#talt

As they looked around to find a place that could serve for protection against the oncoming rain, Link noticed a huge log near the tree where Skull Kid drew himself with Talt and Tael.

“Over there!” he yelled, and ran towards the log.

As they settled down inside, the rain came, pouring so heavily that it was nearly impossible to see through.

“It’s a good thing we found shelter,” commented Talt “otherwise we would have been stuck in that”

“Yeah” Link agreed

The hero rested his head against worn down wood, and let out a long sigh. It had been a chaotic week, or had it been days?? He didn’t know, he felt like he never had any time to rest, an irony in itself with what he’s able to do with the Ocarina of Time.

"So," Talt began, shaking Link away from his thoughts "now that we're going to be here for a while, do you mind me asking some questions about you?"

Link looked at her quizzically. In all the time he's been with Talt, he'd never figured her to care about him, in a "who are you" sort of sense. He supposed she only cared about getting back to her brother as fast as possible, which he didn’t mind….Sort of.

“Why are you looking at me like that?!” Talt questioned “I’m just trying to make conversation”

Link chuckled, “I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to ask me that”

He looked out towards the howling rain, letting his mind wander before saying

“What do you want to know?”

“Well,” she began, “first things first, have you done this before? Like, the whole fighting monsters and being a hero thing?”

Link gave her a small smile, “Yeah, you could say that.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed, “It’s a long story. Let’s just say that it involves me becoming a legendary hero, time travel and saving a princess from a tyrannical, power hungry man.”

Talt flew back with amazement, “Oh wow. You really have done this before”

“You have no idea,” he remarked, “ alright, what’s you’re next question”

“The first time we met, what were you doing in the forest?”

“Oh, I was just looking for an old friend.”

“In the forest?”

“She’s a fairy,” he explained, “She was my companion for most of my journey, but left after it ended.”

“Oh, well I hope you find her” she told him

“Thanks”

There was a mild silence between them, with only the wind howling between them before Link spoke up

“So, are there any more questions you have for me?”

“Welllll,” Talt began tentatively, she seemed almost nervous, as if she didn’t know if it was a good idea to ask her next question, “there is one, but I don’t know if it’s too personal”

“What do you mean?” Link asked her

“It’s about your ocarina”

‘Oh’

He supposed it made sense why she would ask about the instrument. After all, he had managed to reverse time itself, and healed himself from his curse.

“What do you want to know about it?”

“The Happy Mask Salesman mentioned it was precious to you. What exactly did he mean by that?”

Link’s face flushed, he was definitely not expecting Talt to ask him why the ocarina meant so much to him. How it worked, sure, but not the reason he worked so hard to get it back.

“W-well,” Link stammered out. He couldn’t even talk about her without getting flustered.

‘Focus Link! You can do this, just calm down.”

He gazed out towards the falling rain, letting the sounds of the storm clear his mind and took a deep breath before allowing himself to answer.

“The ocarina was a gift from the princess of Hyrule, Zelda .”

His tone, Talt noticed, became softer and reminiscent. She guessed that whoever this princess Zelda was, she definitely had a special place in Link’s heart.

“Zelda,” he continued, “was the princess that I saved from the tyrannical man on my journey. We met early on in my adventure, and became really close friends.”

“Just really close friends?” teased Talt, causing Link’s cheeks to turn a deep crimson

“Oh, be quiet!” He told her, but the blush remained on his face. “We worked together to try and stop him, but some things happened and we were separated for a while.” He took in another breath. “We went through a lot, more than what anyone should have gone through, after my journey was over and I decided to look for Navi, my fairy friend, she gave me the ocarina as a parting gift. She said that it reminded her of us and of everything we had gone through together.”

The rain had begun to die down, letting Link realize that they would soon be able to continue on their quest towards Snowhead. He got up, and walked towards the log’s entrance and stood there for a few moments before looking up at the sky.

“I made her a promise that day” he said, “I promised her that I would return. That, no matter how long it took, I would come home, I would come back to her”

Talt flew there silently, not knowing what she could say that would help comfort him. She realized in that moment, that there was more to this boy than what she originally thought. He wasn’t some kid who foolishly helped people because he wanted to, he was a warrior on a mission to find his friend so that he could return to the person he cared for most in the world.

“This ocarina is the only thing that I have of her. That’s why-”

He choked back a sob, tears began to flow silently down his cheek. Talt flew near him, gently resting herself on his shoulder to show her support. He turned to look at her, a sad smile on his face, but appreciation and acknowledgment showing in his eyes.

“That’s why it’s precious to me.”

“I understand,” she said, “and I’m sorry for stealing it in the first place”

Link sniffed, and wiped his eyes with his palms, “it’s alright, you didn’t know”

“But still, I'm going to make it up to you by helping you return back to your princess! So come on! We don’t have all day hero!”

Link laughed at Talt’s words and together headed towards Snowhead Mountain.

Come one, come all to learn all about what you can find in the Synagogue chapel!  This will be a fantastic zoom-led introduction for non-Jews and future-Jews looking to better understand the different sacred items that they might see upon entering these holy spaces.  What are some differences between Sephardic and Ashkenazi spaces?  Reform and Orthodox?  What do they each mean?  

So my only question is, what kind of lunch will you be bringing?

Please email me at [email protected] to discuss any accommodations you might need.

One such as himself was above such childish antics, after all.

Because – as anyone would tell you – Masumi Keller was a very serious sort of person; one who refused to suffer fools and had no time for frivolities of any kind. He was what some would call the ‘strong, silent type’ – composed and precise, well-established and respected; a bright young man who took pride in his work, and had a very promising future ahead of him.

So . . . how in the merciful fuck had he found himself here: standing before the Crown Prince’s Personal Parlour, mere moments away from losing everything he’d ever worked for to his own personal melodrama; a torrid tale the likes of which would put The City Ballet to shame?

It was a question which hardly needed asking, of course; the answer being, Christophe Giacometti.

Christophe Giacometti and his big, stupid calf-eyes.

Had he never met the aforementioned Christophe Giacometti, Masumi Keller might have lived a perfectly adequate, decent sort of life; one which saw him well-liked, modestly successful, and never in want of comfort or contentment.

But The Universe, it seemed, had other designs – and now Masumi’s carefully crafted existence had devolved into a series of events so unspeakably strange, they could never be understood in their entirety; a nine-month-long saga of outlandish antics, all colluding to bring the calm, orderly balance of his perfectly planned-out life to ruin.

Although . . . much as he cursed The Universe – and a certain, calf-eyed scoundrel – for his current predicament, Masumi had to admit that he was not, perhaps, entirely innocent in this regrettable tale; and not, perhaps, entirely as righteous as he’d once fancied himself to be.

In hindsight, he really should have drawn the line at getting Chris fired.

The full-length double-doors before him practically sneered; egging him on like a pair of rowdy hecklers, eagerly awaiting the final act of his shameful downfall to begin.

Masumi took a deep breath and raised a single, white-gloved fist; poised and ready to knock.

He paused a moment, steeling what little of his resolve still remained.