The next time he returned to the fishing hole was not soon. There was little time on Link's hands for play as he ranged through Hyrule, beating back Twili beasts and struggling his way through convoluted dungeons. Thoughts of living skeletons, flying, crawling, and hiding beasts at every turn, dim passageways, and shattered mirrors haunted him even after he escaped each time into open air. He rarely slept, and when he did he was plagued with nightmares.
Loneliness amplified his torture. Few people looked at him except to ask favors of him. Others avoided him in fear. He didn't know whether his reputation cleared the path before him, or the Master Sword strapped to his slim form and the look of doom in his eyes. Midna did her best to support him in his quest, but she was only a constant reminder of his burden.
The fishing hole receded into fuzzy memory, and he did not think of Hena for a long time.
It took a near-death experience to prompt their second meeting.
...
Link, passing through the Upper Zora's River on his way downriver to central Hyrule, did not even give a glance at the solitary door to the fishing hole, set in green cliff. His focus was on the boat rental shack that crouched near the water's edge.
Strangely, he could not see any boats moored under the building's small wharf. Canoes were instead scattered along the riverbank, dry as bones. He scanned the scene with sudden suspicion. The building seemed untouched, though it bowed slightly under its own weight. A ramp led up to its front door, where there hung a sign too distant for him to read. A dam spanned the river nearby, with a walkway across its length.
The only sign of life was a frazzled young woman standing near the base of the ramp. She seemed to be busily applying tar to a canoe, which was futile because it obviously hadn't touched water for some time. She was clad in purple and blue and her skin, tanned from the sun, was almost the same brown as her voluminous curly hair. Link could hear her speaking agitatedly to herself from where he stood.
He actually had to debate whether to approach, wary that she may be mad from too much sun exposure. In the end Link sheathed his weapons and walked across the grassy stretch toward her as harmlessly as possible. When he grew close, she spotted his shadow (or rather, Midna molded to look like his shadow) and jumped up in a flutter.
"Well, hey, there," she greeted him loudly. Her caramel eyes were bright and searching and familiar. Her wiry form was tense with caution, contradicting her friendly tone as she said, "Hate to disappoint a traveller, but I'm currently out of business."
Link looked around at the beached canoes. "What happened?"
"Trouble downriver, so I hear. It's hard to tell; I spend all my time up here by the water with just my sister and the fish-people to keep me company."
Link studied her carefully, analyzing for lies or a trap (everything else always was), but her big brown eyes were earnest. "Everything is just so still these days," she added. "Creepy, I have to say."
Link felt discomfort gathering like a storm in his belly. He knew the feeling. He wished often that he could escape from the creepy that surrounded his life. He missed Ordon, and Justice, and Ilia. At that name he cringed inwardly, pushing away another topic that brought back pain and guilt. He looked at the brown woman again and said, "Thanks for your time."
He wanted to get downriver as fast as possible, but he would have to find another way. He rattled his sword in its sheath absently, preparing to get back on the move.
"Sure thing," said the woman, bowing her head in a way that made her massive hair bounce and wobble. "I've been Iza, if anyone offers you a customer service survey."
Link wasn't sure whether she was joking or delusional, so he settled for giving her a polite smile.
As he began to turn away he saw the door to the decrepit boating building crack open and a face enter the opening. He stopped abruptly and watched as a familiar figure in overalls followed the freckled, brown-eyed face out onto the wharf, which creaked in lazy protest.
A quick succession of emotions chased themselves through his head: confusion, surprise, dread, guilt; and he suddenly decided to pretend as though he hadn't seen her and flee. He turned and quickened his pace, ignoring Hena's shout of, "Link!"
He lowered his head and continued, hearing Iza behind him say loudly, "Hena, you know this champ?" and Hena's step on the wooden ramp down from the dam.
He didn't want to face her, even though she had briefly been a tiny bright spot in his dark life. The truth was that he'd forgotten her. He didn't want to admit it, and he felt that speaking with her would force him into an awkward place.
"Link," she called again, more unsurely.
Something in her voice prompted him to turn back and look at her. He had just enough time to see her hurrying across the grass to him, almost at a run.
The same instant a horrible shrieking like the protest of metal on metal filled the air. It came from somewhere above. Link squeezed his eyes shut in pain. His head buzzed between his ears and his vision swam with spots behind his eyelids. All awareness of everything else fell away. When Link forced himself to straighten and his eyes to open, the light in the river valley seemed to warp and grow dim like nightfall in the middle of the day.
No—like twilight.
No.
His heart began to race, and Link shook his head vigorously and dropped into a defensive crouch. A hiss sounded by his ear as he drew his sword. Link let his eyes rove across the sky above him, anticipating. The only thing that cut into his hearing besides his own ragged breathing was a cry from across the clearing; feminine, helpless.
Horror suddenly filled him and he turned to see Hena across the grassy yard, hands clasped over her ears. His heart dropped. He started to move toward her, but the object in the sky stopped him.
The portal first appeared as a black smudge overheard and soon solidified into a gaping hole, swirling and growing. Dark squares of shadow shifted inside it, pieces of the other side. Even as the portal formed, stones made of darkness materialized and fell from the sky to the ground with massive thuds. Link felt panic rising. He couldn't be trapped. He skipped to and fro, trying to escape the confines of the stones as one fell after the next in succession, forming a ring around him.
As the last stone began to fall, he turned and tried to sprint in one final effort. The impact of the cursed stone directly in front of his face halted him and he pressed his palms to it futilely. The circle was complete.
He turned back to the center of the ring, which was now walled in by flickering red streams of light. He tightened his grip on his sword hilt and scanned the battlefield.
His blood froze.
Hena.
She was trapped inside.
...