Chapter 5 - Castle on the Plain of Clouds

Castle on the Plain of Clouds


When the sun rose the next morning, it wasn’t as bright as Link would have expected. However, he still opened his eyes and saw the morning sky. He was curled tightly in a blanket, but was weakly protected by the cold air that surrounded him. Link’s back and hip ached from lying on hard ground, and his head pounded with a migraine. He coughed and slowly sat up, trying to free himself from the knot of blankets that tied him down. At last he had gained freedom of movement and freed himself from the blankets. He rubbed his hand against his forehead, brushing his locks aside. Next to Link was Epona huddled up next to him for warmth. The fire that was built no longer had dancing flames, but only wood white and grey and covered with ashes. After Link has rolled up his blanket and put on his tan cloak again, he was off almost immediately.

The sun barely crept over the mountains as he rode on Epona. As he rode farther and farther away from his home, the more the memories haunted him. Scowling faces, expressions filled with pain… that was all that came to his mind. The death of Vaati haunted him the most out of all of them. Link had convinced himself to be a murderer, and unable to be forgiven of his sin.

Link slowed Epona to a walk when he had come to a chasm, surrounded by walls of rocks. He looked around himself wondering if the one stone supporting it all would somehow be forced out, causing the walls to fall on him. He denied it, but deep within he wished for that rock to burst. That went off his mind when he saw a little spring with a small waterfall pouring into it. It did not roar like a large waterfall, but it rather growled instead. Suddenly Link’s throat became parched and he longed to quench his thirst. He stopped in front of the spring and dismounted Epona and patted her as she lowered her head to drink. Link fished for his cup and once he had found it, he approached the waterfall to fill it up. He had taken three cups of water before he wiped his mouth dry. He felt somewhat renewed. Link then looked out at the pond, bent down close to it, and took a single finger and submerged it. When deciding to put his whole body in, trying to do anything to change his course of mind, he stood up and undressed down to his undergarments. He put one foot in, and then the other. Finding that the water was cold he quickly ran toward the middle of the pond and submerged his whole body. He blew a couple of bubbles that floated to the surface, and then finally surfaced himself, wiping his hair back. He shivered and smiled at Epona who had snorted.

“It’s cold!” He said, quickly taking hold of his arms.

Link dived once again under water and swam around for a little bit to attempt to warm himself. He soon realized that that couldn’t do any good because his ribs had begun to ache. Once again he surfaced, and once again he shivered. Epona brushed her hoof back and snorted as if hysterically laughing at him. Link gave a small, brief smile until he noticed a rustle from one of the bushes behind Epona. He stared intently at it, anticipating the next action. He jumped in being startled when a figure had dashed out so fast, that the naked eye could barely register it. In the sky, a black figure with wings flew overhead. It was far too large to be a mere bird, and it was too dull to be the Glistening Princess. Link watched it as it flew over the waterfall and out of sight, disappearing into the sky. When the figure had flown through the air, its wings had whistled lowly on the wind and its presence brought a certain mystery to Link’s mind. The largest bird he had seen was a hawk flying over his head while he tended to his horses. However, when he had seen that bird, it seemed to be the size of a full grown man. Questions began to stir in his mind and eventually, he had thought so much that the pain in his ribs had come back from the cold of the water. Link shrieked and jumped hurriedly headed toward the shore of the pond.

Link had continued on shortly after he had dried himself and had eaten a small meal when he found that he was hungry. Several hours had passed since then, and he found himself no longer surrounded by towering cliffs, or rocks. All that was around him was grass dancing in the wind. The clouds weren’t in the sky, but rolling along the ground, being pushed by the wind. As Link proceeded, it seemed that the amount of clouds on the ground became more and more numerous. Eventually the grass was no longer visible to his eyes, but the only thing he saw that Epona walked on was grass. To him, it appeared that they were in the sky as if walking in a dream. Link was convinced he was in a dream when he had looked in front of him and saw a castle towering overhead. He gaped his mouth open in amazement, for he had never seen anything like this before. And if that wasn’t enough to gape about, he heard a voice calling out to him; that of a woman’s,

“Well? What’s taking you?”

The gates before him then opened with a long and loud creak, echoing through the air. Epona pulled back a little bit in being startled by the sudden movement. Now what lay before him was a grand courtyard, filled with statues of gargoyles, unicorns, and many other creatures Link had heard in children’s stories. He pushed Epona forward, seeming to be completely oblivious to everything. The courtyard he entered seemed to be taken care of very carelessly, but still its beauty was able to captivate the eyes. Afterward, Link had reached two large doors that towered above his head. Once again he heard the woman’s voice.

“Leave your horse and come in. Do not fear.”

Link began to wonder if he was being enchanted at that moment, for the woman’s voice sounded as ringing bells and the chorus of angels. However, he did not turn back, but did what the voice instructed him to. He dismounted Epona and rubbed her muzzle before approaching the large doors. He once again stared for a moment in awe, feeling like an ignorant child, not knowing what to do. Slowly he lifted his hands and placed them on the doors. When he began to push them, he was surprised to find that they were lighter than what they had appeared to be. They easily opened for him, but led into shadows. Link curiously peered in, trying to adjust to the sudden change of light. Then something had pushed him in, and the doors closed behind him. Link quickly looked at them, then looked forward to find in the shadows a grand hall.

“H-Hello?” Link called.

Link leaned forward and took a step, continuing to walk toward the stairs before him. He peered curiously, wondering what lay at the top of them. Now he really thought he was enchanted, but one side of his mind kept telling him that there was nothing that could be done about it.

“Oh, making this a dramatic entrance are we?” Came the voice again, but from the side.

Link jumped and darted his head, being startled from the sudden call, to see beside him. What he saw was a woman, blonde hair streaming down her shoulders and blue eyes glittering in the shadows. Her pale face, seemed to be as smooth as pearl and her lips red as roses. However she did not wear an elegant dress that one would expect a lady of the castle to wear. Instead she wore tight pants with loose fabric flowing at her sides. She wore a blouse of several layers, one layer of a darker color with its sleeves cut while the other lighter layer went down to her wrists. She rubbed her gloved thumb and forefinger together and tapped her boots before she approached Link, who was frozen stiff.

She looked straight into Link’s eyes with a stern look and then drew closer. The woman was so close to Link that he had begun to lean backward, but still smelt her sweet scent of roses. Suddenly her gaze darted to Link’s left hand, and with no consent, she tightly grasped it and lifted it to her eyelevel. She closely observed his palm for a moment while Link had sweat running down his forehead. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The woman then flipped his hand around, and there she saw the mark on his left hand.

“Come with me.” She said beginning to walk while holding his wrist.

“W-wait…”

“Wait…? For what?”

Before Link knew it, they were in a grand hallway with many doors on each side as far as the eye could see. The windows were tall and enormous, looking out onto the view of the world. The paintings on the ceiling were obviously executed with great care and the marble floors were polished enough to vaguely reflect them. Enchantment. That was the only word that came to Link’s mind to explain the current events. His view of the hall was taken from him when the woman had led him through two large double doors that she had opened. They led to a circular room towering high above their heads and at the very top was a window for the sun to shine through. Climbing to that window were tall bookcases, hugging the walls with books of every subject on their shelves. In the center was a single plush armchair behind a desk with more books piled on top of it. The woman led Link by the table and let go of his hand.

Without hesitating to speak to him, however, she immediately went to the bookshelves. She began pulling books out of their places, muttering to herself, and pushing them back in. She went around the room and each time she rotated, she reached higher and higher. Eventually Link began to her sighs and groans coming from her until she said loud enough,

“Oh, where is that book?”

Link stumbled and nearly fell over in amazement when he saw golden wings appear and spread out from the young woman’s back. Her feet lifted up off the ground and she flew some ways up and intently looked at the shelf at her level. While she focused on her book he focused on her shining wings. The maid quickly flipped through the pages, and when she had come on a designated page, she widened her eyes and smiled. She gasped in excitement and put her finger on the page.

“Ah! Here we are!”

She then descended down to the floor, still looking at the book. When she had gently set her feet on the ground, her wings folded in and disappeared suddenly in a sea of small, glistening orbs of light. Link lifted his finger and pointed at the woman, and began to stutter. She looked up from her reading and looked around for a moment, a bit baffled.

“What’s the matter?” She said shaking her head slowly.

“W-wings…”

The woman paused for a moment, as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. Then suddenly she said, “Oh, yes… you’re part of the type of folk that doesn’t see these things. However I believe you’re kind of kindred call me the ‘Glistening Princess’ if I’m not mistaken. Well, I am a princess… Princess Zelda, to be exact… but I’m not really glistening all the time.”

“You’re the Glistening Princess?” Link said in a small voice.

“Zelda,” she corrected, “And why are you so amazed, did you not think that I actually had a face? Seeing that I’m a princess, I must be a person, and if I’m a person, I must have a face, so there’s no reason to be so baffled.”

“I’m just amazed.”

Zelda laughed before she lifted the book she held and looked at it once again, “Now back to the main topic…” She said and took hold of Link’s hand, “This mark of the three triangles,” she started, “is known as the mark of destiny… it is usually given by the three goddesses to a mortal who has an adversity… a trial awaiting them.”

Zelda brought Link to the small table and put the book there. She then took Link’s hand and placed it on the surface of the table next to the book. Link could not back away since Zelda pressed down on his wrist so hard. However, on the page the book was opened to, Link saw a drawing of the mark he had on his hand. Zelda stared intently at the back of his hand. As her eyes began to glow a gleaming light, the mark of the three triangles on Link’s hand began to resonate and gleam brightly. Zelda then turned her head toward Link and narrowed her eyes. She let go of his hand, and when he had lifted it to caress his wrist, Zelda turned toward him.

“This mark, tells me of something else.” She said slowly approaching him, “A curse that was placed upon you.”

Zelda lifted her hand and reached out her fingers gracefully. As she began to tense them, Link’s ears seemed to be pushed on, and a screeching sound closed in around him. His vision began to blur when the pain in his chest began to intensify. Link’s breathing began to get heavy and he lost his sense of balance. He reached for the table to support himself when Zelda came toward him and clutched the collar of his tunic. Link looked up at her as a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead and his mouth slightly gaped open. He opened and closed his eyes as if he was drowsy. Zelda then lifted him up so he now stood up straight.

“How did you come across that?” She said, “The Star of Winged Darkness?”

“Winged Darkness?”

Link had recalled that he had heard those two words before. As he slowly regained his strength, he gradually stood up on his own. Zelda’s grip loosened and let go as he stood up taller so that Link stared down at her. However he still did not say a word. Link had somewhat of a clue of how the star came across his path, but deep down, there were questions still unanswered. The situation for him began to be more tense, until Zelda finally sighed and spoke herself.

“Never mind. It’s clear that you won’t answer me.” Zelda said turning around, “Come, I’ll show you to your room.”

“My room?”

“Well,” Zelda said turning her head, “I’m afraid you’ll be here for a while, and I believe that the normal person doesn’t enjoy sleeping just anywhere without a feather pillow to lay their head on.” She continued on, “And your horse is already attended to.”

Link quickly trotted the large gap between him and Zelda and followed close behind her. As Zelda lead Link clear across the castle, there was an uncomfortable silence between them, both wondering if they should engage in the manner of small talk. He was dumbstruck by how large the castle was, being a farmer boy, and she was dumbstruck on how serious he was. She made glances back toward him to constantly find him looking around, but occasionally resting his eyes on her. Zelda quickly faced forward, and found that this silence was beginning to frustrate her. The volcano began to rumble… She once again glanced back at Link, still practicing his glances. The ground began to shake… Still there was no silence, and Zelda’s tongue began to quiver inside her mouth and she found herself inhaling. The volcano erupted… But fortunately for Link, the eruption wasn’t severe.

“Why are you so serious?” Zelda said turning her whole body around and stopping Link. She stared at him with a stern face, with a hard frown, and unblinking eyes.

“Well, it’s a long story, actually…” Link began recalling the events from before.

But before Link could begin to moap and reminisce about his regrets, Zelda interrupted, “There has to be another reason… and…?”

“Huh?” Link said widening his eyes and opening his mouth slightly, “Well…” His mouth then curved as if gazing upon something out of the ordinary, “You’re just so strange.”

“Strange?!” She snapped, “Perhaps it is you who are strange for thinking that I’m strange! In a sense- we’re all strange for thinking of each other to be strange!”

Link found himself taking steps backward to attempt to lessen the intensity of Zelda’s voice. What a personality, he thought. She seemed to be more stubborn than Vaati ever was. To his relief, however, she quickly turned herself around, but just stood there quietly. Then she pointed to the door to her right and said,

“This is your room.”

“Thank you.” Link said walking toward the door and taking hold of the handle.

He pushed the door open and peered into his room. He gasped and threw the door open all the way and thought he heard a chuckle of mischief coming from Zelda. In his room, he saw a wooden washtub that was crusty from being used often. The room had an indescribable stench to it and Link immediately covered his nose. When he looked beside the washtub, he saw a suspicious-looking chamber pot. He found himself letting out a groan of disgust.

“So, are you satisfied for the night? I’d say this room suits you well. And while you’re my guest here, you can empty that chamber pot.” Zelda said holding her hands behind her back, posing to be a gracious hostess.

Link quickly turned around, “This is not right!”

“Oho…” Zelda began, slowly turning toward Link, “Then stop being serious!” She then took hold of his wrist and dragged him further down the hall, “Here- I’ll give you a better room, but you must promise me that you won’t be serious here on out!”

When they had reached their real destination, Zelda had opened the door for Link and basically threw him in and closed the door behind him. Link blinked his eyes cluelessly, recovering from his level of shock. But when he happened to notice his surroundings, he agreed to himself that this was a much more comfortable room. There was a little plush armchair next to an unlit, yet beautifully decorated fireplace. Not far was a small desk for writing and such things as that. There was a large window looking out to the beautiful scenery close to it was a large bed covered with bed curtains. Much more suiting than a chamber pot…

He walked over a rug as he made his way to the bed. He pulled back the bed curtains to find a very comfortable mattress covered in white sheets and topped with a lovely feather pillow. A small sense of home hit him in the corner of his mind, and that brought him to remove his cloak, quiver, and bow to be a bit more comfortable. Link sat down on the bed and sighed, being satisfied, when his aching bones had comfort. Link then reached forward to pull the curtains in front of him back. When he did he saw the window and gazed out toward the scenery where he saw the sun setting and painting the sky the color of blood. And as it did a black cloud floated over the horizon…

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