Chapter 2: Awakened by a Lullaby
The royal family's most treasured melody…
Link was lying in his bed, awake and restless.
The Hero of Time…
Oh, how many questions he had, that only this person would be able to answer…
For example, why did this ancient hero start his own journey in the first place? Link didn't do it for fun after all; he only did it to help Aryll.
What did he see? Was it similar to what Link had seen and done? Where there things among those, that Link should maybe know, be aware of? What was the ancient Princess Zelda like? How did he get the Triforce of Courage in first place?
Why did he leave Hyrule anyway? Did it really have to do with some "fairy of truth"?
A sigh…
Link would never be able to sleep that night, not with his head full of questions like this…
This was, when he heard a voice from outside.
It was Tetra. She was singing the ancient melody again…
"Hm…"
Link threw a look at his Baton, which was lying on the desk next to his bed.
Revive the memories and spirits of the ancient time…
"Well… I could at least try."
Just when Tetra was about to repeat the Melody outside, Link raised the Baton and started to conduct the air around him, making it sing along with Tetra's voice. For a moment, Link was wondering if Tetra was noticing how the wind had joined her song, but that didn't really matter anyway…
What a beautiful, calm melody…
A lullaby…
He didn't know why, but suddenly something told him, that this melody was actually meant to be a lullaby.
"Princess Zelda's Lullaby"…
Satisfied and a bit calmer, Link lay down in his bed again and slipped away into a dream rather quickly…
-~-
A girl dressed in green clothing, her hair in the very same color, playing on an ocarina.
A blue-skinned girl with fins, smiling in his direction.
A girl with long brown hair, singing along with the ocarina's song.
A fair-skinned, lovely princess, playing a different, blue Ocarina, leading the singer and the green girl.
And behind them, a fairy with blue hair, surrounded by a bright shine, whispering his name:
"Link…
…
Goodbye…"
-~-
Sun rays…
Link started to slowly open his eyes…
He didn't feel too well… Oh, he just wasn't used to sleeping in a bed standing on solid earth anymore.
Still a little sleepy, he rubbed his eyes and rose his upper body up…
Wondering, what's for breakfa-
…
A feeling like cold water running down his back captured the Hero of Winds.
There was someone before him.
Sitting in front of his bed.
A boy, roughly his age.
Wearing HIS clothes.
"WHAA!"
"WHAA!"
Link jumped out of his bed and grabbed his sword, while the other boy did the same – yes, he had a sword as well.
This stance…
Was Link dreaming? This guy had the same battle stance as him!
He even looked a bit similar to him, aside from the clothes… What the hell?
"Who are you?" asked Link nervously.
The other boy didn't seem any less excited than he did when he answered. "My name's Link, and I come from the southern forests…"
"Hey, what are you talking about? MY name is Link!... Southern forests?..."
"Say, why are you dressing up like a Kokiri and claiming you had my name? Are you some kind of wannabe of me, or what?"
"Wannabe? Who's a wannabe?"
"Well, you!"
Link was about to snap. "OK, whoever you are or claim to be, get out of my room, or I'll get mad!"
"Ha ha, and what are you gonna do then? Poke me to death with your toy?"
"It's not a toy!"
Already pretty bugged, Link raised his sword: "I am one of the best swordsmen around, so I would take me serious, if I were you!"
"Is that supposed to be a challenge? Do you really think, you could take me on?"
"Well, we're about the same height so, yeah, why not?"
"Same height, OK, but I am a famous hero! You might have already heard about me?"
"What the--- Listen, you are getting something wrong! I'm the only one around here, who's ever been called "hero" by anyone!"
"You think you are tough?"
"I know it!"
"Prove it!"
"OK, but I warned you!"
Link charged for his opponent. "Spinning Slash!!"
"WHAT?!"
Absolutely surprised, the other boy could just barely escape the attack, by blocking with his shield.
He didn't immediately react, but suddenly started to stare at Link.
"T-This technique… Who taught it to you?!" he asked, perplexed.
"Nobody! I figured it out all by myself!" answered Link.
"But… I was the only one, who ever knew about it… I…"
The boy let sword and shield sink down and continued to look at Link. Into his eyes.
Suddenly, Link noticed something about those eyes. They seemed, familiar… After a few moments, he realized, that those eyes were the same he saw every time he looked into a mirror… just like his own eyes. Exactly the same look.
And this other boy seemed so… confused. Link just knew, he wasn't just playing around with him. This guy… he really didn't know what was going on.
"Who.. Who are you?", asked the boy Link "And… where am I here? Is this still Termina? Or am I back in Hyrule again?"
"Hyrule?"
Why Hyrule? Link didn't understand. Did this boy think, that Hyrule was still…
Link took a deep breath. A strange thought rose up in his mind…
As calm as possible, he tried to explain. "Before you say anything, please let me try to explain: my name is actually Link, I don't know if that's a coincidence or something, but it's my name!"
"Weird…" The other boy seemed to believe him as well now.
"And… I never heard of a place called "Termina" before, but… Hyrule… how shall I say this – this is Outset Island. And the archipelago this island belongs to lies over the ruins that were once Hyrule kingdom… about 1000 years ago."
"T-Thousand years?!"
The other Link tripped out of shock. "D-Don't mess around with me! I was gone for, like, 4 days!! There's no way I have been away from Hyrule for this long! I would have noticed!... Then, again… I can't really remember what I did do last… I… I was trying to get out of Termina and then… I think, I'm having kind of a blank here… What happened?..."
"So… you… you left Hyrule? And you don't know if you ever made it back?", asked Link the one before him. He started to get an idea whom he must have actually been talking to here.
The other boy nodded: "Yes, that's roughly what happened…"
"OK… And, before you left Hyrule… did you accomplish something significant? Are you… known by some kind of "title" or something?"
"Ha! Finally!" The other boy jumped up. "Yes, of course I have a title! They call me Link, Hero of Time! I freed the Kingdom of Hyrule and its royal family from the traitor Ganondorf and–"
"- and saved Hyrule from an age of never ending darkness. You own the sacred Ocarina of time and are barer of the Triforce of Courage!"
"Hey, that's right!"
Link got excited. "Quick, show me your sword-hand! The left one!"
"Um… All right."
The other Link showed his left hand's back to him. Link added his own left hand to it.
They both bore the same mark: Three golden triangles, connected to each other and forming a bigger triangle. Only the lower right corner of the symbol shone brighter than the others.
"I can't believe it…" whispered Link "You… You must be the Hero of Time!"
"That's what I told you!"
Link took a step forward. "OK, listen to me closely! I'm a hero as well! I'm called 'The Hero of Winds!' And… something really weird is happening right now!
