Chapter 23
-Needing To Be Brave-
Link looked around, confused. He was home, at Lake Hylia. It looked like it had before all of the people had come; how he had remembered it. He soon realized that he was much smaller. He was ten years old, again!
"Link…?"
His heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice. He smiled as he turned around.
"Papa!" he called, "I looked everywhere for you, and you were really here the whole time, weren't you? I'm home now, too!" Link laughed as his father held out his arms. But he stopped as the sunlight blocked his view and everything blurred.
"Wait, Papa, I can't see you…" the boy said, attempting to block the light.
"…w-…uh…"
"Sir…?" Link said, "I don't understand."
"Wake up," his father repeated.
"But… I am awake."
"Wake up!"
"No! I am awake!" Link shouted, "You're here! I AM AWAKE!"
"Link…"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Link winced as the light became brighter. He swatted the air in annoyance.
"Navi… cut it out…" he moaned, "I was having a good dream…"
"Navi?" a masculine voice replied, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I'm not Navi."
"What…?"
Link opened one eye to see Fyrus peering in at him through the tent opening. The young man had an eyebrow raised high in confusion.
"Are you… uh… alright?" Fyrus said, taking a step inside.
"Yeah…" Link said, propping himself with an arm, "Sorry. I'm just a little… a little…"
"Disoriented?" the king suggested.
"Yeah, I guess so," he said.
"Well, I just came to tell you that I am ready whenever you are," Fyrus said, "To go into the Arbiter's Grounds and rescue my Nabooru. I miss her very much, but I'll wait for you."
"Uh, well," Link stuttered, suddenly remembering what his new friend had said the previous night, "Are you sure that I'm the right person for the job? I mean, I-"
"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Of course you are! You are the new Hero of Time, are you not?"
"I- yes, but-"
"Then you're perfect for the job!" he said, then turning to leave, added, "We'll leave just as soon as you are ready." Link watched as Fyrus stepped outside, releasing the flap of the tent, which darkened the small space again. The young man sighed.
"I don't think I'll ever be ready…"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Link sat on a mat in the tent, staring blankly at the floor as he mulled over his situation. He was terrified and shivered despite the intense desert heat. He knew that he needed to go. Nabooru, who was potentially and very likely the next princess was in danger and needed his help. He had no way to know if she was even alive or not, but if she was, then for how much longer? He felt he really had no choice, but Fyrus had called the 'Prison of the Dead'.
"Why did it have to be dead things?" Link moaned, burying his face in his arms.
"Well, undead things… which is worse…" he corrected himself in a mutter, "Exactly what I'm most afraid of. If only Papa were here. He'd know what to do. Yeah… he'd crush them. That's what he would do. I bet he'd even-"
"Link…?"
Link jolted at the sound and jerked his head toward the entrance. Something was moving along the side of the tent, pushing at it. It was small, he could tell, and it seemed to have a faint glow to it. He frowned, cautiously pulling farther away from it for a moment. It was familiar, he felt, and tilted his head as he narrowed his eyes in thought.
"Navi…?" he slowly called back.
"Link, is that you?" the small, muffled voice replied.
"Navi!" he gasped, stumbling over to the entrance of the tent and jerking it open. A tiny, blue ball of light streaked past him. He turned just as the fairy began to swirl around him, causing him to laugh.
"Oh, Link!" she cried, "I'm so happy to see you! I looked everywhere for you. Do you know how many tents there are, here? Oh, are you okay? I saw them hit you pretty hard. Where is Tetra? You aren't being held as prisoners here, are you?"
"First of all, I'm happy to see you too," Link began, trying to answer all of her questions in order, "I looked for you too, and I'm glad that you're alright. No, I don't know how many tents there are, but I'm guessing that there are a lot. Yes, I'm okay- mostly. My head feels better, but I get little headaches every once in a while. I don't think I have any perm- permama- permemement… permanent damage. Tetra is- wait! I'm in a different tent now than I was in before! Hmm… well, Tetra is probably either still in the tent that I last saw her in or… somewhere around here. I haven't seen her since I first woke up here in the camp. Oh, and no, we aren't prisoners here. As a matter of fact, the king, here, wants me to help him find his girlfriend, who just might be the next Goddess Princess. But to rescue her, he wants me to go to- go into-"
"What?" Navi urged him on, "Go where?"
"The Arbiter's Grounds," he said with a shiver.
"What's wrong with this 'Arbiter's Grounds'?" she said, "You made it all the way through the last place when you rescued Saria."
"Yes, but this is different," he said.
"'Different' how?"
"Different as in 'crawling with what I'm afraid of the most' kind of different," he said, "Dead things. Really, as in undead things. Poes, redeads… creatures- or whatever they are- like that. So… I don't know if I want to go. But I know that girl really needs me. But then again, how can I save her if I'm frozen with fear? What if I literally freeze because of being so scared? What if-"
"No, no, no, don't think like that!" Navi said, gently landing on his shoulder, "I don't think that you're going to literally freeze. At least not in a cold sort of way. Maybe in fear for a moment or so, but I'll be right there with you and I'll help you, uh, 'un-freeze'. Okay?"
"I don't-"
"Someone has to save that girl," she interrupted, "and you are the Hero of Time. Besides, if you save her, and she is the next Princess, then you'll be one step closer to saving not only Hyrule, but your Papa, too, like you wanted. Right?"
"I- yeah. You're right," Link said, standing a little straighter, "He needs me. That girl- the Princesses need me. Hyrule needs me."
"That's right!" she said, lifting herself into the air again, "So what are you going to do?"
"I'll go," he said, balling his hands into fists, "But not by myself."
"I already told you that I will go with you," Navi said, "I'll guide you as best as I can and warn you if anything dead or undead is coming."
"And Fyrus- he's the Gerudo king- he said that he would come, too," he added.
"Then shall we go?" she asked.
"Yes," he said, "I'm ready now."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Link, who had gathered his sword and the rest of his gear, stepped out of the tent, trying to make himself appear tall and brave, even though he felt like neither.
"Fyrus!" he called. The young king, who sat talking to one of the guards, turned to see him. With a smile, he stood up and hurried over.
"Are you ready to enter the old prison?" Fyrus asked.
"Yes, I am ready now," Link replied attempting to stand a little taller.
"What's that?" the king asked, pointing, as Navi flew out from behind Link.
"This is my fairy friend that I told you about," he said, "This is Navi. Navi, this is King Fyrus."
"Pleased to meet you!" Navi chirped.
"And you," Fyrus replied, bowing slightly.
"Shall we, then?" Link said, gripping the hilt of the Master Sword tighter.
"Of course," the other said, "Follow me." He and Navi followed the young king to the edge of the camp, at which Fyrus paused and grabbed up a large sack that rested against a stone wall.
"I gathered a number of things that I thought we might need in the old prison," he explained.
"Like what?" Link asked.
"Like food, water, a few potions and bandages and so forth," he said, "Just in case we're trapped or severely wounded by anything. ReDeads may be slow, but they are very dangerous. Are you alright? You look a bit pale again."
"I- I'm fine," the hero lied, feeling his legs beginning to turn to mush, "Just… just go on. Show me the way." Fyrus wrinkled his brow in concern, but nodded. Link followed him along a path that soon opened up into a wide space, and then stared upward in awe. An enormous building, a coliseum of sorts, stood high above him. Though weathered and crumbling with age, the Arbiter's Grounds still gave an aura of power and foreboding. Link shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness and anticipation, but huffed and forced himself to keep moving.
Up they went on several ancient stairs that had, evidently fairly recently, been repaired somewhat with wooden structures for support. Once they reached the top, the young man looked around at the entrance and down into the darkness that led to the interior of the old prison.
"That's the way, then?" Link asked, though he knew the answer.
"Yes," Fyrus said, gesturing toward the descending stairway, "Would you like for me to lead the way?"
"Well, if you insist," he said, shrugging. As the king started down the stairs, Link felt a small pat on his shoulder.
"It'll be alright, Link," Navi whispered gently in his ear, "I'll be right there with you." He swallowed hard and nodded, allowing one foot to move in front of the other. The stairs were not as steep as he had anticipated and some light reached his eyes when he reached the bottom. A room filled with swirling sand and a few platforms connected with more wooden planks was before him.
"I know the way to the dragon's lair," Fyrus said, "I've been in here many times and know most of the rooms by now."
"Is it very far?" Link asked.
"No, not really," the king replied, then grimaced, adding, "That is, if those blasted Poes haven't blocked the way again."
"Uh, Poes…?" he said.
"What's the matter, scared of a few pint-sized boogeymen?"
-It has been SO LONG since I last posted a new chapter! I don't think I've posted anything since last summer. For that, I really am truly, honestly sorry. I didn't mean to leave this story for so long. I really haven't had a nice, big break from school since last year (I even had school over the summer so I would finish sooner). But I've been sorely missing writing this story. Plus, I must say that I was both extremely flattered and felt the pains of guilt for lack of updates to find out that I, in fact have over 100 followers to Tangled In Time! Really, guys, I can't thank you enough for all the follows, favorites and, best of all, the awesome reviews you give. I still have no intentions of abandoning this story. And, because I've made all of you wait so terribly long, I'll go ahead and at least tell you that the dragon will be in the next chapter, I'll do my very best to make sure of it. I really hope you'll like it, as it is my original creation, with the help of my friend who is amazing at drawing dragons. Also, in case anyone is interested, there is now some art for my story, made by both myself and another (amazing) artist! Since I'm pretty sure that I can't post the links (no pun intended) here, if you message me I can show you the art website they are on. Anyway, I'm hoping to have the next chapter up very soon- as in possibly before Christmas- so I'll see you then!- TwilightFairy928
