Link.
He came awake instantly, his eyes snapping open to gaze at the shadows dancing solemnly over the ceiling.
Link.
This time he sat up in bed, looking around for the source of the voice calling his name so softly, so demandingly. It sounded so familiar.
"Zelda?" He asked uncertainly. "Where are you?"
Link. Go to Lake Hylia.
"Who'll meet me? Zelda!"
He waited for a reply. Nothing. He made an appealing figure, sitting bolt upright in his bed, hands clutching the sheets so tightly that his knuckles gleamed white in the moonlight shining in through the window. His golden hair was tousled by sleep and flopped down over his eyes.
With a groan, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on a green wool tunic and leather boots. He was used to this - having to go from sound asleep to fully alert at a moment's notice. When Zelda called him, he obeyed. Time had no meaning.
He slipped out of the dark house and into the stable in complete silence, where he saddled Epona with the ease born of hours of practice and much repetition. He swung up on her broad back, putting fleet-footed heels into her sides and starting her forward at a gallop. Several lights clicked on in the sleeping houses of Kakariko Village as he went past, but he ignored them all and headed for the gates. Going swiftly, he could reach Lake Hylia shortly after daybreak. He didn't know why he had to go to Lake Hylia, but obviously it was important if Zelda was sending him there. He didn't expect easy answers. Zelda never gave them.
It was almost morning at the lake. A shriveled old man sat outside of his hut watching the sun rise over the hills. The rushing water of the Hylian Falls was behind him, and he listened to its gentle rushing as the horizon turned from dark blue, to pink, to light sky blue. If you had been asked to describe this man, the first thing you would say was old, for that's what he was. He had a few tufts of snow-white hair protruding from under his blue cap. His skin was pale, showing the veins in his trembling hands. His face was wrinkled, small folds set in bigger folds of his leathery skin. His eyes were a deep blue, clouded over with age so that when you looked into his eyes it seemed that they were hidden by a fog.
Despite his fragile appearance, he was a tough man. He had lived at the lake his whole life, and was known only as the Scientist. He had no other name. He had no need for companionship, for he had his work, and he had the lake. That was all he wanted, and all that he needed.
This brings us back to the moment. The Scientist sat outside of his hut watching the sun rise. The moment was peaceful. A lark sang sweetly in a tree, and everything was quiet.
The Scientist heard Link coming long before he saw him. The rhythmic hoof beats echoed over the water, growing nearer with each passing second. He turned and gazed down the long road that led from the lake out to the plains, awaiting the sight of his old friend. After several minutes, the dark shape that was Link riding Epona came into focus and he alighted on the ground near the Scientist's hut with the peeling blue paint, tossing Epona's reins onto the hitching post and coming to greet the Scientist.
"Link," said the Scientist warmly, shaking the young man's hand. "Good to see you, son. What brings you to the Lake this early in the morning?"
"I had a vision," Link said without preamble. "Zelda spoke to me. She told me to come here - I'm not sure why. All she said was, 'Go to Lake Hylia."
The Scientist frowned. "Interesting, interesting..." he mumbled. They stood together on the ridge where the hut stood, overlooking the Lake. The Scientist took a deep breath of the sultry evening air and smiled at the serene beauty that surrounded him. "Lovely, isn't it?" he asked softly. He loved Lake Hylia with every breath of him - and for the life of him, he could not imagine why he was the only one to make his home on it's pristine shores. Of course, there was the man who ran the fish pond on the far side of the Lake, but he didn't count. He didn't live here, after all - he only worked here. The sun was sinking slowly over the horizon, and a coyote howled off in the distance. The sky had changed from a calm blue to a dark red, and the Lake reflected this color. The blood-red note seemed slightly ominous, however, and the Scientist felt a slight discomfort, although he couldn't have said why.
Suddenly a loud scream pierced the air. Both Link and the Scientist spun around.
"What was that?" Link asked, looking around wildly. The scream came again, louder this time.
The Scientist narrowed his eyes and searched the area for the source of the noise. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a dark shape come spilling over the falls and slam hard into a rock. "There!" he shouted, pointing to the dark shape floating in the water. Link sprinted down the slope and leapt into the water, launching into a powerful front crawl that took him to the figure in mere seconds. From the way the figure had gone limp when it hit the boulder, the Scientist knew that it had been knocked unconscious. He took his walking stick and hobbled down to the edge of the water, where Link had pulled the person ashore.
It was a girl of about eighteen, and she was bleeding badly - she must have hit her head on the rock. Already the sand around her was stained with blood. "Bring her up," the Scientist ordered, all kindness gone from his voice as the urgency of the situation appealed to him. Link lifted her easily into his arms and carried her up the slope into the Scientist's hut, laying her gently on his cot. Blood was pouring from her head, and he could see from the way it didn't spurt, but merely trickled, that her pulse was very, very weak. He knew he would have to work quickly if he wanted to save her.
He took a thick piece of cloth and pressed it to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. After several minutes, he carefully removed it and found that the flow of blood had stopped save for a small trickle. Now for the tricky part.
"Stay unconscious, girl." He muttered to her as he prepared a needle and thread. "This will hurt a lot less if you do." Link looked pale, but stayed close by, handing the Scientist instruments as he called for them. The Scientist cleaned the cut as best as he could and began to close the gaping wound on her head.
"Link, did Zelda say anything about this girl?" The Scientist asked quietly after he had finished cleaning her wounds.
"No," Link said. "All she said was to come to Lake Hylia."
"Do you suppose this was why she wanted you to come here?"
"I don't know," Link admitted. "I thought...perhaps you would know."
The Scientist shook his head. "I know nothing more than what you have shared with me, Link." He said regretfully. "I suppose we will have to wait until this girl awakens to find out more. Perhaps she knows something."
Link sighed. "That does seem to be the best option."
The Scientist smiled. "Well then, let's have something to eat. I doubt that she will wake before morning, so you may as well settle in. I have a spare pallet you can sleep on." And with that, he moved towards his tiny kitchen and began preparing a meal for the two.
It was the pain that woke her. Her head was throbbing like someone was inside her skull and was smashing a hammer around, trying to get out. She groaned and put a hand to her head. A sharp pain greeted her and she whimpered in pain. When she brought her hand away, it was sticky with blood, and panic began to envelop her.
She tried to sit up, but grew dizzy and had to lie down again. Moving only her eyes, she tried to look around. Had the Gerudos caught her? Was she back at their fortress? Breathe, Gemyn. She told herself. This isn't the Gerudo fortress. The walls aren't sandstone, they're wood.
A loud scuffling noise startled her, and she turned her head, a scream building in her throat. It was an old man in a blue hat and blue robes. He was smiling at her.
"Awake, are you?" he asked.
Gemyn began to cry weakly. She didn't know what was going on, or who he was, or what he was going to do to her. Why did her head hurt so badly? Had he done something to her? She didn't even know how she'd gotten here.
He laughed softly. "Don't be frightened of me. I am the Scientist. You took a nasty spill off of the Falls, and cut your head. I sewed you up - that's why your head hurts. You've been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours now," he explained.
"Where...where am I?" she asked groggily.
"Lake Hylia."
At the words, a dim memory came back to Gemyn. "So I made it?" Relief flooded through her, but a second after that relief came the guilt. She had left Lia all alone with Anaya and four Gerudo guards. "But - Lia. We have to go back and get Lia!" Gemyn tried once more to sit up, but the Scientist was at her side, gently pushing her back to the bed. She began to sob like a frightened child at his touch and attempted to push his hand aay.
"Lass, don't cry. You're safe. I won't ask you any questions, and I won't tell anyone you're here if you don't want me to."
"Lia. We have to get to Lia!" Gemyn cried again, growing close to hysterics. What had they done to Lia? Was she alright? Had she managed to jump into the Falls, as well?
"There, there." The Scientist took her hand and patted it reassuringly. "I'm sure this Lia is going to be just fine. And if you need to go find her, you can do just that. But for right now, you've got to lie still and not worry yourself - you lost a lot of blood, my dear, and you're still very weak. You can't go saving anyone just now. So try to relax, and soon you'll be well enough to go find your friend."
"No," Gemyn whimpered. "No, you don't understand. They'll kill her! I have to go save her!" But he wasn't listening to her. He was treating her like a child, like a lost, frightened child. Her head ached excruciatingly.
"Of course you will." He shuffled off and returned a minute later with a cup full of a strange, sweet-smelling liquid. "Drink this. It will numb the pain." Gemyn took the cup to her lips and drank deeply, expecting a sweet tasting drink to accompany the smell. What she got was the most horrible tasting liquid she'd ever drank, and she choked and gagged and spit it back into the cup.
"It is called Hochle," the Scientist said, even though she hadn't asked what it was. "It's a form of medicine I invented - it numbs pain, promotes healing and causes sleep. I know it tastes horrible, but it will help."
"I can't sleep. You don't understand, they're going to kill Lia!"
"And you won't be much help to her if you can't even sit up, now will you?" he replied calmly. "The sooner you get better, the sooner you can go to Lia."
Gemyn sealed her lips and refused to drink any of the vile liquid as the Scientist put the cup to her mouth. Growing impatient, he held her nose shut until she was forced to open her mouth to breathe. Crying, gagging, she choked it down, hating that calm old face more than she'd thought possible.
He patted her hand once more. "Sleep, child. You need your rest. When you wake, you will feel much better - and you can go find your Lia. I promise."
Already Gemyn could feel the effects of the drink. Her eyelids felt unbearably heavy. She fought the drug, determined to stay awake, but it was like trying to stay afloat in quicksand. Slowly, silently, she drifted off into a dark, dreamless sleep. Throughout it all, the Scientist sat by her side, monitoring her vitals and waiting to be sure she was asleep before letting himself quietly out of the house.
Link was nearby, brushing down Epona.
"She woke up," The Scientist said quietly as he approached Link.
"How is she?" Link demanded, putting his full attention on the Scientist.
"She will live," the Scientist said. "She was rather distraught. Kept saying she had to go save someone named Lia - do you know such a person?"
"No," Link said. "But it sounds like a Gerudo name. Why would she want to save a Gerudo? And how did she wind up in the river?"
The Scientist held up a shriveled hand to stop Link's questions. "There will be time for that later. She lost a fair amount of blood, and she needs rest. When she is feeling stronger, she can give us her story. Until then..." he held his hands out, palms up, in an expression of uncertainty. "I dosed her with Hochle so she can sleep."
"When will she be awake?"
"I should think by tomorrow morning at the earliest."
Link repressed a frustrated sigh. "I'll camp here tonight again, then."
"Supper?" the Scientist asked cheerfully, gesturing Link back inside the house. Link entered, his eyes immediately falling on the unconscious girl lying in the Scientist's bed. Blood stained the pillow and sheet, and her face looked sunken, waxy. The Scientist was right - she had lost a lot of blood. He sank down into a chair and watched her breathe as the Scientist bustled about in the kitchen, making tea and frying fish.