That thing was crawling

Crawling toward him

Link backed away from it, first one step, and then another

But that rickety creature was moving faster and more purposefully than he

Fingernails clicked on the cool hard ground

Or were they fingernails?

Link looked again and saw that there were tiny shining knives perched on the fingers of the thing

That thing

What was it?

Something horrible, terrible, frightening

Something unreal

And all too real

Link tried to step away from that thing that was coming for him, that demonic clicking was still coming toward him

Something burned

Not a burning heat, a burning light

All around him

Permeating the darkness that he was trapped in

All alone in

But not alone enough

That thing was here

No, it was still there, still far away

But all too soon it would be here

Link tried to step away from the thing but succeeded only in tripping over something

Tripping over what?

There was nothing, nothing in this place except Link and that crawling thing

It clicked on the ground, warning Link of its advancement

Link remembered something, a weapon

He remembered a sword

A sword that was the bane of all evil

Made of pure light

Link reached for the blade

He reached for the weapon that had not failed him before

Now it did

He reached for the hilt that should have stuck up over his shoulder, staying just on the edge of his vision

His hand grasped only air

Cold air

And then it wasn't

The air began to burn, not just with that dark and evil light, but with heat

Terrible, unbearable heat

It was everywhere

All consuming

It was within him, around him, where did it come from?

Click

Link felt something grasp his ankle

He was on his back

Defenseless

And that crawling thing was still with him

Alone with him

No white sword

Nothing

Link braced his hands on the sweltering floor beneath him and scrabbled away from the icy cold hand around his ankle

But the grasp wouldn't lessen

Those knives

Link felt pain, terrible, awful pain

Those knives

Something was cutting, tearing, ripping at the meat of his leg

Those knives

Slowly crawling toward him, first his ankle, then his calf and shin

Those knives

The ones that were on the fingers of the crawling thing

They were digging into him

Link stopped struggling away from the thing and reached down toward it

Hoping to free himself

His fingers were met with slick blood

And nothing else

No knives

No pain

No legs

Nothing

Then it all returned

They were back

That thing was back

It was back for him

Of course it was back for him

It had said it would be back for him

Hadn't it?

It was coming for him

It was here for him

He could do nothing to stop it

Do nothing to save himself

All he could do was stand by while the thing killed him

Then it got worse

The thing was on top of him

Ripping tearing cutting digging

Digging into him

Suddenly there was something in front of him

Just in front of his face

So close to his face that it was hard to see anything else

He could feel the blood

He could see the thing in front of him

He could see that red

That awful blood red


Link's eyes jerked open.

Staring straight ahead, or rather above, he saw something

Something, something he could not describe

Like fire but not, burning with a deep red light that never flickered or faded

Not even for a moment

That amber fire cascaded down over his face, framing the world as he could see it

Beyond

He saw beyond that amber waterfall, that deep red wall that blocked out the rest of the world

Beyond

There was something else

Something, or someone

Something was buzzing, a burning that flowed through the air and not directly into the skin

But delving first through the ears

That buzzing could have been formed into sounds

Sounds into syllables

Syllables into words that could have been assembled into phrases

Could have been if Link wanted them to

If only he wanted enough, he could understand

He did

"Are, are you awake this time?"

The words seemed alien to Link, as if coming from somewhere far off

He struggled to keep his eyes open

He wanted to see what was beyond that amber waterfall.

"Are you going to fall asleep again?"

Was he?

Maybe he would…

No, sleep had come once before

And that thing had come with it

No, Link would stay awake

He would see the something beyond the red

He pulled his eyes open, blinking once as the crisp air struck his sensitive eyes

Things began to swim into focus

A nose a few inches away from him

Beyond the red there was a nose

It was sharp and small

Small, set right in the center of something

Between two eyes, above a mouth

The center of a face

The face of a person

The mouth was moving

"So are you gunna stay awake this time?"

Link tried to say something but found himself unable to. Instead, he raised his head slowly, pulling a single arm up to his face and moaned. The moan was unintentional, and he ceased it as soon as he realized it existed.

"Where am I?" He tried to say, but instead it came out as "Worm eye"

The person somehow understood his garbled speech, though, and said, "You're at Lon Lon Ranch. You've been asleep for days."

Link was shocked, "Days…" He trailed off, staring briefly into empty space. There was no way that thing had hurt him so bad, how had he been unconscious so long? But, if he had been asleep for days, that meant he had been putting off his quest.

Again

But he couldn't let that happen, not this time.

Link tried to get out of the bed, rolling over and pushing his feet out underneath himself. But just as they touched the floor, Link felt something pop loose and he fell to the soft dirt below.

He tried to push himself up, but ended up spasming in pain instead.

"What are you doing?" the now slightly feminine voice said, "You're still hurt, you need to rest."

Even as she was admonishing him, though, he growled through a clenched jaw. "Where is my sword, I need to go. I need to finish it."

Before he had scrabbled around on the floor for more than a few moments, she grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him back onto the small cot.

"You're still hurt." She said as she pushed him back down on the bed, "You need to rest still."

"But I need to-"He tried to insist, but was cut off.

"No, you need to get better. And I'm not gunna let you out of this bed until I think you've gotten better."

Link said nothing, but ceased struggling. He knew that in this condition he wouldn't be able to force his way past her, he couldn't even walk. But soon he would be able to, and then he would leave. He had a job to do.

"Well as long at that's over, I bet you're hungry." She said, and even as he tried to deny it, his stomach betrayed his mouth.

"I'll go see if I can find you something, I'm Malon by the way." She said as she turned toward the door.

Still breathing heavily from the slight encounter, Link muttered, "I'm Link."

He could have imagined it, but when he said his name, Malon stopped suddenly.

He also could have imagined her whispering his name just barely loud enough for him to hear.

Then she left the barn, disappearing from his view.


Malon was leaning against the wall of the barn.

The outside wall of the barn

Because he was inside

Link

She hadn't seen him in years

Seven years

He'd just disappeared one day and never come back

Maybe that was why she hadn't believed it was really him

Still didn't fully believe it

But as soon as she left the barn, Malon had checked something

Maybe it wouldn't mean anything, but maybe it would

She had taken his weapons and his backpack and put them in the house, making sure to hide them where Ingo couldn't find them

If he saw Link's equipment, he would be sure to try to sell them.

But Malon hadn't run inside to check his equipment, but his backpack. She knew that she shouldn't and that it probably wouldn't be there still, but something carried her into the house and all the way up the stairs. She opened the backpack, reaching deep inside it. Knowing that it wouldn't be there, probably long lost or thrown away. Maybe immediately after he had disappeared.

But to Malon's surprise, she encountered a soft fabric within the backpack. Startled, she pulled it out and looked at it. It was itchy but still somehow warm and soft. It reminded her of her mom and of that warm day in the field when Link had suddenly fallen o of the sky. And of that night in the barn loft, when Link had been cold even though he assured her he wouldn't be.

But now he was back.

But Malon was still scared to confront him. He had still inexplicably disappeared one day and been gone for seven years. He had been there just long enough to be her best friend, and then he had left.

But she had stalled long enough.

Malon carried the plate of food into the barn. There was nothing special on it. A sandwich with meat and some cheese on it and a small earthenware cup with milk in it. He was still where he had been a few minutes ago, laying in the small cot staring up at the ceiling.

Now Malon could see clearly the dull light shimmering from beneath his hat. That must be Navi.

Malon walked over to him and notice that he was fast asleep. His eyelids were shut tight but he shifting restlessly. Malon leaned down and said his name, hoping to wake him up. Maybe when she could get some answers from him while he was sleeping. When he didn't respond, Malon tried to shake his shoulder gently, but her efforts were only rewarded by a shrill whisper.

Stop that, he's trying to sleep.

Malon watched as the shimmering light squeezed itself out from underneath his hat and floated waveringly in front of her face.

Malon, you need to let him, us, sleep. I'm awake now so I can try to explain anything you want, but then you should just leave us alone for a little bit.

The fairy seemed irritated, but hesitant to snap at Malon for some reason.

"Well, if you can explain some things that would be good. First, where did he go? He just disappeared, you too."

Before I start, I need to tell you I'm in the dark on a lot of things. So is he.

"Okay Navi, just tell me what you can then."

When we left that day to deliver the spiritual stones. Ganondorf had already began his attack. The princess was fleeing and the town was torn apart.

"I remember that, just after you left the sky went dark over the castle."

Link went to the temple on his own to try and stop it, but just as he opened to sacred realm, Ganondorf walked into the temple. He'd been following Link. Earlier Link had tried to fight him, but his sword was ruined when Ganondorf attacked him. So Link tried to take a sword from the temple. It was from just inside the sacred realm, but when he grabbed it everything, stopped.

"Stopped? What do you mean?"

Like one moment Link was ten years old grabbing the sword, and then he was seventeen and he was holding the sword in his hand. And Ganondorf was gone too. Then we left the temple and everything was like this. But Link seems different, I don't know. Maybe something happened to him when he picked up the sword. But the weirder thing is that he can't remember anything.

"What do you mean he can't remember anything. Like nothing at all?"

I don't know, he's barely said a word to me since we left the temple. I don't think he remembers you though, he doesn't seem like he recognizes you.

"But how's that possible? You remember don't you?"

Only parts of it. Like your name and I remember that the two of you were friends.

"Well do you think he might remember?"

He might, but he's not going to remember right now. And I'm tired.

With those words, Navi slipped back underneath Link's hat.

And Malon just stood and watched her old friend for a few moments before returning to her work.


Sorry for that gap, but from now on it should be back to normal. I was having trouble figuring out how Malon was gunna keep Link at the ranch without any hard feelings, finally just decided to be blunt but I hope that works. And thankyou everyone for the reviews, feeling much better about it now.

VDorsey:Sorry not Gomess, a character from OoT. And it is a character not an enemy.

I promise I will have part 2 up tomorrow.

And one more hint as to the cloaked creature(character) is, check my profile and there is a clue if you look for it.

Anyway, thank you all for reading, don't forget to review