FicWad

The path to Castle Town was pretty much straight through Hyrule Field, and therefore uninteresting. The town was split into six sections. An outer wall hugged an inner wall about ten feet across. Guards stood in various spots within the gap and upon the walls, but they looked bored and lazy. There hadn't been any conflict in Hyrule for decades; most of the soldiers probably haven't been in real combat.

Inside the inner wall, the town was divided into four quadrants and the center of the city. Each area buzzed with people, but it wasn't as crowded as Kakariko Village, for which Lila was grateful. Castle Town was small enough, it didn't need a bunch of people pressed together.

As far as she could tell, all of the soldiers who should have been patrolling inside the town chose to congregate in the taverns. The sheer number of bars surprised Lila the most. While Kakarikohad maybe two, Castle Town boasted two taverns in each quadrant. The town was not protected in the least. That was something Lady Ganondra would like to know.

Then again, she had sent Lila to Castle Town to orient herself, not give him details of its weaknesses. With that in mind, she began seeking out various pathways from each gate to the castle, which she had not yet seen. She wanted to discover other ways to the castle other than the main gates. The main entrance to the castle was foreboding with guards and openness. It was maybe the only well-defended location in all of Castle Town.

Mori was the one who found the sewers.

"Really? Sewers?" Lila complained. They stood – or flew – outside the entrance.

"Really. Secret tunnels," Mori replied with snark. "Your mission."

"Alright, alright. Sheesh."

Once underground, Lila was immediately accosted by a miniblin, its tiny spear jabbed into her kneecap.

"Ow!" she shouted and kicked at the offender. Several others swarmed to take its place. "Get away, fiends!"

"Meenp meenp!" they shouted back.

She pulled out her sword and swiped at the miniblins, but they stepped back from her blade as easily as though she was moving through a thick liquid. Frustrated, she growled, "Go away! Mori!"

"What can I do?"

"I don't know! Something!"

Mori flew down in front of the miniblins and flapped his wings hard. That was enough to scatter the miniblins, hopefully for good.

"Thanks. I don't know why that worked, but thanks."

"You're welcome, I guess."

The two continued through the sewers. Most of the muck flowed along the bottom, and ledges allowed for clean travel. ("Thank the Goddesses.") The miniblins poked around but didn't approach again. ("Annoying little demons.")

When Lila and Mori exited the sewers, they were in a prison.

"Is this the castle prison?"

"Must be. I don't know of any others in or near Castle Town."

"Nice. Now we know how to get in."

"But how do we get into the actual castle?"

"Um..." Lila pointed down the one way they could go. "That way, of course."

"It's probably guarded."

"Probably not. Why would they defend empty cells?"

"They probably know about the entrance to the sewers."

"Oh. Good point." Lila stopped walking. "Wait, what's this?"

Where she had stopped, there was a small opening that was hardly visible. Mori flew into the space, and his wingspan fit perfectly. Then he disappeared.

"Where'd you go?"

"Come in and find out."

Lila stepped into the opening. She couldn't see a thing and placed her hand on the wall. With her fingers trailing, she followed the sound of Mori's wings. Her foot hit something.

"It goes up," Mori supplied.

Lila took the stairs. They went up about two stories and then there was an arrow hall, still pitch black. At the end of it, she bumped into the wall. She would have panicked if she didn't hear Mori on her left.

"Hurry up!" he muttered.

"We've been over this," Lila replied, going up even more stairs, "I don't have lechonotation like you."

"Echolocation."

"Whatever! I'm blind here."

"Poor humans."

"Poor armless keese."

"Hey!"

Lila chuckled. This stair wound in a spiral and seemed to go on over twice as long as the first one. When they finally reached the top, Lila's foot fell hard on the floor. "Ooh, that was a jolt."

"Shh, I can hear voices."

"Really?"

Lila walked forward slowly, trying to calm her breathing. She kept one hand on the wall and the other outstretched. Slowly she began hearing what Mori was talking about. She gasped.


"Zale..."

"Shh!"

The talking stopped. Lila's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe Zale was within hearing distance. Her heart pounded, making her ears ring. She wanted so badly to see him again, but she didn't know why.

A girl's voice said, "I didn't hear anything. Zale, keep telling me the story! How did the Hero save the Zora?"

"Well, Zelda, he had to get eaten by a giant fish."

The girl gasped and squealed. She giggled, and Lila could imagine her rocking back and forth in laughter. "You're teasing me!"

"Nope, it actually happened. The Hero was swallowed by Jabun."

"Lila, let's go."

Lila knew this story. She didn't care to hear it. She just couldn't stop listening to Zale. She closed her eyes and felt tears. Maybe if she made a loud noise, she would at least have an excuse to talk to Zale, to see him.

She shook her head slowly. Such thoughts were foreign to her. She didn't know why she was thinking this way.

"Okay."

She turned around and left.