Note:
I do not know what was up with the html in the first 5 chapters, but whatever it
was, it was very annoying. This time I'm typing in Notepad, and hopefully things
will work out okay (:. Reviews are not necessary, but are much
appreciated!
Chapter
6
"One
After Another"
It
had been three days since Link's mysterious disappearance, and the situation
with the uncharacteristically cold weather they had been experiencing had gone
from bad to worse. No one could offer any explanation as to how or why the hot
summer days and nights have turned to chilly mornings and bitter-cold evenings.
The Royal Family did everything in their power to keep the people of Hyrule to
not panic about the dramatic turn of events, but with the cold weather reaching
every part of Hyrule, soon their attempts would become
futile.
It
was only natural for the people to turn to Princess Zelda, a very wise girl for
such a young age. They had always looked upon her for guidance, reassurance, and
for support through all of Hyrule's struggles, and she always had some solution
that would turn the unfortunate events around in the opposite direction, once
again retaining peace in Hyrule.
But
when they had turned to her this time, for the guidance and reassurance she had
offered so many times before, they recoiled in shock when she admitted that she
had no solution, no answer to this odd event that had suddenly occurred. Though
it wasn't in anyway her fault, Zelda blamed herself harshly, and she was not
seen as often for she was more inside her room than out among the
castle.
The
people of Hyrule slowly began to panic as the cold became worse. It had come
very slowly at first, but soon it quickened its pace and its wrath, and began to
wreak havoc in the desert with its full strength, wiping it out in an instant. '
"The desert, of all places!" ' as the Zelda from the future had
remarked.
No
one knew where it would strike next, and soon there was talk among the people of
evacuation, of leaving their precious home they had known for all their lives
for another strange land where no one has very been before. Not many liked the
idea, but as the cold swallowed the Gerudo Valley by the fifth day of Link's
disappearance, it became more popular very quickly.
Zelda
disapproved of the idea completely, but her opinion was ignored for the first
time, as if the people were angry at her for not proving a solution in the first
place. Several times Zelda wondered if the appearance of the Cold had something
to do with Link's disappearance, but despite this theory, she kept it to
herself, not wanting to blame Link. It was not his fault, or hers, for the Cold
was a living thing, no doubt, and had come here on its
own.
"Princess
Zelda-sama! A visitor to see you!!" called a guard's voice from outside Zelda's
door.
"Very
well," she answered weakly, "send them in."
The
door open and a young girl with long red hair walked in with her eyes cast down
to the wooden floor covered with an exquisite rug. She stopped about a half a
meter in front of Zelda, and spoke:
"Princess
Zelda-sama, has there been any sign of Link-kun?"
Zelda
flinched at remembering that Link was gone again. What could have happened to
him? She had the question burning into her mind for hours and hours upon end
until she collapsed from fatigue. With the given evidence, he was obviously
captured, but by who? And for what purpose? These questions she could not
answer.
"No,"
Zelda answered quietly. "Not at all."
Malon
lifted her head to stared into Zelda's eyes with her softened gaze and misty
eyes. Zelda the realized how much Malon had worried about Link as
well.
"Something's
happened to him, I can feel it." She said with such confidence with herself that
Zelda nearly believed her. "Epona would never abandon Link unless something had
prevented her from being right at his side. And to find her screaming and
running panicked into the Ranch was something no one has seen her do! She is
such a brave horse... she wouldn't leave Link unless something happened..."
Malon
choked slightly, breaking her off. She recovered quickly and
continued.
"And
Link is not one whom is easy to deal with. Something powerful had taken him,
captured him, or killed...him... I... I know this, it just... has to be right!"
Malon
was nearly hysterical, and with she rage she collapsed to the floor and beat it
with her small fists.
"He
can't die!! Not when we need him the most!!! Oh Link, what has happened to you?!
COME HOME!! Please!!" Malon cried, sobbing.
Zelda
let Malon have she way, and soon she quieted down a bit. Zelda spoke, trying to
hold back the tears.
"Malon,"
she said sweetly. "don't worry about Link. If he was taken somewhere, I'm sure
he's fighting with all of the power available to him to get back home. If anyone
could do it, it would be Link. Have faith, we will see him again, and Hyrule
will be safe."
Malon
looked up slowly at Zelda with her glassy eyes, for the words had restored her
faith and hope in Link. She stood up, wiped her tears, and hugged Zelda
gently.
"Thank
you." Was all she whispered.
And
with that she was gone.
The
room was quiet again, completely empty except with a Princess looking at her
window high in the tower. Her words were always reassuring to others, but she
could never believe in them herself.
"Link-kun,
please come home."
~End
of Chapter 6