Into the Legend of Zelda

Marin showed up the next morning and checked Link's wound. While he was at it, he also removed all of Link's effects, placing them on the floor at the end of the bed. The Hylian's boots, gloves, and hat were also removed.

Once he was through, Marin turned to me. "Come along," he said gently. "You need fresh air and some food. He will be fine for a few hours without you here to watch over him."

I made an unsure noise as I looked back and forth from the calm brown eyes of Marin to the closed eyes of Link. I didn't want to just leave him here. What if he woke up?

"He is the type who would make it known if he were to wake, am I right?" Marin asked as if he read my mind.

Even though it wasn't really a time for smiling, the corner of my mouth quirked up. Yes, Link was definitely the type to let somebody know when he woke up. He'd probably come and find me and insist that we immediately go to the desert. So I nodded at Marin and left Link's room.

Terra had breakfast ready when I came out and Sheena was as enthusiastic as ever to see me. I was somewhat surprised when Marin joined us for breakfast - he didn't seem the type to readily accept hospitality.

When we were done eating, I looked around awkwardly, wondering what to do. I couldn't go back to Link's room for at least another hour and a half, so I had nothing to keep me occupied.

"Heidi, let us take a walk," Marin suggested when he noticed. "It will do you good to get out of this house."

I nodded. Marin was right. So I joined him on a walk.

At first we just strolled through Kakariko, not talking, only walking. I was used to long silences, having been traveling with Link for so long, but it was awkward to walk in silence with Marin.

We started on the path out of Kakariko.

"Marin? Where are we going?" I asked suspiciously. Why would we be leaving Kakariko?

He only threw a smile over his shoulder at me. "You will see."

We journeyed onto Hyrule Field. I was simply following, the whole time wondering if I should be suspicious or not. Probably yes.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, we arrived at an area that looked like it had once been a stadium. Stone was arranged in tiers, complete with mossy stone benches and cracked steps. Marin walked down these steps, beckoning me to follow.

I did so, but reluctantly.

When I reached the bottom, Marin removed his cape and pulled out a sword, swiftly holding its tip under my chin.

I didn't dare gulp just in case the blade would pierce my moving throat, but all of the sudden, I really really had to swallow.

"Uh... Marin?" I asked quietly.

"Yes?" he replied calmly.

"What are you doing?"

"I am holding this sword at your throat."

"Okay. Just wanted to clear that up."

He took the sword away from my throat and I immediately took off running. But he caught me.

"Do not be a fool," he said sharply. When I looked at his eyes, they were almost as piercing as Link's could be. Almost. "You need to learn to handle a sword if you are going to succeed on your quest."

"How do you know about it?" Curse my voice! Why does it have to get squeaky at a time like this? Oh yeah! Because I'm scared out of my mind right now!

"I am a traveler; I hear many things. One of those is that a pair of young people, one female with red hair, one male with blond, have saved the Gorons, the Zoras, and five sick men of Kakariko Village."

"But, you can't teach me to use a sword! I'm a girl!"

"If the fate of Hyrule rests in the hands of a girl, then that girl must learn all she can to protect it and herself, am I right?"

"But-!"

"Enough!"

He roughly handed me the sword hilt first and began to instruct me in its use. Soon, I was swinging the sword in all directions at Marin's command. Up! Down! Left! Thrust!

My arm was sore after only a few minutes of this, but Marin pushed me for an hour.

I thought I was done, but I was sorely mistaken.

"Now, switch hands."

I didn't complain, but did as I was told, practicing all those swings with my weaker left hand for another hour. I couldn't believe I was even doing this in the first place. Even more, I couldn't believe that Marin - a man (though a girly one) - was teaching me this.

When Marin declared my training session over, I carefully handed him the sword before putting my hands on my knees and breathing hard. I was sweating profusely and my throat ached from not having water in all this time.

"Very good for a beginner," Marin commented. "You will meet me here every day after breakfast for your training. By the time your friend wakes up, you will be skilled enough with a sword to take care of yourself."

"But why? Why would you risk going to jail to teach me how to swing a sword?" I asked. I still didn't see the point.

"Because if Hyrule falls, it will not matter if I go to prison or not."

And with that, he turned his back and left, telling me to make sure to bathe over his shoulder as he walked away.

When I returned to Link's room that night, I found that Terra had placed a mat, a pillow, and a blanket on the floor for me. After saying goodnight to the unconscious Link, I collapsed onto my makeshift floor bed and promptly fell asleep.


For the next week, I met Marin every morning after breakfast, learning the way of the sword with both my right and left hands. He was a good teacher, if not a little impatient sometimes.

I noticed that no matter how hot it got, he never wore a short-sleeved shirt, nor did he ever opt to take his shirt off. My plan was to ask him about that today after we were done sparring.

This morning, Marin met me with a wooden sword, which he threw at me as soon as I was in sight. I was careful to catch it by its "hilt" and swung it a couple times to get an idea of its weight before preparing to spar.

Marin didn't wait for me to be ready. He charged almost immediately. But I was expecting this and deflected his blow fairly easily.

I got no time to recoup, however, for he came at me again almost immediately, swinging his wooden sword like his intent was to kill.

It went on like this for at least fifteen minutes. Both of us managed to get a couple of good hits in. I knew I would find bruises tomorrow.

The fight ended when Marin caught me by surprise and put me in the same position that he had on my first day of training - his sword under my chin.

"That was good!" he praised, falling back onto the ground. "You have improved so much! I think you are ready for your own sword."

"Seriously?" I asked. I knew a week wasn't exactly adequate time to learn something as intricate as swordsmanship, but apparently I was good enough to take care of myself now.

"Seriously," he said.

I sat down next to him. "Marin, why do you always wear long-sleeved shirts? I don't think I've ever seen you in something short-sleeved."

Marin arched an eyebrow at me. "Do you have a theory?"

I shook my head. "Not really." Only that you're secretly a girl, I thought, but I wasn't going to say that.

"I think you do," Marin said. "In fact, I bet you're right, whatever you're thinking. Do you really want to know the truth?"

I nodded.

Marin unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing part of a bandaged chest, and then pulled his arm out. Except, this arm wasn't the arm of a man, it was that of a woman. The bicep muscle, though toned, was definitely not large enough to be the bicep of a man who worked so often with swords.

"I knew it!" I shouted, pointing my finger at Marin. He - sorry - she grinned sheepishly and put her arm back into her shirt, buttoning it back up.

"My birth name is Marina. My father made swords and I was his only child, so he taught me how to make and use them since I was his only heir. When he died, I cut my hair and disguised myself as a man so I could continue to work with swords. I have been like this for six years."

She sighed as she looked down at herself. "It is hard to know you are a woman when nobody else does."

"I bet," I agreed. It had to be tough. She couldn't even be safely attracted to somebody for fear of being found out.

"So that's why you don't really have to worry about teaching me swordsmanship. If they find out you're a woman, they'll put you in jail anyway."

She nodded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Marina. I'm Heidi."

Marina grinned and took my outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you too Heidi, but please continue to call me Marin."

"Will do."

We sat in silence for a few minutes and then Marin stood up. "Your friend should wake up any day now. He no longer needs my help."

As she said this, she pulled her sword off her belt and held it out to me.

"You no longer need my help either. I have stayed in Kakariko too long as it is. Take this sword; it's yours now."

I gaped at the sword, looking from it to Marin and back again with my mouth hanging open.

"But this is your sword!" I exclaimed.

Marin laughed at me. "Not anymore. I have fulfilled my purpose. I think I will grow my hair out and live as a woman again for a while. After seeing your Link, I thought it was about time for me to settle down."

"B-but!"

"Just take it already!" Marin laughed, shoving the sword at me. "I won't need it with what I plan to do!"

So I finally took the sword, but only for long enough to set it on the ground so I could hug Marin.

"Thank you so much!" I told her when we broke apart. "I don't know what I would've done if you didn't teach me!"

"You're welcome," Marin said. She started walking away. "I'll be going now. Thank you for opening my eyes! I won't forget you. Goodbye."

"Goodbye!" I called after her retreating figure. "Good luck!"

I spent the rest of the day dawdling around Kakariko, then went into Link's room in Terra's house. He still wasn't awake.

I grumbled when I saw that he was still unconscious. This was really getting tiring. "I wish you would just wake up already. But go ahead and take your sweet time. It's not like we have anything important to do or anything. Goodnight Link."

I lay down on the mat and pulled the blanket over me, having no trouble falling asleep.

-

I woke up feeling more rested than usual the next morning. I sat up in the bed, stretching and yawni- the bed. The bed. I woke up in the bed.

When I looked down on the floor, Link was there. He was asleep, but there was no other way I would have ended up in the bed. The scene was so familiar that I couldn't keep the giggles from escaping. It was just ridiculous that we had come back to this.

Link woke at the sound of my laughter and gave me a sleepy smile.

"You jerk! You won't even take the bed when you're sick!"

"'m not sick nymore," he mumbled sleepily.

I got out of the bed and pointed at it. "Get in that bed and go back to sleep," I ordered.

I was surprised when he didn't argue.

Still, I waited for him to get himself situated, then left the room. I was almost out the door when he mumbled something.

"What was that?" I asked, going back across the room to hear him better.

"Thank you Heidi," he said, his voice quiet with his drowsiness.

I grinned. "No problem, Link."