Chapter Five:
I remember when….
When Lunnaei woke the next morning, she was a little sore and stiff from her adventure of the previous day. She lay there and looked around the courtyard of the Forest Temple. She had to admit it was a beautiful place, in a creepy sort of way. Thick vines climbed up the red-bricked walls, fat enough, she decided, they could be climbed like her Grandpa's stories said. She sat up and looked over at the broken marble staircase that led to the Temple itself. An unusual pile caught her eye and she got up to look more closely at them. She took a step back when she realized they were the bones of some long dead animal. The skull was frightening enough, with its unnaturally long canines, but when she noticed the long claws on the feet, she shuddered.
A little nervous now, she looked around until she spotted her Grandpa. He sat a ways away, legs crossed, eyes closed, deep in his morning meditations. At home, he always sat near the large cherry tree that grew near the edge of shop. Even in winter, she always knew where to find him in the morning. Not wanting to disturb him, she went about her morning routine as quietly as she could but knew he could sit like that for hours no matter what was happening around him.
Sometimes though, she wondered what he thought about and when she looked at him now, she noticed his normally calm face wore a sad expression. As she wondered, a light breeze blew through the courtyard and brought with it the smells of the forest beyond, all mossy and wet. She rubbed her nose to stop from sneezing. She looked up when something fluttered in front of her vision. Tiny blue and green flowers dropped down from the surrounding forest. It reminded her of something that had happened when she was much smaller. The last time Grandpa wore that expression, was following her Grandmother's death. He did not move from under that cherry tree for a long time. It was as if he'd turned to stone.
Lunnaei was just six years old and her memories of that time were scattered at best. She remembered, her Dad stayed with Grandpa the first few days and her mother brought tea. She recalled being worried that Grandpa would get sick in the damp spring air. Her father tried to ease her fears, but everyday she watched him from the window of her room. She'd been told not to disturb him, but after a few days, she went out to see him anyways. He did not respond or open his eyes. He just sat.
When her father noticed, he came out to the yard and scooped her up. As he carried her away, she asked why Grandpa didn't want to talk to her. She was afraid she'd done something wrong. Her father assured her that her Grandpa loved her very much, but had lost something. When she asked if she could help find it, he smiled and reminded her to leave him be and told her that he would come back if that was what he wished. She looked back at him over her Dad's shoulder; come back? From where? That did not make any sense, he was right there. Motionless, as the cherry blossoms fell from the tree and drifted over him like snow.
This went on for almost a whole week.
Being young, Lunnaei had not understood what her father meant about losing something and a few days later, she skipped her lessons with the elder and scoured the village. Sure, she could find whatever it was her Grandpa needed. She was good at finding things, but after several hours of searching, she came home empty handed. Her Mother, who watched her as she wandered the village, knew what she was about and met her at the door. When she asked her if she found what she was looking for, Lunnaei remembered she said no and did not protest as once fed her mother shuffled her off to bed early.
She lay awake for a long time before she returned to the window. She lifted a small stuffed bunny she named Stella onto the windowsill and pushed the window open. Stella slipped from her hand out onto the grass below, she looked out her window, but it was hard to see where it had fallen through the darkness. She also knew she couldn't sleep without her, so wandered outside. Thinking her Grandpa might be cold; she dragged her blanket behind her and after she found Stella, she went to where he sat and stared at him.
After a few minutes, she asked him if maybe Stella would do instead, she was a bunny after all and all bunnies had magic. If fact, he could call her Luna and then they would always be together. When she took one his large hands in hers, he still did not move or even seem to respond. They were too cold and the feeling he was leaving her wouldn't go away. So Lunnaei made a wish of her own and tucked the recently re-named Luna into his weather beaten green coat. Very tired now, she curled up in his lap with her blanket, and fell asleep.
Her memory of the next morning was very clear, when she awoke, it was in her own bed; she sat there and wondered if it was all just a dream. She reached down to ask Stella, but her toy was missing. It wasn't a dream, she thought, and clamored out of bed. She ran to her window and her eyes widened when she saw her Grandpa was not there. Afraid he'd left without her, she burst out of her room and almost tumbled down the stairs as she yelled at the top of her lungs for her mother. Instead, her father caught her and tried to calm her.
Frantic now she told him Grandpa was gone, and squirmed in his arms until he set her on the floor. She pulled him to the back door and paused only long enough for her mother to come up behind them. Lunnaei pointed to the now vacant spot where here Grandpa had been sitting. The three of them stared and her father held her back when she tried to go outside. Everyone jumped and turned when a tired voice said quietly behind them, "What is all the racket about?" Her parents just gaped at him for a minute then looked at one another. Her father shrugged and her mother sighed while Lunnaei ran over to him and grabbed one of his legs.
"You came back, does that mean you found it?"
He looked down at her and smiled, "Yes, Luna, thank you."
Even though she didn't know what he'd meant then, she did now. The sickness that took her mother had been so swift and sudden; she'd barely had time to realize what was happening. Then she was gone and for a time Lunnaei joined her Dad and Grandpa under the cherry tree. Now he sat again, face masked in that sad expression, still and unmoving. Something must have happened after she went to sleep and it occurred to her just how little she knew about him. Like the fact, he was Hyrulian. She munched on some cheese and sat down.
She pulled out her journal and drew a picture of the boy she'd seen, and her own idea of what the fairy, Navi, looked like. She grinned at it, her Dad would like that one, he was always telling her 'fairy stories'. She wrote out the story and added her own little adventure in the Lost Woods at the end. When she finished, she bundled everything up and put it in her pack. Grandpa still hadn't moved and she decided it was still early enough that she thought she might have a look around. She went closer to the steps that led up into the courtyard; it wasn't near as scary as it had been in the dark. As her foot hovered over the first step, she heard her Grandpa say, "Lunnaei, wasn't being lost once enough for you?"
Lunnaei turned slowly around, "I wasn't going to go far."
"Right now, out of my sight is too far," he said, as he got up and brushed the flowers off his head. She stole another glance down the staircase all was quiet. Of course, she couldn't see the end of it.
"Lunnaei!"
She jumped and ran back over to where he stood by the campsite. He was frowning at their gear and Lunnaei had a feeling that his frown was for her and her little adventure the day before.
"I'm sorry Grandpa."
He blinked and asked, "For what?"
"Getting lost, not paying attention-"
"Luna," he said as he gently grasped her shoulders, "if I'm angry with anyone, it's with myself."
She looked at him in confusion, "But..."
"No, no, I meant what I said. You did nothing wrong. It was my own pride and foolishness that put you in danger, I should never have let you set foot in this forest because I knew what could happen." He sighed and let go of her. His frown returned as he bent down to start packing up their gear. He worked quietly and Lunnaei set about collecting her things. They were almost finished when he said without looking up, "It all comes down to this, Luna. Pride is a sin the Goddesses do not lightly forgive." His voice sounded flat. "I almost paid an awful price to re-learn that lesson yesterday." He straightened and pulled on his pack, "I let it cloud my judgment long enough to let my guard down," He looked over at the piles of bones on the Temple steps, "and in these woods, that will only get you killed or worse."
Never, not even once in her life, had she heard a disparaging word from him about the Three, but the bitterness of his tone frightened her. She nodded and pulled on her own pack and thought, 'Worse? What the hell could be worse than yesterday?' As they started down the steps toward the meadow, Lunnaei had a random thought pop into her head.
"Grandpa? How could the hero find the castle if he'd never been out of the forest?"
He did not answer her at first, just continued down the stairs. As they passed a large broken battle-axe, he paused and stared at it. He picked up what looked like the broken handle that lay nearby and examined it very closely. To Lunnaei, it appeared that something very sharp had sheared it off. He hefted it for a moment, and then stood it in front of him. It was almost as tall as he was. He turned and said, "Have I ever told you the Legend of Kaepora Gaebora?"
That was not a name she recalled. "No, I don't think so."
He started down the stairs again and brought the broken piece of axe handle with him. "Once there was and maybe still is, a great owl who went by the name of Kaepora Gaebora. The Legends said he was the reincarnation of an ancient Sage by the same name."
"Don't tell me, talking owl right?" Lunnaei asked and rolled her eyes when he nodded. "Fine, I guess if a tree can talk, so can the owl."
When they reached the base of the stairs, he stopped and said with a puzzled look, "It's odd, but I didn't think of him again until you asked that question."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes," he said and held out an arm to keep her from passing beyond the end of the stairs. He pointed to a ladder set in the hedge directly in front of them. He leaned forward and looked in both directions and asked without turning, "Did you pack those bottles, like I asked?"
"Yeah."
"Good," he said, "Follow me and be as quiet as you can." She nodded and followed him as he crossed the short distance to the ladder. He climbed it quickly and helped her up as she reached the top. She worried for a moment that they would fall through the hedge, but was surprised by how sturdy it was. The maze they had passed through yesterday was laid out before her. It was immense, with a number of dead ends and circular paths. She stood there with her mouth open and wondered how he managed to find his way through that with out ever having to stop.
Her Grandpa tugged on her sleeve and she looked to where he pointed. The hedge on which they stood completely surrounded a small area. There was a hole at the center, and another ladder on the opposite side from the one they just climbed. He climbed down the ladder and waited for her to join him. He grinned and pointed at the hole for a moment then jumped into it and Lunnaei knew she had to follow.
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Yes, that was a long time coming, I apologize for being so slow with this chapter. I think it’s starting to dawn on Lunnaei, Grandpa is full of interesting surprises. So that’s about it. Once again thank you for taking the time to read, I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a Review!
