The Adventure of Link

Chapter Eleven: Saria Town

In one last breath before everything went dark, Link felt the dusty air of Parappa Desert fade away, replaced with a different kind of taste that was far more pleasant… a more humid, heavily scented air that was carried by a soft, warm wind. This kind of feeling could only be found deep in the forest, such as the one where he had been born, and as the Lord Sheriff opened his eyes, this was where he found himself.

Not the Eastern Forest of Hyrule's Southern Outskirts, but a thick, shaded forest just the same. The canopy of leaves blocked the sun, but not to the point of bringing darkness, a small stream of clear water ran alongside a well-traveled path, and there were large mushrooms growing among the underbrush… mushrooms that were being picked by a woman with long blonde hair. She was humming to herself as she tossed each one into the large basket, brushing the dirt and twigs off her simple dress when she stood up a moment later, and it was only then that he realized who she was.

"Princess Zelda?" Link asked, sitting up higher against the tree that he was leaning against. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Mushrooms are what's going on, mostly." She replied, walking over and smoothing out her dress as she sat down with him. "My friends and I come out here from Mabe Village to gather them for the festival… just don't eat them before they're cooked, or there might be, well… side effects."

As they talked, it became obvious that the Lord Sheriff had somehow come back to Koholint Island, where he had first dreamed of the cursed Princess. This forest was a new part of it for him, though, although Zelda seemed to know it well enough, the way she kept throwing more mushrooms into the basket while humming that same tune to herself. She also mentioned that she had felt it when he completed the first challenge, congratulating him on doing what few had managed before.

"It won't be much longer, Princess, I promise you." Link said confidently, taking both of her hands. "I'm going to break this curse, and use the Triforce of Courage to wake you up… that is what this island really is, right? A dream? Am I dreaming right now, too?"

"As far as it was explained to me, yes." Zelda replied, appearing a little sad when he smiled at her. "As I said before, Koholint is a place for deep dreamers, and although I've come to love it here, I do hope that you will be the one to let me finally come home. So many others have tried before, but… please… I miss my home, and my family… please rescue me, Link."

The Princess looked like she was about to cry, so the Lord Sheriff kissed both of her hands at the same time, and promised her that he would. He told her about how much he wanted to meet her in person, and how beautiful she was, and how together they could go see all of the things that she had missed… but for some reason these words seemed to make her even sadder. Link was about to ask her what was wrong, when he gasped as his eyes suddenly snapped open… Zelda and the forest were gone, leaving him somewhere else… and there was pain.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A different woman's voice said. "I was starting to worry there for a moment."

Unlike inside the forest where he had been feeling fine, and the weather had been nice, Link's whole body was sore, and his vision was a little blurry as he tried to focus on his surroundings just in time to see a flash of lightning and hear thunder a moment later. The ground was soft… no, not the ground… he was lying on a bed, and he was no longer outside, either. The light came from some candles place around the small room, and rain could be seen coming down from out the nearby window… and he was also not alone.

"That monster really gave you a thrashing." Sing continued, sitting on the chair next to the bed. "Saving you was a stretch, even with my power, and don't worry about the monster coming back; we're in Saria Town… a long way from Parappa."

According to the magician, after that horse monster was defeated, she had used her magic to save his life, and even located his horse before using that recorder to bring them to their current location. There, the dark haired woman had gotten them a room at the town's inn, and Link had been sleeping for the whole day… and she added that she had been impressed by his fighting ability.

"So, why Saria Town?" The Lord Sheriff asked, starting to sit up, but stopping after realizing that he was shirtless under the blanket. "Planning on heading down to the Southern Outskirts?"

"No, we're going north, actually." Sing explained, getting up and blowing out the nearest candle. "I imagine you are tired of the desert, so you will be happy to know that your next challenge lies in a place that is quite the opposite."

The name of the place that she mentioned next was Midoro Swamp, and while it was nice that they were going somewhere that he had at least heard of, that did not mean that he felt safe in the slightest. From what Link had heard, it was nearly impossible for someone to make their way through on foot, let alone on the back of an animal, and since it was raining, that meant that the waters of the swamp were going to be even higher.

"There is a place toward the far end of the swamp." The magician continued, blowing out all the candles except for the one next to the bed. "But your challenge will not be as simple as the battle with the horse monster, oh no… when you get there, you will find that you will need something more than just brute strength."

Link would have been a fool to assume that the challenges weren't going to get more difficult, but as much as he tried to mentally prepare for whatever was waiting for him in the swamp, he became distracted when Sing explained that she was planning on going to sleep, as the reason for blowing out the candles. However, there was only a single, small bed in the room… and he was feeling better, so the only honorable thing to do was offer to take the floor so that she could have the bed.

"Nonsense, there is plenty of room." The dark haired woman replied, startling him by pulling back the blanket and sitting down. "Scoot over, Link, we're both adults, after all."

She sort of forced him to move back toward the wall by scooting toward him, and once she was able to lay down, Sing blew out the candle and got under the blanket with him. So far he had been able to keep from touching her by pressing his side against the wall as hard as he could, and of course the Lord Sheriff was feeling more nervous than he had felt before any fight, even against Ganondorf, especially since she kept moving closer.

"This bed isn't big enough to be on your back, Link." Sing said, moving still closer. "Lay on your side, so my rear end isn't hanging off the bed."

Rolling onto his side so that he was facing the wall, Link started to relax since now the dark haired woman had all the room she needed… that is, until his breath stopped when he felt one of her arms slipping around him, while the rest of her was now up against his back. Now she was burying her face into the back of his neck, letting the Lord Sheriff feel her warm breath, and get even more nervous about this whole situation until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Sing, stop. What are you doing?" He asked, kind of awkwardly rolling over so that they were now face to face. "We're enemies, and you cursed the Princess of Hyrule, so we can't just… snuggle like this."

"Aw, you've never had a female adversary before, have you?" The magician asked, making him tense up again when she put her arms around him. "Don't worry, Link, I won't tell your sleeping Princess… that is why you're acting so scared right now, right? You think she's going to wake up and just fall right into your arms, don't you? I wonder how many chosen ones before you had the same idea."

It was true that Link had never dealt with a female enemy before… especially a beautiful one who was wrapping herself around him… and laying her head on his shoulder. Damn it, with Ganondorf it had been easy; he just had to fight his way to his enemy, best him in open combat, and then walk away victorious, but with Sing… she was right there… the one who had caused this whole curse in the first place… right there.

"Link, I will remove your entire skeleton if you attack me." The dark haired woman said softly, as if reading his thoughts. "Now just put your arms around me and go to sleep… unless you'd like to give me a good night kiss."

No, he was definitely not going to kiss her, but with as tired as Link was from the battle in Parappa, he didn't seem to have much choice but to do as she said… putting his arms around her so that there was enough room for both of them to sleep… and then trying to relax. If there had been any other of his enemies right there with him, they would have been dead without hesitation, but Sing… she just didn't seem like the same kind of evil conqueror that Ganondorf was.

"Sing, why did you do it?" The Lord Sheriff asked. "Why did you put this curse on Zelda in the first place?"

"Honestly, it was her brother's idea." The magician explained with a half-yawn. "He was angry at her for not giving him all of the Triforces, and he wanted to hurt her in a way that no one could save her from. Looking back on it all now, I know that he was no good for me, but… I was young, and I would have done anything to please him."

This angle of the story made sense, especially when Sing explained that she and Princess Zelda's brother had been engaged to be married, but that all changed after the curse. The Prince had suddenly grown a conscience for the first time in his life, and the dark haired woman had been exiled from the Kingdom immediately after. What she hadn't realized was that her aging had stopped the moment Zelda went to sleep, and even though he no longer loved her, it had been painful for Sing to watch the Prince and everyone else she knew grow old.

"That… that's awful." Link said once the story was finished. "Sing, I'm…

But his words were interrupted by her snoring, and with nothing left but the sound of falling rain to keep him awake, the Lord Sheriff soon found himself snoring right along with her.