The Legacy of Zelda: Prince of Shadow
Chapter 1: After the Legend
Lynn was flying. Or at least that's what she liked to tell herself. In reality she was merely running. Still, it was nice to pretend. She knew she had gone too far into the forest, but she didn't care. She had been this far in several times. If her father knew that though, he wouldn't let her leave the village ever again. Sadly one cannot run for forever and Lynn's body was finally at its limit. Slowly she changed her pace until she was at a stop. As she stood to catch her breath, she looked around at her surroundings and felt her heart sink. Her giddiness vanished in a heartbeat. Lynn had gone way too far in the Forest of Faron and now she feared herself lost.
Lynn couldn't believe she had let herself go this deep into the forest. It was one thing to run past the Light Spirit's fountain and to blow past Caro's hut. It was quite a different story to run far into the heart of the forest and not know which way to go. The stories the villagers had told her came flooding into her mind making the slightest sound seem ominous. Even the sound of her own boots falling on the dead leaves sounded like a monster creeping up on her. Her heart leapt to her throat when she thought she saw a skulltulla lurking in the branches high above her head. The sun was beginning to set, giving the forest the appearance of being on fire. With the dying sun, the sound of the friendly birds chittering of tiny animals was dying as well. Now all Lynn could hear was the sound of her heart beating a tattoo against her chest.
Miles away, in a tiny village tucked away from the forest, a hero was welcomed home. There were many cheers and well wishes. The men of the village clapped the hero on his back while the ladies took in turn to embrace him. As the hero scanned the beaming and cheering crowd he noticed that there was one face missing. The smile fell from his lips. "Where's Lynn?" he called to the crowd. Almost at once a silence fell on the village. "I'm sure she's at home. She was out running around today. She probably tuckered herself out and went to sleep," Bo said with a good natured laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure she's fine Link," Beth added. Not entirely convinced, Link scanned the crowd once more. "Where is Colin?"He asked once he realized the young man was missing as well. "He said something about needing to find something in Faron Forest," Colin's mother, Uli, replied, "Why do you ask Link?" But before they got an answer, Link ran out of the village.
The silence that was crashing down around her was deafening to Lynn's ears. The tips of her ears twitched at the slightest sound. As quietly as she could she crept through the forest, hoping not alert the creatures that lurked in the trees above her. She knew she needed to find a place to hide until the morning. As she searched, Lynn noticed a large branch lying on the forest floor. Well, she thought as she bent to pick it up, it may not be a sword but at least it is some sort of protection. Clutching the branch tightly she continued her search. After what seemed like hours of searching, Lynn finally found a good spot to rest for the night. It was perhaps the oldest tree in the forest. A few feet above the ground was a small hollow platform just big enough for her to climb into. Curling her legs to her chest and laying the branch beside her, Lynn prepared to wait out the night.
Link was anxious. He hoped that his suspicions weren't true and that Lynn was in fact at home in bed. But in the pit of his stomach, he knew she wasn't. What else would Colin need to go find in the forest at this very moment? As quick as he could, Link climbed the ladder that lead to his front door and rushed in. A quick glance around his tiny home was enough to tell him that his worst thoughts were true. As Link dashed from his house, he couldn't help but wonder why Colin was the only one who noticed Lynn had gone missing from the village. Especially as everyone knew he would be returning home tonight. Running at nearly full speed, Link finally reached the bridge that lead to Faron Forest. As he sprinted across the bridge h prayed that he would be able to catch up with Colin quickly. As he entered the forest, Link pause momentarily to light his lantern. Night was almost in full swing now; it would be reckless to continue any further without any light. Link hoped that Colin had thought to bring a lantern with him as well, it would make Link's search somewhat easier.
The silence of the forest was foreboding to Link. It was almost as if the forest knew there were unwelcome visitors wondering around. Hooking his lantern onto his belt, Link reached for his sword, its familiar weight was comforting. As he continued his search of the forest, old memories came flooding back to him. The ghost of an impish laugh seemed to echo among the trees. Frowning, he shook his head. It was important to keep his mind clear. No matter how hard he tried however, the sound of laughter did not fade from his mind. Wondering if perhaps he was losing his mind, he carried on with his search. As he walked, he saw shadowy figure lurking among the trees. Tightening his grip on the sword and prepared to face the figure. The figure on the other hand, had a different plan in mind. Letting out a faint ghost of a laugh, the figure glided through the trees. Stunned, Link couldn't help but follow.
Lynn was furious with herself. How could she have been so stupid and get herself lost in the forest. Hadn't her father told her time and time again not to go past Caro's hut? Yet here she was sitting in the hollow of a tree waiting for morning to come. Night had just begun and the creatures of night were awake. Lynn's heart and nearly stopped when she saw a skulltulla dropping out of the tree next to her. It was all she could to stop herself from screaming when another dropped from the tree in front of hers. With night just starting, Lynn wondered how many skulltullas she was going to see before the night ended. She hoped that there weren't any lurking in the branches above her head. As soon as this thought entered her mind, she heard the snarl of a Deku Baba directly above her. She hopped that meant that there weren't any skulltullas in her tree but she had her doubts.
Time seemed to have stopped for Lynn. How many minuets had passed while she was in this tree? Had anyone noticed she was missing, or had they all assumed that she was safe at home in her bed? A small part of her hoped that hadn't noticed. She didn't want to imagine the sort of trouble she was going to be in if her father ever found out about this. Her rational side however, really hoped that someone had noticed she was gone. The temperature was dropping fast and Lynn didn't want to stay all night in the cold forest all night. With a small sigh, Lynn drew her knees closer to her chest to try and laid her makeshift weapon by her so she could wrap her arms around her knees in an attempt to stay warm.
The night wore on and Lynn felt just about frozen. Being so cold made it harder for Lynn to stay awake. It was taking all of her will power to keep from lying down and going to sleep. But reminding herself that skulltullas lurked around her brought her back to her senses for a time. Moments pass and Lynn felt herself dozing off again. She couldn't tell if she was awake anymore. Everything seemed like a strange dream. Was that a light had in the distance? It couldn't have been. Why would anyone be in the forest at this time of night? I must be seeing things. Strange…there it goes again. Perhaps it is a glowing bug. Yes that must be it. No one would be in here this late. Lynn felt the last of her consciousness slowly fading away and she was losing the ability to fight it. Suddenly a shout shot through the night snapping Lynn from her reverie. She knew she hadn't imagined this. She wasn't able to make out what the voice had said but she recognized it none the less. Moments passed by and suddenly she saw a light coming her away. In the excitement of seeing the light, she didn't notice the skulltulla creeping down silently above her head.
The shadowy figure before Link had disappeared into the darkness of the trees. For a moment Link stood bewildered not remembering why he had come so far into the forest. Nor did he remember going to the forest at all. How long had he been chasing memories he wondered. Suddenly he saw the glimmer of lantern light in the distance and everything came flooding back to him. Without thinking he called out to the light.
"Colin!"
The light stopped moving at the sound. Suddenly the distant light came rushing to him. By the glow of his lantern, Link could make out Colin's face as he got nearer. The young man's features were alight with surprise and a touch of guilt.
"I guess it's no mystery why I'm out here," Colin said.
With a sigh Link asked, "To me it's not. The others however haven't got the slightest clue what you are doing. How long have you been looking for her?"Link asked.
"An hour, maybe more. I left as soon as I realized she was missing. The others were all gathered waiting for you to come home. I ran to your place to see if she was there. It was obvious that she wasn't. So I ran back to get my lantern and ran here as fast as I could," Colin replied.
"Any idea how long she's been gone?" Link asked.
"No idea. Last I saw her she was at the Ordona's Fountain. But that was before sunset".
Link could feel his anxiety growing. What if she had gone to the Forest Temple? He felt a shiver go down his spine. He didn't want to think about that. "Our best option right now is to look for her separately. We'll cover a lot more ground that way. Which way have you looked?" Link said.
"I haven't really looked in one direction, but I've mostly been toward the south. I think I'll head west now," "Then I'll head east and then make my way north." "And if we find her? How we will let each other know?" "If you find her head north to find me, if I find her I'll make my way south" "Alright then," Colin said as he turned to leave, "And don't worry Link. I'm sure she's fine."
Link stood for a moment and watched Colin heading to the west of the forest. He hoped with all his heart that he was right and that Lynn was fine. It was times like this that Lynn reminded him so much of her mother. He shuddered at the thought of Ilia would have said if she knew Lynn had run off to the forest. There was no denying that Lynn had her mother's spirit. He hoped now more than ever that her mother was watching over. As he continued east, he saw a few skulltullas lurking around an old tree. At first he thought nothing of it. But as he saw another skulltulla slowly dropping out of that old tree, his heart nearly dropped out of his chest. There on a tiny hollow platform was Lynn. She was looking right at him and he knew she hadn't seen the skulltulla lurking just above her. Nor did she know about the skulltullas that surrounded her tree.