Disclaimer: Not mine. Story is.
A/N: A BIG "Thank you!" to all of the people who have reviewed my story! I really appreciate it, so I will be nice and try and finish this.
Extra note to answer a question: A fan fiction writer can write the Legend of Zelda games in any order he/she so wishes. But if you're a veteran Zelda fan you should know that there is a pre-determined chronological order for the Legend of Zelda series. Even though Link's Awakening did appear before Ocarina of Time, it's by no means the first in the series. According to Shigeru Miyamoto (god-creator of Zelda), Ocarina of Time is the first game, the first story, the first part to the Legend of Zelda series. So Link's Awakening, realistically, comes AFTER Ocarina of Time. Neat, eh? I'm just following the story quite closely as to how it really is.
As for Marin-Zelda looking alike: In the actual game, in Link's Awakening, Link wakes up and DOES mistake Marin for Zelda. Marin actually does say, "Zelda? No, my name's Marin!" Boot up the game and see for yourself. And in the official instruction booklet/manual of the game, it states that Marin looks eerily a lot like Zelda. Now this is where people get confused with the Marin/Malon thing. Malon and Marin DO look alike. More so than Marin akin to Zelda, actually. Even with the names, Marin and Tarin. Malon and Talon. Malon and Marin both have red hair. They both sing sweet melodies to Link (and teach him the melody). Technically, they're both supposed to be the same. If you're a Nintendo fan, you should know that it's a running in-game joke to include cameos of characters from other games. In this case it's Malon and Talon with a reference to Link's Awakening's Marin and Tarin, not the other way round. Because even though Ocarina of Time takes place before Link's Awakening, it came out AFTER Link's Awakening, so OOT borrows from LA. Therefore there was no Malon to compare with Marin in the time of Link's Awakening. Confusing, eh?
A note on chapter updates: Other people may write new chapters in a day or even in a few hours. Unlike them I need inspiration to start writing something. I can say, "Right, I'm going to start the next chapter now!" and sit at a blank screen for hours. The word's won't come out smooth and freely and if I force them out they become awkward and jerky. When I have "inspiration" my mind can pick out words and vocabulary I never used before and place them seamlessly in the story, all wrapped up neatly in a compelling plot. I will try to update soon and more than once have I tried writing the next chapter as soon as I posted the last. But to no avail. I sit at my computer and, no…I realise I can't start. I've run out of juice and need a rest. Maybe I'll read something or be still and quiet for a while. But practise makes perfect. Unlike most writers out there I'm not used to writing stories, especially for an audience. Usually, the fantasies I've come up with can go on for a few days. But mostly, their lifespan is brief. I never even finish them. I've only ever finished a full-chaptered story, um, once. I don't have any pressure to keep going. I don't have any encouragement to keep going. Those stories were solely for my OWN entertainment. But now that I have a reason to keep writing I will do my best to update soon and write quickly. Meanwhile, please bear with me. I'm new to this. But thank you for pressuring me (sorta) as now I can get the writing exercise I sorely needed.
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Having been convinced by Marin that he wasn't going anywhere in his exhausted state, Link wandered Mabe Village aimlessly, basking in the warmth of the tropical weather. He had found a Telephone Booth that could only dial the number of a random old man he supposed was the one that sat alone, with a black telephone next to him, in his house with his wife sweeping fervently at an already spotless, clean floor. He had tried talking to them both but the old woman would only shout ecstatically at every swish of her broom and follow Link around, sweeping behind him with every step he took near her house in a mad frenzy. The old man, Ulrirahl, wouldn't even speak with him. He'd mumble something and ignore Link completely. Link, suspicious, decided to confirm his belief that it was that very same old man on the phone by peeking in through the window one day. To his amazement and mischievous delight, Ulrirahl was rocking back and forth in his rocking-chair and bellowing into the phone so loudly that Link felt sorry for the person on the receiver's end. Curious, he had entered the house later that day when the old man had inexplicably gone for something and picked up the phone to see who exactly Ulrirahl had been talking to. Only a "Bucket Mouse" answered him and hung up as soon as he had informed Link that he had dialled the wrong number. Scratching his head, link left in search of other weird things.
Madam Meow-Meow was no less eccentric. With her pompous figure and trio of dogs she was definitely an interesting character. She praised her dogs with religious pleasure and talked non-stop about the adventures her BowWow had when snapping playfully at innocent bystanders. Everyone in the village admired her dog. It was certainly…round. But paying no heed to its large build, it would bark incessantly at anyone who passed by and bounce about with insane dog-glee. The Madam kept a little puppy in her house which would yap at Link angrily whenever he entered the house. The other little BowWow was kept in a small storage hut by the house and it had the ability to speak. But Link was used to talking animals by now, as strange as it was. The little dog would ramble on about accessories and bows. She liked bows.
Farther up Madam Meow-Meow's home was a fisher man offering Link the chance to catch delicious fish, for a fee. Not having the taste, or the money, Link had to decline. The fisherman glowered at Link before returning to his fishing rod.
Link found four identical boys scattered around the village. Their parents lived in the highest part of Mabe Village and the mother was forever fussing about with her baby and scolding her husband who lay lazily on the bed.
"I wish I had a toy to entertain her with!" commented the mother, exasperated, when the plump babe kicked and squealed with force unnatural. The father winked at Link and then quickly shut his eyes pretending to be asleep. Link soon left because the woman had started getting him to help her with the baby and the housework. Not thrilled about taking care of newborns or chores he excused himself hurriedly and from then on avoided that house like a plague.
Link found Marin in the town square singing her sweet ballad to a small fox. Her flaming red hair danced upon her face as the breeze whispered by. Entranced, Link approached her slowly as if afraid she'd bolt like a frightened deer if she saw him. So he sat cross-legged in front of her and closed his eyes… a black sky with white scudding clouds. A seagull crying. Sea. Sky. Seagull…
"Link!" a startled jerk and Link found himself on the floor and Zelda...no, not Zelda, Marin, kneeling beside him looking down at him anxiously. "Link!" and then she laughed, relieved, "Link! You're allergic to my songs or something?"
Link sat up groaning, "Huh?" Marin smiled at him, "you- I found you on the floor in front of me... unconscious!"
"What?"
"Yeah, unconscious! You'd...fainted or something! I told you not to stay out in the sun for too long. You're not strong enough yet!"
Link frowned, "yeah...um...I dreamt-"
"What?" a twinkle of cerulean eyes.
"No, never mind," he said and hastily got up. Marin put a finger on her chin thoughtfully, getting up as well. She looked past him towards the north end of the village and narrowed her eyes. Link, looking at her, followed her gaze to where a large stone building stood coldly near the quadruplet's house. Link cocked his head questioningly.
"That," said Marin matter-of-factly, "is the dream shrine."
"A shrine...for...dreams?" said Link unbelieving.
"Not just a shrine...It," she glanced sideways at him, "it shows you...things. It may well even give you a message. "
"Hmmm, all right....what kind of message?"
Marin shrugged, "That's a different story for everyone. We've all been there but we can never understand anything. Try it if you wish." Being an overly curious boy, Link nodded immediately and ran in the direction of the dream shrine, looking back at Marin and waving his thanks.
A rectangular, simplistic structure loomed over Link and it looked even more taller as it was on the highest part of the village as well as the sun being behind it thus casting the front in shadow. Link stepped inside and shivered. It was cold. And...empty? No, a single bed stood out solitarily in the corner of the darkened chamber. That was it. Link approached the bed warily. He had been used to harmless looking things not being at all what they looked like. Trust your instincts. Nothing is what it appears to be. The laws of a warrior. Simple yet crucial. Once near enough he poked the bed with the toe of his boot. Nothing. He neared and poked it with a finger. Nothing. Just a bed. Well it's a bed, so what are beds used for? Link got in gingerly and pulled the covers around himself. Shivering he closed his eyes.
Welcome to the pit of our fears! Fall, fall, fail...
Link awoke with a start. He was sweating profusely and looking down realised he had tangled himself up in the covers. Deeply disturbed he got out quickly, arranged the covers as best he could and hurried out into the fading sunshine. Breathing in the scent of coconuts and hearing a wailing baby nearby he calmed himself. Just a nightmare, just a nightmare...
"Link!" Marin was climbing up the stairs daintily towards him, "Link! How'd you do? See anything interesting?" she looked up at him with her big, clear eyes. So different from the darkness...
"Y-yes?" he said. Marin imitated him by placing a hand on her hip and then she laughed merrily.
"C'mon! You can tell me!" she fluttered her eyelashes teasingly, "did you get...a message?"
"I...just had a nightmare, that's all," he said. Marin looked shocked. She gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
"What??" cried Link, annoyed. He seemed so hopeless here. At least Hyrule was his homeland and he knew the gist of things there. Here he was so lost.
"That's the dream shrine! You don't get nightmares there!"
Angry, Link twisted his mouth. So? I'm the one that bad things happen to. It's my destiny! All my life, all my lives. I shall be doomed forever. Evil follows me around wherever I go. Even subconsciously...Even in dreams...
Marin put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. She was surprised at how much she cared for Link. It was like she had known him forever. Like she had known he would come. In hopes? In wishes? In prayers? In dreams? Yet he had called her "Zelda", mistaking her for another woman- one she didn't know. Someone he loved? And more than once had he gazed upon her like she were another person. But what did it matter to her? She thought about Link's message in the dream shrine. It could only mean one thing and maybe she did know what it was about after all.
"Then go get your sword. I have been keeping you. But you are capable of getting it now. Go. You need it."