Zalyn wasn't awake. He knew that somehow. But he was totally aware. Aware of a world of complete darkness. The zora couldn't see anything.

Then a hylian lady appeared. She was tall and beautiful; her pastel dress waved about her softly, as if in a slight wind. She smiled, and Zalyn looked away out of embarrassment. He'd never been good around girls.

Then, she spoke. "Do not be ashamed, young one. I do not care and neither should you." Zalyn looked up to see her looking upon him with mild satisfaction. "That's better. A hero shouldn't be afraid to look at those he'd rather not. But I have little time. Brave warrior, you've lost so much. It is a curse to have to ask you to give up more. You may be the one I've sought; you may not, but Hyrule cannot survive if you do not try. Leave your home and go as far as you can. It matters not the direction; just go."

The young lady reached out to Zalyn. "Please, take my hand and consider my offer. You are under no oath to comply, but please."

Zalyn looked at her and took her hand gingerly.

Then his world exploded in light.

Zalyn woke up suddenly. Sprig was standing over him with a worried look in her eyes.

"Are you alright, zora boy?" she asked in a sympathetic voice, which sounded more curious than compassionate.

Zalyn sat up and felt his head. No bumps or scratches. Odd, he thought. I fell pretty hard. But that dream, was it a vision?

He looked around as he pondered. He was still in the shop; no one had moved him since he fell. Zalyn stood up, then something caught his eye. Or rather, a lack of something.

"Where's Neiva?" Zalyn asked. It was one of the few things that had ever surprised him, though considering the circumstances, it shouldn't have be that odd for the old hylian to be gone. She could've gone for help; or she could've gotten away. It had been her that had knocked him unconscious in the first place.

But his vision hadn't been horrible. Nothing was bad in his dream, except for the darkness. So why was Neiva gone?

Sprig shrugged, then bounced onto a rickety stool without the slightest hesitation. It creaked, like everything else in the ancient shop. "I don't know. She just said that odd stuff and then disappeared in a flash of light. Magic isn't one of my strong suits. But I'm glad you woke up so quickly. I was about to go for help."

I woke up quickly? Zalyn had no sense of time while he was sleeping, usually, but he'd always thought that time slowed down in dreams, so that one hour seemed like a minute. "How long was I out?" the zora asked coldly. He didn't want to encourage the girl to speak more than was necessary.

She didn't get the message. "Not very long. Maybe a half-minute at most. Why? Did you see something while you were unconscious? I've heard that wizards could send messages to people in their dreams, so maybe Neiva sent you a message. Was it anything important?"

Zalyn looked at the empty seat where the old hylian had sat. Was she sending me a message? He thought. Did she know what would happen? And who was that lady? He looked down at the floor. What did she mean "go as far as you can"? Does she want me to do something?

The zora didn't know what to do. The lady in his dream was so kind, and Zalyn didn't want to disappoint her. But where would he go?

"Sooooo," Sprig piped. "What happened?"

Zalyn was jolted out of his reverie by her statement. He turned to look at her. The deku girl was looking at him with wide eyes and wide grin. The zora was suddenly reminded of another girl, one he'd been very close to. She had looked at Zalyn like that, but he resisted the urge to remember more.

"Nothing of importance," Zalyn growled. "I believe that our next course of action would be to see what happened to that old hylian." With that, he turned and strode out the door.

The sun was still low in the eastern horizon. Amazing how much can happen in only a few minutes, he thought. A creak came from the door of the shop as it swung open again. Zalyn didn't even bother to check; he knew who it was.

Without looking, he said, "Come if you want, but leave me alone. I don't want to be bothered with idle chat."

"Humph," came the girl's response. "I'll speak when I want to."

Zalyn didn't say anything else. He just strode off in the general direction of the Sand Coin tavern.

"Where are we going? Do you have an idea about where Neiva went?" Sprig piped.

Zalyn shrugged. "I don't. Someone else will."

"Who?"

The zora just kept walking.

"Pfft," she snorted. "Fine. I'll just wait then."