Disclaimer: Not mine. Story is.
A/N: Finally Link's Awakening! Please keep in mind that I played and finished this game over three years ago so my memory of the game is not that fresh and good. Some things may be different.
* * *
A shadow with eyes. A chilling laughter and a darkness that engulfs all the light. All the light, all the breath of life sucked into a vacuum with no substance. Nothing to hold onto, nothing to see, nothing to feel. A pit of cruel, eternal, slumbering death.
It is swallowing him, encompassing him, choking on him. A black frothing eclipsing his emerald light and dissolving his solid essence. And a quiet sob echoing throughout the nothingness.
* * *
"Divine Wind Fish!"
Cold. He was very cold. Even though he felt the sun's rays licking at his skin mercilessly.
He felt?
Yes. There was that unceasing prickling heat all over. But Goddess, was he freezing! Yet there was darkness all around. He wouldn't open his eyes. Better not think, better feel. Yes.
Something was touching his forehead. Hands, that was it.
"He's burning up…"
And hands lingering on his face. Soft, caring and thoughtful. Fingers tracing his jaw line, his nose, his eyebrows, slowly and wonderingly. Link sighed contented. There was a gasp and the touch withdrew abruptly, leaving a cold space in between. A seagull screeched overhead.
"I'll…" said the owner of the hands. Then a rustling of cloth and a flurry of steps darting away on the soft sandy floor. Then…nothing.
* * *
A flutter of eyelashes and cobalt eyes appeared, moving blearily around. Someone was snoring loudly and another figure sitting nearby stirred.
"Look! He's awake! Tarin! Tarin! Wake up, you!" said a familiar voice. The snoring stopped with a startled snort, "Wha- what?"
He was in a room. A strange room at that; he had never seen it before. Link turned his head slowly to his left to the source of the voices. A middle-aged man with a red, bulbous nose sat at the far side of the room staring wide-eyed at him. But next to the bed he was lying on was a young woman. A girl with a familiar, gentle face.
"Zelda?"
The girl's mouth widened into a smile, looking at Link in awe. "Zelda?" she said, tasting the new name in her mouth, "I'm not Zelda! My name's Marin! I thought you would never wake up! You were tossing and turning…"
Link blinked slowly. Not Zelda. Marin. Who was Marin? She looked like Zelda… but Zelda didn't have auburn coloured hair. Nor did she wear summery blue dresses and sandals. Or a large pink flower in her hair, for that matter. But where was he? He remembered….the fierce storm. And…darkness. Nothing else.
"Where-" Link said, finding his voice. The girl drew closer to him and the fat man shrank farther away.
"I found you washed up on the shore," said Marin excitedly, "but you had a terrible fever! You've been in bed for over a week! Tarin, over there, and I took care of you! You're on Koholint Island, by the way."
Link stared back up at the ceiling. Washed up on the shore. Terrible fever. Koholint Island. …So, I survived…
"But," and here the girl blushed crimson, "who are you? We've never seen anyone from outside Koholint Island. No-one has ever visited these shores, we've known only this island all our lives."
"Link. I'm Link," tired and confused he began nodding off.
"Link… Link, got to sleep. You have to recover fully otherwise you might fall ill again," said Marin and as an afterthought, "Sweet dreams."
* * *
When Link woke up again he was alone. It was also daytime. He managed to sit up, wincing at a sharp pain in his left arm. He rolled his sleeves up and saw ugly red marks twisting around his arm. What..? The rope, of course. He thought about it a while before coming to the conclusion that he survived because he had been tied to the mast which had to have kept him afloat and thus keeping him from drowning until he washed up on this island. Koholint Island. Well, this was what he wanted, wasn't it? To go somewhere else and leave Hyrule behind. For a while at least, right? But something felt…not right. An unspeakable darkness haunted his dreams… his nightmares. Shrugging it off, he swung his legs carefully over the edge of the bed and shakily stood up. Link came alert to the senses that bombarded him; the unmistakable scent of salt and sand, a cool breeze coming in from the open window and rustling his hair, the sun warming his face, the feel of hard wood under his feet and new pain shooting through his body. Oh well.
Link became aware of a sweet melody drifting into the one-roomed house coming from outside. Deciding to investigate he stepped outside shading his eyes from the sudden dazzle of the sun with his arm.
"Those really are nasty welts, Link." The song stopped. Link lowered his left arm and saw Marin sitting on the grass just outside the house. She had a small golden harp in one hand and was looking up at him smiling. Link looked down at the spiralling, fading scar on his arm.
"It was worse when I found you," continued Marin, "The rope had dug into your skin, making it bleed. And it had gotten infected. It's possible that that was one of the reasons that contributed to your fever." Link noticed that she was much younger than he had first thought. About his own age, perhaps a tad older. Her eyes were sky-blue, unlike Zelda's deeper sapphire ones. Link put a hand on his hip and smiled weakly at Marin, "Thank you. For…saving me." She smiled brightly at him and stood up brushing down her skirt before looking up and taking Link's arm gingerly.
"I'm glad you're better, Link. You should rest a while before doing anything. Some of your things washed up on the shore with you but I had to treat you first. And now I can't go and get them anymore," she said and gently let go of his arm. Link missed the touch.
"Why is that?"
"Well," Marin grew quiet and frowned, puzzled, "I don't know why… But…monsters have been appearing lately. At first they only populated the Mysterious Forest in small numbers and the desert and swamp…But now they seem to be everywhere. After you washed up, loads of them started roaming the beach but their numbers have increased in all parts of Koholint Island. I don't know what's happening but it's frightening. People are trying not to panic…"
"Monsters?" exclaimed Link.
"Yes! So now I can't get your sword."
"My sword? Where is it? At the beach?" Link couldn't contain his relief. Marin nodded sadly. Link grinned for the first time since he left Hyrule which made Marin gasp and giggle merrily. She then seemed to remember something and pointed behind her to a large volcano shrouded in mist rising high over the Island. Something white glinted at the top of it.
"What is that?" said Link squinting upwards and noticing the shiny object.
"That," said Marin proudly, "is the Wind Fish's egg. Guardian of Koholint Island, he protects us all. He's been slumbering inside that egg for as long as we can remember. I pray to him every day…" Link looked up at the thing topping the volcano which indeed did look like some massive egg. Ignoring the goose bumps he got from looking at the Wind Fish's resting place he steadied himself on the wooden fence surrounding Marin's house. He still felt weak but he had to do something before he died of boredom. He would go get his sword.
"Marin, I think I'll retrieve my sword back and maybe then I can find out why so many monsters have been appearing on this island," said Link.
"Oh no you won't!" said Marin crossing her arms defiantly and sizing Link up. Link raised his eyebrows surprised.
"First of all, you're not strong enough yet," she said, "and second, how do you suppose you're going to go about wielding it when your sword hand is hurt?"
Link blinked, taken aback. "Wha? But…how did you know I use my left arm for-"
Marin snorted triumphantly, "your left hand is more calloused than your other one. I figured…" Link grinned sheepishly.
"Rest for a few days. It'll do you good. No point in over-exerting yourself." She grabbed Link's good arm and he let himself be led into the cool dark of the house.