A Link to the Past

Chapter Sixteen: Companion in the Caves

WARNING: DUE TO THE INCREASE OF HOSTILE CREATURES, THE MOUNTAINS ARE OFF LIMITS TO ALL SUBJECTS OF HYRULE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

ENTERING THEM WITHOUT THE KING'S PERMISSION IS FORBIDDEN AND WILL RESULT IN ARREST AND PUNISHMENT.

While somehow doubting that he was going to be able to get the King's permission to do anything these days, the good news was that if the whole of the mountains that covered the north part of this province were off limits to everyone, then Link doubted that he was going to find any more guards once he started inside. The wooden sign that the message had been carved into, shaped much like the ones that had his wanted poster, was stuck into the ground near the entrance to the mountains, which was an unassuming cave not very far from the temple where the young man had left Princess Zelda with the loyal sage. It was almost noon now, and the rains were coming down hard as ever, but the guard patrols persisted, which was why it had taken him so long to get there.

While the journey up into the highest point in the land would be uninterrupted once he got started, if the guards saw him enter the cave then there would be no way to evade them, and as this was the only path going up and down, it would be really easy for the guards to trap him. No, Link had to be extra careful, hiding behind a nearby tree while the trio of armored men passed by, and only when they were a good distance away did he make the quick run into the cave's entrance. Now concealed in the darkness, the young man reached up for the supply of torches that were stacked on a wooden shelf that was ordered to be built by the King, since this was such a well-traveled path.

Not only were there torches along with the flint and tinder for lighting them, but there were several more mounted along the walls along the way so that travelers could keep the path illuminated for anyone else coming with them, although the young man didn't exactly want to be followed. If passing guards saw lit torches inside a forbidden cave, it might be as bad as if they saw him with their own eyes, so no, this one torch would have to do. Even though the cave was well traveled by those wishing to visit the temple at the very top, the pathway was still dangerous, with places where one would fall, pathways that got confusing, and the like… however, this was not the first time Link made this journey, so he knew where to…

"Are you going inside at some point, lad?" A voice asked, startling him to the point of jumping and crying out. "You're committing a crime just by standing here, so best to be moving along, aye?"

Quickly striking the flint to produce flame, Link backed away from the shadow that had suddenly joined him inside the cave, but then he relaxed when the orange, flickering light revealed, not a guard, but an old man with a walking stick. He just stood there, giggling at the fright that he had caused the young man, before urging him to move back farther into the cave so that anyone passing couldn't see the light, and reminding him once again that it was forbidden to go up into the mountains. Link agreed, both of them walking together until the upward path took its first turn, leaving them no longer visible to anyone watching from outside, but then he stopped in order to get a better look at his new companion.

While not quite as old as the village elder, but more so than the sage, this older man looked like just that, an old man with simple clothes and a walking stick. Of course, now his companion had the same opportunity to look him over, too, and the older man started laughing again after declaring that he knew the young man, both as kin to the Lord Sheriff and from the signs posted around the land. Link was at a disadvantage, though, since he had never seen this person in his life, not that he claimed to know everyone in Hyrule, and now the older man was laughing again, commenting that the guards had been reporting seeing him all over the place, and then asking why someone who kidnapped the Princess would be heading up into the mountains.

"I didn't kidnap Princess Zelda, all right? I saved her from the dungeon." The young man snapped a bit harshly. "You might not understand this, but that wizard, Agahnim, he's a really bad guy, and I have to stop him before he does to her what he did to all the other noble girls he had locked up in the dungeon."

"So, you fancy yourself a hero, do you?" The older man asked, scoffing a bit, motioning for them to continue up the path. "I was once something of a hero, myself… a long time ago… but tell me, hero… how did you get the Princess out of the dungeon, and why are you wasting time climbing the mountains instead of fleeing the kingdom with her?"

There was no harm in telling the story of how he did it, so long as Link didn't say anything stupid like where Zelda was now or the whole plan for defeating Agahnim, at least not until he knew this old man better. So he described how he took a suit of armor and snuck in during the commotion his uncle caused, but then had to wait until the wizard left with that other girl before being able to free the Princess. It was hard to relive the part where that fiend killed his uncle, as well as seeing him strike that other girl, but once everything became quiet again, the young man simply unlocked Zelda's cell and they escaped through a secret tunnel.

"So, you're telling me that you were right there, in stolen armor while all that happened?" The older man asked as the path turned again. "You were able to just stand there and watch while your uncle was killed, and then you simply walked away from all of it? That's so… that's so ridiculous, that it has to be true. So what of the mountains?"

"I'm on my way up to the Temple of Hera." Link explained, them having to move against the wall to pass by a couple holes in the floor. "Once I get there, I'm going to pray that I find some kind of solution to this problem, or else I'm stuck."

It was true that the young man was going to the temple, since it was the only thing built in the whole of the mountains, and he was going to pray at the shrine, but other than that he had no idea what to do. He had visited the temple a few times before, but visitors were only allowed on the first floor, so maybe… maybe the answer to the challenge of power was on one of the upper levels? There was no need to tell his new companion anything beyond that, not only because that was the end of Link's knowledge, but again he really didn't know who this person was. The older man, however, had no problem talking about himself as they kept moving through the caves.

Turns out that he was once a young adventurer, and earned fame and wealth in a distant land before eventually returning to Hyrule after… well, all he would say was that his wife and children were gone, and there was nothing left of the land that had been his home for all those years. He also asked a lot of questions about what Agahnim was up to, like anyone would, for instance what the wizard was doing with those missing girls, and what his plans for the Princess were? Unfortunately, the young man actually had no idea what Agahnim was planning, or anything else to do with his plans, however. Zelda had told him that one by one the other girls were taken away, and that was it.

"Well, I can see why you're going up to the temple." The older man replied. "Son, did you ever stop and think that maybe you're in all this a bit over your head?"

"Only every fifteen minutes or so." The young man replied, making them both laugh as the path got steeper. "I know that I'm not exactly a storybook hero, but neither was my grandfather when Ganondorf showed up, I just… I just wish my situation was more like his."

His grandfather not only proved himself worthy of wielding the Master Sword, but he also had three companions along for the journey, the Great Heroes of Hyrule. Blind the Master Thief, Prince Façade of Arcadia, and Agahnim the Wizard… apparently the current Agahnim's father. Together the four of them pieced together the Triforce of Wisdom and defeated Ganondorf to get back the Triforce of Power, and… and right now Link really wished that he had a team like that. Unfortunately, he was alone, making his plight more like his grandfather's other great quest when he needed to get the Triforce of Courage to wake the original Princess Zelda.

"My uncle used to tell me stories about a place called Koholint Island." The young man continued. "How he had to defeat his friend Agahnim in order to wake the Wind Fish, and then he lost everything. I always thought those were just stories until I heard him and this Agahnim talking in the dungeon, but it can't be the same one, can it? In the stories Agahnim was a good man, and he was actually older than my uncle, so… they can't be the same, can they? How could he still be young, and why would he betray his King like this?"

"Lad, in life I have found that nothing is ever as simple as it is in the storybooks." The older man replied. "Obviously, revenge was why he killed your uncle, but there would have to be something pretty special in it for the wizard for him to betray the King and start kidnapping girls from noble families, wouldn't you say? What if his goal was a good one? Did you ever think about that?"

Link had to admit that he had not even considered that there could be some kind of worthy goal in mind for what Agahnim was doing, not when it involved killing the King and locking the Princess in the dungeon, putting some kind of spell on the guards, and kidnapping a bunch of girls in order to do… who knows what to them. No, no matter what Agahnim's goals were, they weren't worth killing and treason, so the young man was going to keep on his way to the temple and hopefully get the answers he was looking for.

"You are a lot like your uncle, you know that?" The older man asked as the light of the exit came into sight. "A good man at heart, but unflinching, unyielding… these traits might make a good Lord Sheriff, but be warned lad, in the stories your uncle lost everything he loved when he woke the Wind Fish. Stay true to yourself, but don't let that blind you to what is really important in life. Now, how about we get out of this cave, and head up to the temple?"