The cool morning air washed over Link, drawing him into consciousness. Climbing to his feet, Link stared around dumbly as he tried to remember where he was.
Once the previous day's memories returned to him, Link wondered if Eldwin was awake yet.
Instead of searching for her, Link headed outside. He decided to get a better look at the woods and explore the immediate area. However, when he left the building, Link found Eldwin sitting on a fallen log nearby.
As Link approached, the air seemed frigid and empty, silent and infinite.
She didn't seem to notice him and Link expected her to flinch or react similarly when he sat next to her. However, she didn't react at all. She just kept staring blankly into the forest.
Link looked over at her, trying to see through the flat expression. "Are you okay?" he asked, hesitant to break the silence.
For a moment it seemed Eldwin hadn't heard him, but then she responded with a shaky voice. "I was just… thinking. When I was young, the other kids used to pick on me."
"What do you mean?" Link asked, his thoughts racing, reliving the torment.
"Nothing much; just little things. Little things mostly, but they went too far sometimes."
"What was too far?" Link asked.
"There was this doll. It belonged to my mom. Before she… " Eldwin seemed to pause and redirect her thoughts, "She gave it to me. But a kid named Rusl took it from me and I never got it back. I tried to get it back but I never could. I know he still has it, but there's no way I could get it from him…"
For some reason, Link felt his mouth forming words out of its own accord. He felt horrified at what came out.
"I could get the doll back."
What was he saying? He couldn't go back to the town. Not now, not ever. How could he think even for a moment that it was possible? But he'd said it and all Link could do now was wait for Eldwin's response.
Link felt relieved as she turned to him with a horrified expression on her face that mirrored his own thoughts.
"You can't be serious," she said, "There's no way they'd let you back into the town."
Link began to relax, but his mouth kept moving, "I wasn't actually driven out. They don't know about it, yet."
Link urged himself to shut up, but for some reason he couldn't.
"Then why are you here?" Eldwin asked, confused, "If they didn't drive you out, then why did you leave?"
"I didn't want to be around if they made the decision to do more than drive me out. I didn't want to end up like you almost did."
"Oh," she muttered, then began to speak excitedly, "Does that mean you could actually go back? If you didn't attract too much attention to yourself, then you'd be able to do it."
Link's blood turned to ice as he listened to her formulate a plan.
However, he relaxed slightly as he realized that it might work.
Link walked out of the woods.
Each of the town's buildings seemed menacing. Link's heart was beating at a thunderous pace, threatening to break out of his chest. His pace was slow, as if he was walking to his death.
But as the familiar environment closed around him, Link began to lose the apprehension that had been building inside of him. His heart began to beat slower and the world seemed less ominous. The threat of impending danger seemed to fade away entirely.
In its place, there was nothing but his mission. It was simple. All he had to do was quietly find a way to Rusl's house and then take the doll. Eldwin had given him instructions on what to do if anything went wrong. What to do if he was discovered and the village turned on him. What to do if Rusl caught him as he prepared to take the doll. What to do if he couldn't find the doll.
Link knew exactly what to do; all he needed to do was get it done.
Link entered the village quickly and quietly, not drawing any attention to himself. He asked for directions to Rusl's house then proceeded to head that way. In a short amount of time, Link had reached the small house.
As he approached, Link saw a man leaving the house. He was walking away, leading a young boy who carried a fishing pole.
Link waited until the pair of them had disappeared before getting closer.
Once he was alone, Link approached the house and quickly disappeared behind it. There was a window in the back that Link discovered to be unlocked. He quickly slid the window open and snuck into the building.
The house was silent, the air still.
Link crept through the house despite his apparent isolation.
He snuck from room to room until he found what he was looking for: nursery with an infant child sleeping in a crib. Link was relieved to find a window in the room and exercised foresight by sliding it open.
He needed a clear path of escape should anything go wrong.
Link scanned the room, looking for a doll that matched the description Eldwin had given him. After a quick search, Link found the doll just where he had feared it would be.
The child in the crib was sleeping with its arms wrapped around a ragdoll, clutching it tightly with pudgy hands.
Holding his breath, Link froze. He wasn't sure if he would be able to steal from a child. He wasn't sure if he was able to steal at all, from anyone. What was he thinking by coming here? He couldn't do this. It was wrong.
But the doll had been stolen from Eldwin. It belonged to her, and he was getting it back for her. This wasn't a crime, he was righting a wrong. It couldn't be a crime.
Before Link's resolve faded, he quickly snatched the doll away from the child.
The baby looked up at him for a moment, its eyes full of fear and sadness. Link felt his heart shudder and he knew this was wrong. It didn't matter if the doll had been Eldwin's before. He couldn't steal from a baby, he just couldn't.
Link tried to return the doll, but suddenly the baby began to scream.
Link jumped back away from the crib. From the other room he heard movement and Link realized with a jolt of fear that he was not, in fact, alone.
His change of heart was forgotten and replaced with a primal fear. Link turned away from the crib and dove out the open window.
Once his feet hit the ground, Link started running and he didn't stop until he was far away from the house.
Link waded through the crowd of people. The stolen doll was shoved deep in his pocket, hidden from the world and from himself. He didn't want to think about what he had done.
But something still itched in him that they knew. That everyone knew what he had done. He knew that any moment they would recognize him for the monster that he was.
And they all knew. They all knew and they would all crash down on him with righteous fury any moment. Any moment the town would band together and destroy him. They would destroy him and be totally justified for doing it. Link had stolen from a child, an infant. How could he do this? How could he…
Link crashed into someone and was knocked off balance. He was torn away from his thoughts and thrust back into reality with a flurry of movement.
It took a moment for Link to fully register the impact, but then he immediately helped the girl to her feet. She began to apologize but Link interjected and said, "No it was my fault. I should've been watching where I was going."
She stared at him for a moment after that.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Link said, feeling anxious to get back to the forest.
"I feel like I've met you before, somewhere else. I'm Ilia, who're you?" she asked.
"I'm, uh, Link."
"Oh, well, hi Link," she let out a light laugh, "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too," Link said tensely. "I've really got to go."
"I'll see you around then, bye," she said cheerfully before disappearing back into the crowd.
Link stood where he was for a moment, slightly dazed by the encounter. Then he shook himself and continued his escape from the town.
Once he was concealed by the tree line, Link started to run back to Eldwin's house. Something in his head compelled him to get back to the small house as quickly as he could. It was inexplicable, but as he headed deeper into the forest, a pressure seemed to be lifted off of his body.
And now then there were three. And things only get more interesting from here on out. Be sure to keep reading and don't forget to leave a review.
And that's right, I went over my chapter planning and the story has been condensed into 19 chapters. While that will make it shorter, you won't have to deal with any 500 word chapters.
3/19
