Zelda's Search
Ch 5 - Distress

I awoke to the beautiful rising sun in the field of Termina. Rolling softly to my side, I saw that Brian was still there, asleep as well. He must have fallen asleep in the midst of my epic story of Link and his quest. I missed home; I had been away from it for five days now. Brian was the only relic that I held on to. He was an exact duplicate of Link. Everyone in Termina had a Hylian person that looked exactly like him or her, although their personalities were far from similar. I hoped that I wouldn't meet my match whilst I was here.

I sat up, thinking about my dilemma. Link was here somewhere, not at the bay and not in the town. I had also been to the swamp, something that I would only do every three days. I did not particularly like the swamp, and had decided not to ever go there again, unless our time ran out and I had to play the Song of Time to warp back there. Brian and I had also traveled to the mountain, but we had not extensively searched it, nor had we the swamp. I was certain that Link would not want to spend time in that dirty, mucky swamp, though.

"The ranch!" Brian yelled, waking up. I turned to him, and he beamed at me, grinning ear to ear. "Your friend is at the ranch! You said something about there being a ranch in Hyrule, right?" I considered for a moment, not recalling whether or not I had let that slip. After a while, he went on. "If this Link person liked the ranch so much, then he'd be at this one, right?"

"Right!" I cried happily, finally catching on to what he was saying. We ran off toward Romani Ranch, only to find that it was blocked off.

We briefly spoke to the carpenter, who wasn't of much help. Brian didn't seem too upset though; he just told me about a bomb that they sold in the Bomb Shop, back in West Clock Town. He added that they would only sell it to Gorons.

"That's the thing," he said, when I protested that we weren't Gorons. "We got that Zora mask...there's probably one for the Goron, too!" He ran off back toward the mountain.

"Brian!" I yelled, running to catch up. "I can't make it! You go ahead; I'll meet you there!"

"Okay," he yelled back. Soon, he was out of my sight.

I trudged angrily up the hillside, mumbling about the cold. I did not particularly enjoy the snow up there, and was quite happy that Death Mountain was a volcano. The cold stung at my ears and fingers, my feet turning blue as I plodded upward as quickly as I could. I soon came across a small chasm, nearly a foot and a half in diameter, and decided to jump it. I leapt across with amazing grace, and landed wrong on my ankle.

I sank, injured, into the white snow, which quickly turned pink with my blood. It was broken, I feared; I had never had a broken ankle before, and with no one to heal it...My power as a Sage had left my child body, and all I could do is wait for Brian to come back. Luckily, the frost killed the pain, to the extent that I couldn't feel my leg below my knee at all. I was afraid; terribly afraid that no one would come.

The wind howled around me, and I shivered, wrapping my arms around my small body. My teeth chattered as I watched the pink snow around my foot turn darker and darker...I fell into the snow, feeling my life slipping away. Why did it have to end like this? If only I had tried to keep up with Brian...why...the cold...My vision turned fuzzy, and soon I was gone.

Ouch... my head... I groaned a bit, and tried to open my eyes, but I had grown weak. I barely twitched at all before an immense pain overwhelmed my entire body. I heard a voice speaking to me, but I couldn't make out the words. It sounded like a soft, sweet voice. I tried to remember what had happened...

I thought I felt something touch my head, but it was hard to tell. The only feeling that I recognized was warmth. It felt nice to be warm. I couldn't quite remember why, but I felt that it had something to do with the pain. The voice spoke to me again, but this time I recognized a few words. "...just in time...the moon...boy named..." Again, I faded away...

My eyes snapped open, and I saw a strange boy dressed in green, golden hair only slightly protruding from his matching hat. "Good," he said, looking relieved, "you're awake. We were getting really worried. Sorry for not finding you sooner, Zelda, but it was cold and snowy, especially when it rains it's tough."

I tried to say something, but it came out as a painful moan. My entire self was sore, mostly from the cold, I thought. The boy looked worried, then ran off to get someone.

I lay still, breathing as gently as I could. The boy finally came back, along with a tall woman. This must me his mother, I thought.

"Hey there, Princess," she said soothingly. "Link tells me that you're awake. Can you hear us?"

I said nothing, fearing the pain. Link? Why did that name sound so important? Oh no, I'd lost my memory. I could still remember who I was, and where I came from, but nothing more. All I remembered was the name "Link."

"She can't," Link said dismally. "We should just let her sleep until tomorrow morning. Then maybe she'll be okay."

Nooo! Not tomorrow morning! I remember now! I thought desperately as the memories all hit me at once. The moon was going to fall tomorrow! Or would it be the day after? I remembered that I had fallen while it was snowing...and it wasn't snowing now, I realized as I looked out the window. Was I even in the mountains anymore? What happened to Brian?

I had found Link! After all this exploring, he was here at last! But where was here? Was I even in Termina anymore? I let my mind relax as I tried to drift off to sleep...

"Zelda? Are you up?" a concerned voice said, shaking me gently. I woke with a start, sitting up violently. "Whoa! Looks like you're just fine!"

"Shut up," I mumbled, stretching out. "I'm still a little sore, so don't mess with me."

"Yeah, you're definitely just fine," he joked. "I figured you'd come after me. I waited here with Falconet until I saw you."

"Who's Falconet?" I asked, rubbing my aching neck with an aching hand.

"This really nice person that found me. I was cold and freezing, too. But she saved me."

"Link, when is the carnival?" I demanded, grabbing his shoulders.

He looked at me strangely. "Tomorrow. Why?"

I let go of him and scrambled off of the bed, landing on my broken ankle. I screamed in pain, but didn't stop. I grabbed a pole or something and used is as a leg. It would have to do for now.

"Where are you going?" Link demanded, running to block my way out.

"I still have time. I've got to find Brian!"

"Who's Brian?"

"I'll explain later. The mask..." If I transformed into a Zora, would my wound be healed when I returned back to me? I pulled it out, relieved that I hadn't given it to Brian. I put it onto my face, underwent the extreme pain again, and was a Zora. Link could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"How did you do that?" he asked in awe.

"I'll explain that later, too," I said, in the strange Zoran voice. I then removed the mask and was delighted to find my leg fully healed. Back in my normal tone, I told him, "You've got to help me find Brian. Last time I saw him was on my way to the Goron place, but I think he'd go back to look for me by now. And my leg.. and the blood.. oh, what if he thinks I'm dead? Where would he be?"

"Who cares?" Link yelled realistically. "I'm back. Can't we just go home now?"

I stopped, realizing that he was right. Why did I care so much about finding Brian when the answer to my puzzle was right here in front of me? Brian had helped me and, in the four days that I had known him, become a very close friend in a way I didn't think possible. He had nothing in common with me; he was a thief, with no family to take care of him. Yet we were somehow strangely close. I blinked and got a lightheaded, dizzy feeling, and passed out.

I awoke, again not knowing where I was. I was bumping up and down a lot...Looking around, I saw Link and that woman whose name I had forgotten riding me somewhere. I was inside of a carriage, much like the one I saw Cremia with the first day I'd been here.

Link turned back and saw me picking the hay from my hair. "Good, you're up again," he said dryly. "We're looking for your beloved Brian, okay? We've stopped every guy in this area and none of them know him."

"It should be easy to spot him," I moaned dully. "He looks just like you."

Link fell silent, and turned back to watch the trees pass by.

I stayed in my carriage, looking behind me for my friend. I shouldn't have bothered; after Link and I went back, we wouldn't even remember each other. I cried silently, wondering what kind of a mistake I'd be making if I didn't wait for him.

I watched the sun setting in the distance; an angry, red sun, just like the way I felt. Why did I let this happen? Why couldn't I just have let Link fend for himself here? It was because he would have died. This would be the second time I saw the moon falling; it would only be Link's first, and probably only. If I played the Song of Time right now, as six o'clock approached on the final day, I could save us all. Brian would be with me, and I would know where Link was. Still, I didn't...

The horses neighed, rearing backwards. I heard someone yell, and it sounded a lot like Brian. I jumped from the back of the carriage, and was ecstatic to see him. "Brian!" I yelled, running toward him. I threw my arms around him and we both fell to the ground, laughing and glad to see each other.

"You found Link, I see," he said, lying on the ground next to me. The woman and Link just watched us.

"Yeah," I said, somewhat sadly. "I guess I'll never see you again, huh?"

"And these memories will be wiped from our minds."

"The only one who will remember this is Link," I said, looking up at my hero. "Make sure to tell me about this, okay?"

"Okay," he said, smiling faintly. He jumped down and lay with us, watching the moon. "Is this world going to be crushed anyway?"

"I don't think," I said honestly. "What's gonna happen is probably it will be reset back to when you and I first met. That would give it a few more weeks, maybe, judging by our sizes."

We all got up, nervous and sad to be parting. I held the Ocarina of Time to my lips once more, playing my song, Zelda's Lullaby, one more time. This time I actually played it right.

Link disappeared rather quickly, leaving Brian and I with our last seconds together. "I'll miss you," he offered sadly.

"You, too," I replied, tears in my eyes. "It's been fun. Here; take the mask. Maybe you'll magically still have it after this is all - "

" - over," I said, confused. What had just caused me to do that? I groaned, realizing that Daddy's guards had heard me. One of them came to shoo me away from the window. I usually spied on Daddy's meetings, just to find out what was going on.

I pretended to leave, but then turned back, spying some more. The grass in the courtyard, where I was, ruffled softly. I turned around, afraid, and gasped.

It was a child, a boy who I thought I'd seen before. I could not quite figure out who, but he felt close to me. "Hey, Princess," he said nervously. "I'm Link."

"Link!" I said, remembering a small scene in my mind. "I must have had a dream...you and I were in a strange world, lying together in the field, gazing up at the stars."

He smiled faintly. "I dreamed that, too. And I'm sure a boy named Brian did, too."

I smiled, too, satisfied. This would be the beginning of a very good friendship.

º*The End*º

WOW! This was a very short series! That's okay, though. It ended...semi-good? I hope? I didn't put in those "The Dawn Of The Final Day" things in here because it was supposed to be unknown.. yes, it's confusing on PURPOSE!! Only because the character was confused about it. Anyway, I hope you all liked it, and as always, please review!! J