"Help me… Please help me…" The voice sounded familiar. "I'm a prisoner in the dungeon of the castle."

"Laurel?" I asked it.

The voice continued. "My name is Zelda. The wizard, Agahnim, has done… something to the other girls… now, only I remain." Somehow, I knew the names, but they didn't seem familiar to me. "Agahnim has seized control of the castle and is now trying to open the seven wise men's seal…. I'm in the castle dungeon. Please… help…"

I was awakened by thunder. It was raining outside. "Link," I saw a middle-aged man beside me, on the other side of the room. "I'm going out for a while. I'll be back by morning. Until then, don't leave this house." After that, he grabbed a sword and shield and left. I stayed there for a while. After a long time, he never came back. I grabbed a familiar looking lantern and went out the door.

"Um… the voice… Zelda? It said she was in the dungeon." I said to myself. "I think I should check there…" I walked through the harsh rain and up to the castle. There were a pair of guards at the castle gate.

"Hey, kid! What're you doing up this late?"

"You're not allowed in the castle!"

"You can stay up late when you're grown up!"

"Go home and go to sleep!"

I scowled at them. They obviously won't let me through. I walked around the castle wall and looked for another way in. I looked around and I saw a bush. I picked it up and I saw a deep pit. I looked to see how far it was. It didn't look like it was too far down. I jumped down into an underground tunnel. As I looked around, I saw someone laying in the dark. When I got close to it, I saw that it was the same man. "Link…" He groaned. "I didn't want to involve you in this… I told you not to leave the house…" He coughed. "Take my sword and shield and listen. Focus your power in the blade and release it, using the secret technique passed down by our people…" He coughed again. It didn't look like he was going to last much longer. "You can do it, Link. Save the princess!" His coughing intensified. "Zelda… Zelda… is… your…" And after that, he stopped moving. I tried the technique and it was a technique I recognized. It was the spin attack! I went through the door and back into darkness.

This time, it was much brighter. And everything looked familiar. I could hear a little girl crying far away. I ran as fast as I could to where it was, and I saw another familiar sight.

"Give it back! That's my mommy's necklace! Give it back!"

The bully was holding it up just out of her reach. The girl was helplessly jumping to reach it, but he pulled it away at the last minute. "If you want it back, you're going to have to catch it!" The bullies started running off with the girl trailing far behind. I ran back after them. When I caught up, the bullies started tossing the necklace among themselves with the girl desperately chasing after it until one of them tossed it too far and it landed in a pond. The girl ran up to the edge of the pond. She couldn't find it in the murky water. The bullies left and bumped me on the shoulder as they left.

I walked up to the now crying girl and asked her, "Laurel, what's wrong?"

Laurel sniffled. "Those meanies took my mommy's necklace! She said it was very important that I take care of it! She said I should guard it with my life. And now it's gone! They threw it in the lake!" Laurel ran away, bawling her eyes out. I looked around. I was about to give up, when I saw something glittering in the mud. It shone with a golden light. I knew it must be Laurel's necklace! I tried poking into the water, but it was too far, and it was too deep. There was only one thing left to do. I dove into the water and went for the necklace. The moment I came close to grabbing it, a big fish came along and snatched it before I could. I swam as fast as I could, and I grabbed the necklace in its mouth. The fish thrashed around and started beating me with its tail. I splashed around with it for what seemed like hours, until it finally let go of the necklace, and I burst out of the water, gasping for air.

I slowly walked back out of the water and back to what I recognized as the orphanage. I saw Laurel crying next to one of the nurses. "Ben! What happened to you? You're soaking wet!" I held out Laurel's necklace when she came over. Laurel gasped in excitement! "You found it! My mommy's necklace! Thank you, Link! Thank you so much!" She ran up and kissed me on the cheek. "You're a really great friend." She said as she took back her necklace.

Everything faded until I heard someone calling my name. "Link… Link… wake up…"

I saw that I was back at the Rising Sun inn, and Anyu was beside me. "Anyu?"

She got a relieved face when I started coming to. "Link! You're awake! You were out for a long time! About a day or two!"

I sighed. "What happened to me?"

Anyu shrugged. "Beats me. Juni said you fell from the sky while she was coming from Kakariko Town!" It made sense. I remember being in the volcano before I exploded, somehow… Anyu shook her head. "I'm just glad you're okay." I started looking around. Anyu sighed. "So, who's Laurel?"

"Huh?" I was dumfounded. How did she know…

"Well, while you were out, you said her name a lot. So, who is she? Is she someone special?" Anyu asked again.

"She… she was my best friend. We've spent our entire lives together…" I said sadly. "I had to leave her behind."

"Oh…"Anyu said, also sad. "You must really miss her…" I nodded. I felt like I might cry. I really didn't want to though. "Well, I've got the rest of your things right here." Anyu said as she brought over the Master Sword. "All this stuff was really busted up, but Juni fixed it all up. By the way, your sword looks different. Did you get a new one?"

I nodded. "It's really special. Maybe I'll tell you about it someday." I tried to get up, but I almost instantly felt pain.

"Be careful. You only just woke up! Are you sure you should be getting up like that?"

"I'm fine." I replied, clearly not fine. But I fought through the pain and sat up.

Anyu smiled as I stood up. She went and opened the door for me. "Come on. We could get you some breakfast. You should be hungry!" I felt myself, and I was actually pretty hungry. I followed her downstairs. The first thing I noticed was that there was much more activity here. There were people here.

Juni looked over from the front desk. "Oh! You're awake!"

I nodded. "Is it just me, or is there a lot more people here?"

Juni nodded. "They all came in as if it were overnight! Some of them said they were kidnapped by those plant people in the forests, and they said some swordsman in green saved them. Was that you?" I nodded. "Wow, Link! You just keep getting more and more amazing!" Juni shouted.

"Yes, yes, he does." Anyu hastily said, pushing me into the dining room. "Now Mr. Amazing needs to go get breakfast, bye Juni!" Anyu pushed me out of her sight, and sighed. "I'm sorry. She can be such a pain…"

"Oh, it's not a problem. Really."

"Really?" Anyu said, slightly surprised. "Well, I won't keep you. Help yourself to whatever you want. She left me there. I decided on something simple. Some bread with some honey, and fresh milk. It wasn't exactly a heroic feast, but it was still nice. I went back to my room and got all my gear ready to go. As I made my way back down the stairs, I ran into Anyu. "Oh, Link. You're leaving already?"

I nodded. "I'm afraid so. I've got to get to the volcano."

Anyu looked puzzled. "But the bridge is out. How will you get there?"

"I'll find a way."

Anyu smiled. "Well, good luck. And… well…" Anyu quickly kissed my cheek. "Thanks." She said. "You're a really good friend."

I nodded faintly, and I started going off to the front door. "Well, bye Anyu! Bye Juni!"

"Bye Link! Don't stay away too long! Come back soon!" Juni said excitedly as I went out the door.