((Author's Note: For optimal enjoyment, listen to this while reading this chapter~))

~ Chapter 11~

A dull, sizzling sort of sound buzzed in and out of his ears as Link was slowly roused from a surprisingly deep sleep. At first, the only things he was really aware of were how soft and warm the blankets lumped on top of him were, how the lumpiness of the pillow his head was resting on was just right, how annoying the little bit of light streaming in through the cottage was, and how incredibly comfortable he was.

Was there anything pressing that required his immediate attention?

…

Nothing came to mind…

It was settled, then. Getting up was simply too much effort. Grunting softly to nobody in particular, the Hero shifted his weight a bit before settling back down for some more much-needed zzzs beneath Mt. Blanket. He had nearly dozed off again when something else caught his drowsy mind's attention.

Sweet, tender humming started mixing in with the sizzling sound. That in and of itself wasn't enough to rouse Link from his slumber, but with the humming came the smell of something utterly mouth-wateringly delicious. The aromatic scent wafted past him, bringing with it the fresh, crisp hint of something citric and the somewhat briny, salty whiff of something being roasted over an open fire.

With quite a bit of effort, the Hylian lifted one heavy eyelid and glanced around the cottage.

The cottage was empty, but the front door was propped open. The curtains had been tied back with thick rope, the kind that looked like should be used to tie up rigging, and sunbeams were pouring it, easily illuminated in some sort of mist.

No, not mist. Smoke. The whole room was a bit hazy looking from what Link assumed was quite a lively campfire.

Sitting up and running his right hand through his mop of thick, dirty blonde hair, Link let out a yawn that would rival a lion's. Neither Marin nor Tarin were anywhere in sight, but he noticed that the small kitchen table had been set for two people. Salmon colored ceramic plates, metal utensils, and wooden cups rested on the hand-carved wooden table. A small basket of seashells and a vase of freshly-picked wildflowers served as table decorations.

Soft footsteps caught his attention. He turned towards the open doorway just as Marin strolled in, carrying a large, steaming bowl of something that smelled heavenly. She was wearing another blue dress (was it the same one she had been wearing yesterday? Did the girl own anything that wasn't blue?) and had a white apron tied neatly into place.

Marin jumped a bit when she glanced over and saw Link, draped in blankets, staring sleepily at her. "Link! You're awake!"

"Mmmph… morning," he mumbled, yawning a second time.

Marin chuckled softly and continued over towards the kitchenette. "I guess yesterday's adventure really tuckered you out. You slept like a log! Especially true, since you rolled straight out of your bed and nearly gave me a heart attack," she pointed out with a giggle.

Link blinked twice. "Rolled out of…?"

"Don't you remember?" she asked, turning to give him a wide smile. "You said you had some sort of awful nightmare - apparently I stabbed you, can you believe it? - but after you got back into bed you fell right back to sleep."

"Hmm… now that you mention it, I do remember something like that," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. He did recall bits and pieces of the nightmare Marin spoke it, but now that he was awake, he was having trouble remembering just exactly what had happened in the dream and what had happened when he had been awake.

"Breakfast will be done shortly. I'm just waiting on the fish to finish cooking all the way through. You do like fish, right? I imagine so. I don't anybody who lives on all of Koholint who doesn't like fish," she said off-handedly as she busied herself stirring whatever was in her bowl.

"Koholint?" Link repeated.

"The island, silly," Marin giggled. "You really aren't a morning person, huh?"

"Mmph," was his reply, which was promptly swallowed up by yet another impressive yawn. "Oh. Mm-hmm. Island. RIght, right."

"I'll be right back," Marin called, setting the bowl down on the counter and wiping her hands on her apron before skipping lightly back towards the front door.

Link didn't have long to wait before Marin came back in, this time carrying a large tray of several tantalizing looking grilled fish. He started to drool the second he laid eyes on them.

"Marin, those smell amazing!" he practically purred.

"Oh, thank you. I didn't do much special to make them. They're more or less just salt-grilled Skippyjacks."

Wondering if he had heard her right, he tilted his head slightly to one side. "Skippy… jacks?"

Marin set the tray down a bit harder than she intended to and gave him an odd look. "Yes, Skippyjacks. You do know what Skippyjacks are, don't you?" she asked rather indignantly, almost as if Link had said he didn't know what shoes were.

"Uhh… well, I have to admit, I don't know many fish by name, but rather by their looks. And tastes," he quickly added, hoping the little white lie would convince her that of course he knew what a 'skippy jack' was.

Marin rolled her eyes, shook her head slightly in disbelief, then turned back to her fish as she began to slice them up like an expert.

"They're those little blue fish that are everywhere. They're incredibly common, but they're delicious. Trust me, if you cast a line anywhere along the beach, you'll catch at least a dozen of these little guys."

"Oh, right. Those ones. That's what I thought you meant," he said, albeit a little too quickly.

"Uh-huh. Sure," was all Marin responded with.

Link laughed nervously and decided to just let the whole fishy conversation slide.

Marin, still humming to herself, walked over to the table and picked up both of the plates. "Oh, did you even notice your arm?"

"Eh?" Link pulled his right arm out of the blankets and looked down at it in confusion.

"Your other arm, silly. The banged-up one," Marin laughed.

Link let the blanket slide down off of his shoulders and, for the first time, noticed that his left arm was now wrapped in much thicker bandages than it was before. The bandages were wrapped nice, tight, and neat. The bandages Marin had wrapped around his arm at first had been much looser and not quite as tidy looking. This bandage job looked to have been done by some sort of professional doctor. The ends of his four fingers and his thumb only barely just stuck out of the end of the bandages, and the thick encasing of bandages ran clear up to his elbow.

"What the…?"

Marin giggled. "Papahl came over at the crack of dawn. You were sawing logs. Don't ask me how, but he somehow managed to slip your arm out from under all those blankets, take off my bandage job, clean up your arm, set a splint in place around your wrist, and wrap it all up without you even so much as making a grunt!"

Link looked astonished. "Are you serious?"

"Yes! He said he's had lots of practice doing sneaky things like that with his boys. He said something like, 'Just you wait, Miss Marin. You think sneaking a tooth off from under a pillow and leaving a few rupees behind from the Tooth Fairy is hard enough with one boy and one tooth, just you wait until you have four of 'em all at once in a dark room scattered with the sharpest, pointiest blocks you'd ever set your eyes on,'" she laughed.

"Well… geez," was all Link could think to say. It worried him slightly that he hadn't even woken up while someone did something so complicated to his arm, but he had been exhausted. "I wanted to get a good look at my arm when he came over and looked at it. Did he say anything? Did you get a good look at it?"

Marin scrunched her nose up and looked repulsed. "Oh, goodness, no. I-I mean, I saw it the first time and it was bad enough - no offense. I think I only managed to clean it and wrap it all up because I was on some sort of adrenaline rush. I'm, er, I'm not the best with blood and things like that," she admitted.

Link grimaced. "Is it… Is it really that bad?"

"No!" she answered a little too quickly.

"Come on. Be honest with me," he said, trying to cross his arms. He forgot that he couldn't really move his left arm much, so it just made for an awkward gesture across his chest with his right arm.

Marin shrugged. "I really don't know, Link. All Tarin said-"

"Tarin?"

"Yes, Tarin was helping. Honestly, you could sleep through a hurricane," Marin pointed out with a chuckle. "Anyway, all Tarin said was that he's seen worse, and Papahl said he doesn't think anything is broken, but your wrist sure looked swollen. He cleaned up the cuts and everything and there wasn't any infection that he mentioned. He fashioned up a split and set your wrist, and he said to leave it alone for at least a week. If it is broken or sprained, trying to move it will only set back the healing process. Oh, and he brought you a sling to use, too. It's nothing fancy, but it will do the job."

Link let out a dejected sigh as he looked down at his poor, useless, limp left hand. "Well… all right. I guess there's nothing I can really do about it right now."

"There is something you can do…" Marin turned around and grinned at him.

"Oh? And what's that?"

Winking, she held out a plate filled with freshly-grilled slices Skippyjack, glazed apples, and a steaming hot roll. "You can come and eat so you can regain your strength!"

Link couldn't help but smile. "That I can absolutely do," he laughed as he headed over to the table.