Link sat patiently on the edge of his bed, waiting for Anju to come with his dinner and her latest news. He couldn't help but feel a little tense as the weight of what he was about to attempt tonight set in. If all went according to plan, he would be evacuating over a hundred people from a city crawling with bloodthirsty mercenaries.
He had no reason to be nervous, he told himself. The first three operations had gone off without a hitch, and there was no reason to believe that this time would be any different. But he just couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling.
He heard a key turn in the lock, and he looked up as Anju entered the room. Smitts grumbled something unintelligible and closed the door behind her. When the footsteps had faded, Anju sat down across from Link, the meal all but forgotten. "Is everyone ready?" he asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Anju answered, her voice quaking slightly with her own nervousness. The only ones left are the prisoners in here and in City Hall."
"Good," Link breathed, a little tension leaving his body. "Good. I can get everyone out of here easy enough, but getting to you and the others will be the tricky part. All the children and the elderly were in the first group, right?"
"Except for Kayla, right."
Link frowned slightly at this. "I really wish you would have taken her in the first group."
Anju shook her head defiantly. "I'd be missed too much; the guards would get suspicious. And I'm not letting Kayla out my sight."
The determination in her voice silenced any protests Link might have had coming. Meeting her gaze, he simply nodded. "I understand. But since you decided to stay, it'll be up to you and Cremia to get everyone ready. Timing is everything tonight."
"Don't worry," she assured him. "We won't let you down."
"I know you won't." With that, Link reached over to the tray and handed her half a sandwich. Taking the other half, he said, "Well, we might as well eat up. Can't break out of jail on an empty stomach, after all."
* * *
By luck or by fate, Smitts fell asleep a little earlier that night, and Link couldn't be happier. Lifting up his mattress, he withdrew the trench coat Scrat had given him and threw it over his shoulders, concealing his battle gear; He would need it to blend in with the other mercs. Two minutes later, he had picked the lock on his door and was creeping along the hallway. Trying his best to remember which rooms still housed prisoners, he crept from door to door, unlocking them all. Men and women that had been locked up for any number of reasons fell into line behind him, following the plan that he and Anju had laid out for them.
By the time they were all free, they numbered twenty, and Link led them quietly down the stairs and towards Scrat's toilet. Several of the townsfolk cringed in fear when the entered the room, and even more did so when Link beckoned them down the hole into the sewers. Nevertheless, they did as they were told and slid one by one down the drain. Link went last, shutting the secret door behind him.
Scrat was waiting when he hit the sewer, holding lit torches in each hand. Several of the townsfolk also carried them. "All right, Scrat," Link explained, "Get them down to the tunnel and get as many of them on their way as you can. I'll get the others from City Hall and meet you there."
"Sure thing, boss," the old man grinned, handing Link a torch. "They'll be safe as peas in a pod. Though I never understood the saying; pods are always getting ripped open after all…"
But Link was already gone, moving swiftly down another tunnel. He had memorized Scrat's map perfectly, and surely enough he was soon standing at the foot of a ladder leading up towards a sewer grating. Placing the torch in a wall bracket, he ascended the ladder and pushed the grating out of the way. Poking his head up, he looked around the alley he had entered on. Seeing no guards in sight, he lifted himself out of the hole and threw the hood over his head, concealing his features. He left the alley and turned right, so that he was facing what had once been City Hall. As Anju had said, two guards slouched against the wall, leaning on their spears. One of them seemed barely awake.
"So far, so good," he thought to himself, approaching the two guards. One of them raised his head and sneered.
"What do you want?"
"It's my shift, stupid," Link growled, making his voice as unpleasant as possible. "Or did youse forget? You wanna stick around here, be my guest. I'll go grab some more of Krag's ale 'fore it's all gone."
"Hey hey hey," the merc said, his mood brightening. "No need for that, mate. You go on and relieve me, ha ha!" Handing Link his spear, he quickly trotted off towards Barten's.
"Humph, lucky bastard," the other spat. "Don't see why he gets a break and I'm stuck here watching these stupid townies. I tell ya, mate, it's a ruddy good thing Bones has these chumps in line. I really don't feel like having to chase any loose rabbits, if ya gets my meaning." He looked over for a response and was answered by Link's fist connecting with his jaw. Another blow from the butt of Link's spear silenced him before he could raise the alarm. His prone form slumped against the wall.
"Don't worry," Link told the unconscious man as he removed the keys from his belt. "By the time you wake up, the rabbits will be long gone." Knocking three times, he unlocked the bolt and opened the door. He was greeted by Anju and Cremia, both holding heavy pokers, just in case. The other hundred prisoners were gathered about the room, eyeing Link warily.
When she saw it was him, Cremia let out a sigh of relief and lowered her weapon. "Oh, good, it's you," she breathed, hugging him. "You're early; we were afraid it was Bones or one of the guards."
"Smitts had a little too much to drink," Link joked, returning her embrace. He felt Kayla tugging at his coat, and he lifted her up into one arm. Turning to face the others, he addressed them. "Many of you won't remember me, despite what Anju and Cremia have told you," he said, meeting as many gazes as he could. "But many years ago you all trusted me. I'm asking you to trust me again tonight. If we all stick together and trust one another, we'll make it out of the city, outside the Wall. But you'll all need to do exactly as I say. We won't have much time, so if there's anyone here who can't muster up that trust, then I suggest you stay behind; I'll come back for you once everyone else is safe. But no one will be left behind," he accentuated every word. "No one. So let's get going."
Without another word, he turned and exited the building, leading the way back to the sewer. He handed Kayla off to Anju, who in turn secured her daughter's arms around her neck, and she began descending the ladder. The others followed after her, one at a time. Link was relieved to see that they were all there.
This was the most dangerous part of the plan; the alley wasn't big enough for all the people to crowd into, so many of them were left out in the streets, waiting their turn. If a guard was to wander over…
"Cremia," he said, walking over to the woman, as she made sure everyone made it into the alley. "Take this down to Anju." He reached into his jacket and withdrew a map of the sewers. A red line was drawn along their escape route. "I want you two to make sure everyone gets to this spot on the map. A man named Scrat will be waiting; he'll now what to do."
Concern creased her face. "Where are you going to be?"
"I'm just going to make sure we aren't followed. Don't worry; I'll be right behind you."
She nodded uncertainly then made her way to the front of the line as Link took up her position, eyes roaming the streets, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
It was his ears, not his eyes, the warned him.
"ESCAPE!" he heard someone yell. He cursed under his breath; it had been the guard he had tricked. He must have been questioned at the bar. When he found out it was all a ruse…
The merc repeated the call, and was answered by a roar of voices as more mercs followed him into the street. Three squads of mercenaries were charging in their direction, weapons drawn.
There were only about a dozen townsfolk left in the open, but those remaining few began to panic and push their way into the alley. Link tried to calm the crowd, but they were unable to hear his voice. Fortunately, another voice joined his. "Everyone, calm down!" The voice belonged to a blond haired man in his mid thirties. He separated himself from the line and began ushering the others in a more orderly fashion into the alley.
"What's your name?" Link asked the man. He didn't remember ever seeing him before.
"Rankish," he answered. "Pleased to meet you."
"Rankish," Link repeated. "I want you to make sure everyone makes it into the sewers. Tell Anju and Cremia to start running."
"Got it. What are you going to do?"
Link looked around for something he could use as a weapon. His eyes fell to the door he was standing in front of, and a smile crept across his face. "Buying you some time. Now, hurry!"
Link made sure Rankish was on his way, then kicked open the door. The Sword master's dojo was exactly as he remembered. Reaching into one corner, he withdrew two swords, one in each hand, and ran back into the street. By that time the mercs were one him.
Link dived into the onslaught, attacking at once. Caught off guard at the bold attack, they were hard pressed to defend against him. Link darted in and out of the ranks, blades slicing and cutting through the enemy ranks. Many of their number fell to dodged strikes from their comrades. Even without his magic, Link would not be stopped.
But unfortunately, he was still only one Hylian, and more mercs were charging down the street to join the battle. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that the alley was empty; the others had all escaped into the sewers. Striking one final time, he leapt backwards out of the horde, flipping through the air. Landing safely outside their reach, he ran into the alley and jumped into the hole. Dropping his swords, he grabbed onto the sides of the ladder and slid down, his taped hands cutting down the burn. Regaining his weapons he sprinted down the tunnel. He could hear the voices of the townsfolk in the distance ahead of him, echoing off the walls.
One voice, however, was all too near.
"Mommy! Mommmmmyyyyyy!"
Link skidded to a halt as he saw Kayla huddled against the wall, bawling for her mother. Straining his ears, he could also hear Anju screaming her daughter's name. Dropping one of his swords, he lifted the girl up into one arm and ran down the tunnel, the sounds of his pursuers closing in.
* * *
"LET ME GO, DAMN YOU! KAYLA! KAYLA!"
Anju was in a fit of hysterics as she struggled against Rankish's grip. In the panic of their flight, Kayla's hand had been forced from Anju's and the little girl had been left behind. Leaving Cremia to lead, Anju had fought against the tide, struggling to get back to her daughter. Rankish had stopped her, however, and was pulling her back towards their original destination.
"Anju, Anju!" he pleaded, pulling her down the tunnel. "We need to hurry! You can't help her if you're dead!"
"LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD! I NEED TO GET BACK TO MY DAUGHTER!"
"Link's still back there!" Rankish told her, "He'll make sure she gets here. Now come on!"
The information was small comfort, however, as Anju continued her struggle. Unfortunately for her, they had arrived.
Cremia saw the scraggly old man standing in front of a large contraption, and automatically knew him to be Scrat. He noticed her, and shuffled his way over. "Hi," he said cheerfully. "You must be Cremia. The red hair gives you away. A lot of the guys in town call you beautiful, and now I can see why…"
"Excuse me, Mr. Scrat?" she interrupted. "The mercs are right behind us. We need to get out of here!"
"Of course, of course, silly me. Right this way, miss. Can't be dilly-dallying. The rest of you, this way please. If you'll all just step into my boats, we'll be on our way. Though perhaps boats isn't the best word…"
Cremia stopped listening as she saw what he meant. They were standing on one side of a brightly lit tunnel, a thin layer of water flowing down a wide channel in the middle. In the water rested a dozen large vehicles that would have been boats, if not for the two skis attached to the bottom, each made out of old shields. The vehicles were cobbled together from a variety of materials, as if created from whatever was at hand. Indeed, when she looked around she saw more shields, timber, leather, and other materials. Not taking the time to question, she ushered the townsfolk into their rides, not quite knowing what to do next. Several of them cringed as they saw the path their escape would take next.
Finally, only Scrat, Cremia, Rankish, and a still-protesting Anju remained. Scrat steered her over to the last boat. "Now, Link told me to explain to you how all this works. All the boats are connected by that tether, see? I'm going to be up in the front boat steering and whatnot. You'll be here in the back, applying the brake. It seems we're in a big hurry all of a sudden, so I'm gonna leave the decisions on when to use it up to you; Link tells me you drive carts, so I figure you can handle it. Now, we're going downhill for a good stretch of the way to build up our momentum, but after that, I'm gonna be pulling some fancy moves to get us out of here. Link and me lined the walls with a bunch of oil lamps, so you should have fairly good visibility from the back. It'll be up to you to make sure we all stay together. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good." Scrat scratched his chin as something just occurred to him. "I think that may have been my shortest sentence ever! I'll have to make a note of this. Never know when it will happen again…
"Scrat!"
"Right. Everybody in!"
"NO!" Anju shrieked as Rankish forced her into a seat. "Kayla and Link are back there! We have to wait!"
"No time, miss!" Scrat explained as he took his seat in the front boat. "Link said to hurry, so we've got to hurry. From the sounds of things, them mercs aren't too far behind. If we divide the time it takes for the echoes to reach us, multiplied by the sound factor…"
Cremia stopped listening and took her seat at the head of her boat. The brake appeared simple enough; a simple lever connected by another tether to the rest of the boats. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for anything. With a sudden lurch, they were underway, sliding down the steep tunnel. Anju had scurried to the back, still calling after Link and her daughter.
Anju watched in horror as they moved steadily further from the crest of the drop. In a few moments it would be completely out of sight. Only then did she realize that there were no more boats at the top. There was no way for Link to bring her back her daughter. All hope left her.
But then, as always, Link found a way.
She watched as he flew over the crest, one of the old shields under his feet, Kayla held tightly in one arm. She heard the shield land on the stone as he balanced atop it, riding it down behind them, his long coat flapping in the slipstream. He slid from side to side, avoiding rocks and debris as they flew by never slipping or losing his balance. Anju's tears turned from those of sorrow to those of joy as she watched, not even paying attention to the turns Scrat was taking.
In what seemed like no time at all, they were out of the sewers. The line of boats flew out of the tunnel into open air, landing smoothly on a deep river, Link right behind them, cradling the child in his arm. Anju took a moment to realize that they must have opened up onto one of the tributaries leading into the Western Ocean—the southern edge, judging by the small forest off to the side. She took another moment to step onto the shore as Scrat steered them over.
But all other thoughts were lost Link handed Kayla back into her arms.
* * *
Link watched the reunion between mother and daughter, and felt a confusing mix of joy and sorrow. Joy at the fact that they were reunited, sorrow at the fact that no such reunion was awaiting him.
Everyone he had ever known thought he was dead.
Turning away, he walked over to Scrat and clasped the man's hand. "You did it Scrat!" he grinned. "You just saved the people of Clock Town."
Scrat merely turned away and blushed. "Aww, it was nothing. Glad to be of help. Everybody knows me now! No more scaring the pants out of 'em when I talk from their toilets, no more frightening the kids when I whistle in their sinks. Actual, bonafide friends. It's a be-u-tiful feeling." His smile faded slightly as he turned back to the sewer. "Still, doesn't look like I'll be going back to my place anytime soon. I reckon them mercs will have my sewers all blocked up by tomorrow. Hope the rats have enough food. Then again, they do eat their own dead, so I reckon they're not too picky…"
Link patted him on the shoulder and left him to his musings. He wandered amongst the escapees as they held their loved ones and breathed the fresh night air. The hard part was over. Now he just needed to figure out what to do next.
"Cremia!"
He spun around at the voice and watched as a lithe, redheaded figure bounded from the surrounding trees. Cremia let out a little yelp of glee and embraced Romani as she collided into her. Romani was quickly followed out by the B.G. Boys, the Dancing Sisters, and everyone else Link and Scrat had liberated from Clock Town.
But that wasn't all. Everybody else who had been outside of the city when the Wall went up were joining them, and Link noticed several more familiar faces. One in particular he was especially glad to see. He was taller than Link had ever seen him—which was unsurprising, considering he had had a child's body the last time they had met—and his raven black hair was tied back into a short ponytail, the highlights almost purple in the starlight. A neat, pointed goatee adorned his chin, and the face was older, but the eyes still held that deep, focused quality Link remembered.
Kafei ran over to Anju and Kayla and smothered them both in his embrace. A young boy—seven, at Link's best estimate—with equally black hair was close behind. Link walked over to the reunited family and smiled. Kafei looked at him for one moment, then pull him into another warm embrace, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I was in your debt before for saving my life," he said. "Now it seems I'll never be able to repay you."
"Friends never owe each other anything, Kafei, except friendship." Link pulled back and smiled. "It's good to see you again."
"And it is fantastic to see you!" He took a step back and looked him over. "I never thought you'd get so big, though. And the beard…has it really been eight years?"
Link laughed. "A lot's happened, Kafei. You have no idea."
Kafei patted him on the shoulder and steered them back towards the forest. "Well, we'll have plenty of time to hear all about it." He turned around and addressed the cloud. "Welcome back, my friends! As both your mayor and your friend, I welcome you all with every joy capable of man! We may no longer have our city, but we now have each other. We are one once again! And we will never be parted again!"
A deafening cheer rose up among the people as they all moved into the forest, all thoughts of danger behind them, at least for the moment.
