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
