This was a hard chapter for me to do. Why? Because I forgot who the Outset Islander's names were and which houses they lived in. On top of a mild case of writer's block and my laziness to research their names, it makes this chapter hard. And the computer lost the last 400-700 words so I had to rewrite them. So take pity on me and review this chapter.
Disclaimer: No Zelda owning for me.
Link sailed the King of Red Lions to Outset's shore, where the sand was stained red with drying blood. He got off slowly, ignoring Zelda's words about telling him to be careful. She didn't matter anymore. All that existed for Link was the dead lying before him, the people he knew as a child. He shuffled his feet through the sand, identifying the bodies lying in the sandy shores. There was the woman who carried pots on her head around the island, her head smashed open by a pot. There was the woman who owned the giant pig, speared through the stomach with her pet's tusks. Her husband lay next to her, loosely grasping a wooden stick as if he was trying to defend himself.
Link continued walking past the beach, into Orca's house. Inside was Orca and his brother, pinned against the wall. Link yanked out the spear that kept Orca there, and stared at his body blankly. How could they all be dead? Link asked himself. It doesn't seem real, that they could die. It always seemed that they would be waiting here, waiting for me to come back. Tears started to cloud Link's eyes. He wiped them away quickly. I won't cry, I can't cry. I need to find Shadow and pay him back for what he's done. He felt someone touch his shoulder.
"You know, Link," Zelda said quietly, "You can't just run off the boat like that, you don't know what might've been waiting here for you."
"I don't care," Link replied, "If Shadow killed everyone here, I'd welcome an encounter with him. I want to hurt him for this, for ending all of my friend's lives."
"Don't say that." Zelda told him, "We both know that we're missing the one thing that can stop Shadow. If he was waiting for you, I don't think you'd be able to take him. And he didn't kill all your friends, you still have me."
"But that doesn't excuse the things he did."
"I know, but you didn't see everyone's corpses on the beach, you're grandma wasn't there!"
"Grandma…" Link's eyes widened and he quickly ran out of Orca's house. He sprinted across the beach and into his house. The first thing he saw was his grandma. The second thing was her blood on the wall. So little kiddie, the blood spelled out, this is your granny eh? She was fun to kill, almost as much fun as killing the rest of these pathetic islanders. I hope you can give me a better challenge next time we meet. I'll be waiting over at…well, I'll let you search the island until you found the other message I left you. I'll give you a hint, it's gross, small, and in a treasure chest. Gewd luck! Love from your shadow.
Link fell to the ground, his fists clenched in rage. "Damn him," he muttered angrily, "When I find him, I'm gonna, gonna…" his voice trailed off.
"Link? Is everything ok-" Zelda stopped as she saw the body. "Oh Link, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," Link whispered, "Just-just help me find Shadow, so I can stop him."
Zelda nodded and helped him up. "You know, Link," Zelda said, "You're not alone. You don't have to rush into everything by yourself. I'm not like some frilly princess that needs to be rescued like in the old legends, I'm still a fearsome pirate captain, even though I don't look the part."
"I know," Link replied, "But I just feel like I have to do things myself, so if I make a stupid mistake, I won't endanger anyone else with it."
"Didn't you just hear what I said?" Zelda said patronizingly, "I'm not a princess waiting to be rescued. I'm a fighter, just like you."
"Yeah… Hey, we should find the message Shadow left on the island. If we're lucky, it might actually lead us to him."
"Yeah, if we're lucky." Zelda folded her arms together. "Hm, what's small and gross?"
"A snail?" Link suggested.
"No, you can't write a message on a snail. Link, is there a treasure chest on this island?"
"I don't think so," Link answered, "But there was always this small chest in one of the house's that hides one of the family's savings in it."
"And how did you know that?" Zelda asked suspiciously.
"Um, I sort of…borrowed it for my journey." Link said meekly. "But we're wasting time! We need to get to that treasure chest!"
Link ran out before Zelda gave him one of her 'Link you idiot' looks. Zelda sighed and ran after him.
Link and Zelda entered one of the huts and was welcomed with a gruesome sight. Strung up on the wall was one of the children who idolized Link, the child who wanted to be able to jump just like him. Link felt sick. What Shadow did to him was so horrifying that he threw up. The room he was in was soaked to the ground with the child's blood, traces of magical torture engrained within the body.
"How horrible…" Zelda commented. "It appeared that Shadow used his magic to keep the kid alive until the last second. Look at those cuts on his body…"
"I don't want to look." Link coughed out. "I want to know how somebody who used to be the Hero of Time could be so…so…"
"Brutal?" Zelda finished.
"Cruel was the word I was looking for." Link pulled the body off the wall and laid it on the floor. He put a nearby sheet on top of him. "I can't believe somebody can do that kind of thing to a kid."
"We're kids," Zelda pointed out, "But that doesn't make any difference. We still have to fight this battle, and save the Great Sea. Now where's that treasure chest?"
"Over here." Link walked over toward one of the beds and moved one of the bloody pillows covering it. He crouched down and went under the bed.
"We have to crawl through the blood?" Zelda complained as she followed Link. The other side of the room was a lot cleaner than the entrance. The only thing that could be found in the room was a lone treasure chest in the center of the room. Link walked over to it and unlatched the locks. He opened it…
…and there was nothing inside.
"This is it?" Zelda said angrily. "Shadow killed all these people and told us to look here just to give us nothing? Did he just do all of this for-for entertainment?"
"It would be just like him." Link answered bitterly. "Come on, we won't gain anything by just standing here." Link walked back over to the hole in the wall.
Zelda grabbed Link. "Wait, there might be something that we're missing."
"Like what?" Link asked.
Zelda gestured towards the ceiling. "Look." Suspended above the ground was a feather, hanging from the ceiling with one long strand of auburn hair. "What do you think that means?" Zelda asked.
Link fell to the ground. "M-Medli." Link stuttered. "She left this message."
"Medli?" Zelda said incredulously. "That's stupid. She's dead, remember?"
Link shook his head. "No, Medli left this feather."
"How could that be possible?" Zelda asked.
"I don't know," Link admitted, "But I'm sure this is hers."
Zelda put her head in her hands. "How? How can you be sure?"
"Because I saw her!" Link exclaimed, "I saw her at Forest Haven, during the fire."
Zelda sighed, "Why couldn't you tell me this earlier?"
"Why? What difference does it make is I told you before or now?"
"It makes a big difference," Zelda said, "Because if you told me earlier, maybe you wouldn't have been stuck in your little dream world as long as you were. And maybe we could've gotten here soon enough to stop Shadow from slaughtering the villagers."
"What does me telling you Medli's alive have to do with anything?" Link asked forcefully.
"Because if you told me then maybe you wouldn't have been as lovey-dovey as you were in your dream!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! You were talking in your sleep! 'Oh Medli, Aryll's gone, why don't we hide behind some bushes and make-out like a couple of complete idiots!'"
"I never said that!" Lind protested.
"But that's what you were doing, hiding behind stuff and making out with your little bird friend."
"She's not a bird! She's a Rito, there's a big difference!"
"Whatever," Zelda replied, "The point is, if you told me before we got sucked into a dream world then I could've told you that Medli's working with Shadow!"
"What?" Link said incredulously, "She's not working with Shadow."
"Are you blind!?" Zelda shouted, "If she wasn't working with him she'd be dead by now! And I'm pretty sure she's the one who shot those arrows at us."
"But why would she work with Shadow?" Link asked.
"Why would she do anything?" Zelda responded, "Look, all I know is that someone shot us at Forest Haven, someone should have been killed earlier, and someone kept you from waking up sooner!"
"Shut up!" Link shouted, tears streaming out of his eyes, "Shut up about her! You don't know a thing about Medli! She can't be working with Shadow…I won't accept that!"
Zelda shook her head. "Listen, Link. I know we're friends, but if you can't accept the truth if the time comes and you end up defending Medli, and therefore defending Shadow, I won't hesitate to kill you." She wiped her eyes. "So please accept the truth." Zelda crawled out. "Before it's too late," she added quietly.
--
The King of Red Lions was waiting by the shore when Zelda and Link got back. Link's eyes were downcast and Zelda was avoiding looking at Link.
"Is there anything wrong?" King asked them.
"Other than the fact that everyone on this island is dead, we're fine and dandy." Zelda replied bitterly.
"So, did you find Shadow?" King said, ignoring Zelda's sarcasm.
"No," Link answered, "He wasn't here."
"I see…"
"There's no point in staying here," Zelda said, "So let's go already."
"Actually, there is a point in staying here." King gestured behind Link and Zelda."
"Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkk!!"
"Big Brothhhhhheeeeerrrrrrrrrr!!"
I don't know whether this chapter was supposed to be horrendously depressing or only slightly depressing, so I compromised and added a few funny lines. Please forgive me for going out of context.
