Dream a Little Dream

"Link!"

Marin ran over to her friend as she saw him stumble down from the Dream Shrine. Mere moments ago she'd been singing under the Flying Rooster's weather vane. Mere days ago she'd said farewell to him as he ventured to the Bottle Grotto. About a week ago, she'd first found him on the shores of Koholint Island. And now? Now she couldn't think about the past, when the future was still in jeopardy. Because she could see that Link was wounded. He collapsed down onto the ground, at the base of the stairs that led up to the Wind Shrine.

"Link, are you alright?" She knelt down in front of him. "Link?"

It was odd – there was blood on his tunic, but it didn't seem to have come from anywhere. There were no holes in the tunic himself, but for some reason, he'd bled, and quite severely at that. It occurred to her that the blood might be from the monsters that had sprung up ever since he arrived, but that couldn't be right – all the stains were clearly on the tunic's inside.

"Link?"

"Marin."

She put her hands to her mouth as he looked up at her. He'd actually said something, which didn't occur much anyway – from the moment he'd headed off from her house to find his sword, it was clear that the boy was far more a man of action than words.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Dream Shrine," he whispered. He was breathing heavily. "Slept in the…Dream Shrine. Monsters. Woke. Blood…"

"Come on." Marin knelt down and tried to get Link to stand by leaning on her. "Let's get you home."

"Home…Hyrule…"

"Yes yes, Hyrule, the land beyond the island." She moved forward slowly, and Link stumbled along. "You can tell me all about it."

"Zelda…"

She frowned, not knowing why. "Don't talk," she said.

Link didn't. He kept stumbling along.

"Ah. You're awake."

Marin watched as Link opened her eyes. There was a word that was on the tip of her tongue for this – deja…something. She couldn't be sure. It was a strange word, one that didn't feel right to speak. But nonetheless, watching her friend regain consciousness, she was reminded of when she'd first brought him to her house after finding him on the beach. Only back then, the worst Link had to worry about was dehydration. Now-

"Got to gah!"

…was wounds. Lots of them. She saw him look down at his chest. His bandaged, tunic-less chest. His muscular, well developed, already heavily scarred chest that was very…muscular.

"I'm naked."

"No you're not, you've just got your tunic off." Marin smiled. "It'll be fine, by the way. My father's lazy, but he's not so lazy that he can't do a bit of washing now and then."

"I thought washing was a mother's job."

Mother. Marin bit her lip. Her mother…she must have had a mother…everyone had a mother. Yet as she strained her memory she couldn't recall her. As if she'd existed only in a dream, on the edge of her memory.

"What about your mother?" she asked, attempting to shift the unpleasant feeling that dwelt within her. "Did she do washing?"

"I never knew her. Or my father. I grew up with my uncle."

"Oh."

Link got up in the bed, resting against its backstand. Marin saw how he held himself. He looked…torn, she decided. Wanting to get out of bed, but knowing that he would have to rest before doing so. She frowned as she looked at the scars again – old scars, she could tell. Very old. What kind of battles had he seen beyond Koholint? And what could have possibly attacked him in the Dream Shrine?

"Link…what happened?"

She asked the question. She had to know. Know what had happened, know that he would be okay, know as much as she could before he took off again in his quest to wake the Wind Fish.

"I was in the Dream Shrine," Link said. "I…fell asleep."

"You fell asleep?"

"There's a bed there. It looked comfortable. And after days of walking Bow-Wow-"

"You what?!"

"…I was tired." He smiled sheepishly. "I mean, like I said, the bed was very comfortable."

"Right. You fell asleep in the bed," Marin said, not pointing out that she'd said that Link would be welcome in her house, and that he could use her bed, and…wait, did that sound right? "And what then? Monsters attacked you?"

Link shook his head. He took a sip of water from the waterskin Marin had left at his bedside. She waited patiently for him to finish.

"I saw monsters," Link said. "In my dreams. I was in a cave, and they came at me. I thought that I was dreaming, so I didn't think much of it."

"And?"

"And…they got me. Then I woke up. And found that I was bleeding." He took another sip. "It was like…like the monsters in my dream harmed me in the real world."

"That's…"

"Ridiculous?" Link asked. "I know. But that's what happened before you found me. Again," he added, before smiling at her – one of the few smiles she'd seen from him. "Thank you, by the way."

She blushed, before murmuring "you're welcome." She walked across the room and brought him a bowel of fruit. "Here," she said. "You'll need your strength."

"Nm-hmm," he murmured. He tried to get out of bed. "I can't wait. I need to gah!"

He let out a yell and clutched at his side. Marin pushed him down.

"Like I said, you need your strength," she said.

He put a hand over his eyes. "I can't wait here," he said. "I've got to-"

"Find the Wind Fish," she said, a bit more sharply than she'd intended to. "Yes, I know. You have to wake the Wind Fish so you can leave and get back to…to…"

"Hyrule?"

"Yes, Hyrule," she snapped. She got to her feet. "Well, we can't wait on that can we?"

"I can wait."

She blinked. Link was eating a banana. Maybe that had changed his mood, or maybe he was just tired.

"I think…I can wait." He put the banana aside. "Just need…rest."

She decided on the latter. She wasn't aware of bananas putting people to sleep. Well, maybe her father, but he'd go to sleep at the drop of a coconut.

"Thank…you…"

He drifted off. Marin put a hand to his forehead, and a finger to his neck. No need to worry, she decided. He wasn't in any danger. All she could do was wait, and sing, and wait, and…find something else to worry about.

Wind Fish, Wind Fish, sing your song to me. Wind Fish, Wind Fish, find me at the sea.

The words died in her throat. She couldn't sing right now.

Wind Fish, Wind Fish, give your song o'er the air. Wind Fish, Wind Fish, save me from my despair.

But she could try. Try and sing. Try and remember how she knew the song that was on the tip of her tongue. When and how she'd learnt it. How she knew it. How she knew lots of things.

Did my mother teach me?

She shook her head and took a bite of another banana. She didn't want to think about her mother. If she couldn't remember her, it had to be for a good reason. All she could wonder about was Link – what had happened? Unless he was lying (and she doubted that), it meant that somehow, his dreams had caused him harm in the waking world. Which was ridiculous, of course, but-

When did I last dream?

Another thing she couldn't remember. She must have dreamt. Everyone dreamt. Just because she couldn't remember dreaming it didn't mean that she'd never dreamed. That was ridiculous.

"Ganon."

She blinked. Link was murmuring something.

"Ganon…Ganon!"

She'd heard that name before, back when she'd brought him to the island. It was the name he'd said the most.

"Zelda…the Triforce…"

Well, almost the most. "Zelda" kept coming up as well. Occasionally a "Din," a "Nayru," and a "Ralph" would as well, but mostly Zelda. She could guess from how he said the names that this Ganon was a person that had come to blows with Link, and Zelda…she wasn't sure. But she smiled as she saw Link turn over, no longer speaking. Just sleeping a deep, and by the looks of it, dreamless sleep.

"Sleep well Link," she said, adjusting the blankets. "I'll be here when you wake up."

She headed outside. There were more chores to be done.

Wind Fish, Wind Fish, I see you high above. Wind Fish, Wind Fish, reunite me with my love.

And as always, singing would make them go faster.

A/N

This actually came from a similar experience in playing Link's Awakening, where I entered the Dream Shrine, but didn't really pay attention to the monsters (I was tired at the time, maybe that's why I went in). Before I knew it, I'd lost almost all of my hearts and had to stagger back into Mabe Village. It briefly occurred to me that the fact that Link can actually get harmed in the Dream Shrine might be a bit of a hint as to Koholint's true nature, or it's simply a result of game mechanics superseding lore. Anyway, drabbled this up.