didn't read social cues when it came to stuff like that. She just thought they were being nice too.
   Elyza shook her head. "Don't tell him I told you. Pretend you noticed on your own or something." She threw up her hands and walked away to join her brother. He smirked. Elyza swatted him, still mildly angry at him.
   Zalie eventually stood and walked over to Kenton and Link who had been talking to the man at the front desk.
   "Elyza, I think you just made that relationship awkward," Elijah said, still smirking.
   "It already was awkward. But only for one person. I made it mutual. Maybe it'll go somewhere," Elyza corrected snappishly.
   "Fair enough."
   Eventually, they were all set to get going again, and Kenton was able to get a horse. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to start traveling again. Nearly dark. They decided to start the next morning.
   "Hopefully, we can get near the Tabantha region or at least Satori Mountain. We should get to the Rito Village two days from now," Kenton was saying.
   "Good. Pretty good time for going across Hyrule," Link said.
   "We could be there faster but there's an enormous chasm in the way. It's a roundabout way either direction you take," Kenton added.
   "Well, either way, I'm glad you're coming along," Link said.
   Kenton smiled. "Just happy to be doing something."
   "Well guys, get some rest. It's a long day tomorrow," Link said, putting away his Sheikah Slate. They all nodded and headed to bed, excited to be moving again.