Years Away
By Joker's Specter

Chapter Six: Leaving Keystone


The only reason Link woke up was because the room had become chilly. As he opened his sleepy eyes, he saw that it was dark outside his window, and there was a breeze blowing through it into the room.

Sitting up groggily, the sleepy boy stretched, yawned, and then rubbed his eyes. He had no idea what time it was, but he hoped Tifa didn't forget their agreement.

Jumping off the bed silently, Link approached the open window and peered out for the first time, seeing what the view was like.

Since he was on the ground level of the castle, he mostly saw the grassy lawn stretching in all directions until it reached the walls. A few patches of flowers were scattered around here and there, as well as a healthy green tree or two.

None of that mattered to Link, though. The thing that caught his attention was a building nestled against the wall nearest to his window.

"Epona..." whispered Link as he observed the stables. His quick brain formulated a plan: He would climb out of the window and go see if Epona was there. There would be no drop from the window, due to him being on the ground level, so safety was no issue. If Epona was at the stables, he could take her and ride to freedom without having to mess with his duel with Commander Bronzen.

The only thing he needed before he could attempt escape was to find the whereabouts of the Fairy Shrine.

Link sighed. If he went ahead with his plan, he would leave his items behind, including the important things, like his ocarina. He knew Navi and Epona were more important, but did he really want to leave all of his important things behind, too?

Just as Link was about to climb out the window to check if Epona was even at the stables, there was a knock at the bedroom door. Link took one last glance at the stables, and then strode to the door and opened it all the way.

"Hey cutie!" said Tifa with an exaggerated wink. "Ready for our 'date'?"

Link held back a groan. The time away from Tifa had nearly made him forget how outgoing she was. Now that he was supposedly her "boyfriend", he had a feeling things would get a lot worse.

As they left the room, Link noticed two things that struck him as odd. The first was that Tifa was wearing commoner clothing. It wasn't exactly the type of thing someone who lived in a castle would wear. But then, Tifa wasn't exactly the type of person that stopped surprising Link.

The second odd thing was that Shia was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Shia?" whispered Link while they walked silently down the torch-lit hallway. Most of the torches had been put out, giving the pictures that hung in the hallway and eerie appearance in the dim light.

Tifa raised an eyebrow to Link's question. "Piper? She should be waiting in the market district."

The blonde girl walked close to Link, so that their arms were touching just slightly. Link would move away a little bit every now and then, but Tifa would just step closer when she had the chance.

"So... You talked to her, huh?" asked Tifa, turning to stare at Link with her hazel eyes.

Link kept his eyes straight ahead. "Yeah, for a few minutes."

Tifa nodded, acknowledging what Link had said. Link noticed that for the first time since he had met her, she didn't appear to have much to say.

"Um... Are you okay?" asked Link, tilting his head a bit to look at her.

Tifa blinked. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking," she replied.

Link wondered what she would think about so deeply. The curiosity almost got the better of him, and he was about to ask her, when he forced himself to stop. The silence was awkward, but definitely pleasant at the time, and required if they wanted to get out of the castle undetected.

After they exited the hallway into the entry room of the castle, Tifa stopped short. The reason, Link saw, was that four guards were posted at the main entrance to the castle. Tifa stepped back into the hallway, pulling Link with her.

"There weren't supposed to be guards there..." she whispered quickly. The girl poked her head around the corner, looking at the entrance again, and then pulled her head back and sighed. "How did Piper get out?" she asked.

Link shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. Then he felt a little silly when he realized she was directing the question to herself.

"I bet I know!" Tifa said after a minute of thinking. A big grin was spread on her face. "She probably used the basement. C'mon!" She grabbed Link and pulled him along down the hallway.

They ran in silence until they approached the door that Link recognized as the heavy wooden door the two guards were posted at before. They were nowhere to be found.

"I never liked going down here, Link, but I'll do it for you," Tifa said as she reached for the doorknob. "If Piper went this way, then we'll want to go this way also." She turned the doorknob, but it stayed firmly in place.

"Are you sure she went this way?" Link asked, remembering the guards from before.

Smirking, Tifa produced a key from her pocket. "Fortunately for us, I've got this," she said, fitting the key into the lock and twisting it.

"In we go..." said Tifa, opening the door a crack. She walked in with Link trailing behind her, down some stairs, and into a torch-lit passageway.

!-T- -H- -E- -W- -E-!
!-N- -D- -I- -G- -O-!

"Are we there yet?" asked Link, staring at the dark stone walls of the basement.

"I...can't really remember. It's been so long since I've been down here. I know for sure that Piper came down here, though; the torches were lit at the entrance. Nobody else would've come down here for anything... I hope," Tifa replied slowly.

The pair had been walking for quite a while in the cold basement. They'd taken so many twists and turns, Link couldn't tell which direction they were going in anymore. It was as if the basement was made to be a maze. Tifa was in the lead with a small torch that she had grabbed at the entrance.

"If it's been so long, then why do you still carry that key with you?" Link inquired casually.

Tifa paused at a branching path. "The basement is a type of royal escape, just in case the castle gets attacked. Our old King was really nice. He built the basement solely for the families living on the first floor as an emergency escape. The winding maze-type layout makes it so pursuers have a hard time following us," she explained. The girl chose a direction and started to walk with Link again.

"When Godoro took over the throne, he made the basement off-limits unless he is safe first. He figures everybody should secure his safety over that of their own, or the royal family of Keystone can't live on," Tifa went on. "He's pig-headed if you ask me."

Link listened with interest. He was seeing the King as an evil person more and more with every story he heard. Why were people tolerating him?

Dismissing the thought for now, Link asked, "But why do you still have a key if he made it off-limits?"

Tifa flashed Link a mischievous grin. "I hit it when he was confiscating all of the keys. He knew of all the people who had keys, so I had to make up a story about losing it. Luckily for me, he believed me," answered Tifa. "Later on I had the blacksmith make a copy for Piper."

Link was impressed. "That's actually really clever..." he complimented. "So you carry it with you all the time now in case you need it?"

"Yep. Call me selfish, but I'll save myself and Piper over Godoro any day," Tifa replied with a straight face.

They continued walking for a little while longer, talking about little things like Tifa's daily life and Navi. The discussions went on until they came upon some stairs.

"This looks like where we started," said Link, his eyes falling on the empty torch slot where Tifa had removed the torch beforehand.

Tifa frowned and looked around. "I think it is... I just can't remember the way," she said quietly. "I'm really sorry, Link."

Link sighed and said, "It's okay. It's not your fault. At least you're trying to help me. By the sound of things, your father's going to mangle me up so bad they'll have to take me to the Shrine." He smiled to show he was trying to lighten the mood.

Looking at the ground, Tifa said quietly, "No, they won't."

"Huh?"

"They won't take you to the shrine," Tifa stated.

Link's eyebrows raised. "But the King said..." he began to say. The boy stopped himself mid-sentence when he realized just who it was that promised he'd get taken to the Fairy Shrine if he were injured. What reason did he have to believe the King?

"That's what he told the last person my father had to duel..." Tifa explained. She put the torch back in its slot on the wall and sat down on the stairs, her chin in her hands.

Link sat beside her. "So they'd just leave me to die?" he asked, amazed that a town could allow such a lying, selfish person to lead them.

Tifa turned to stare at Link's blue eyes and nodded. "They'd let you pass away from your injuries. That is, if my father doesn't kill you right away."

Shaking his head in disgust, Link said, "This is ridiculous. So either way they plan on me dying?"

A nod from the blonde girl beside him. "From what I hear, the King thinks that if he lets anybody use the Shrine, then he'd get a flood of requests from the rest of the population to use it. If he denied them after letting a stranger use it, they'd uprise against him."

"What about your father? Wouldn't he care?" Link asked bitterly.

"He would care, yes... But he won't act against the King's orders. If the King's orders are to defeat you, then he would. He'd probably just kill you quickly as an act of mercy," Tifa explained. Her mood had changed drastically since they had met up.

They sat there in silence for a while before Tifa spoke up again. "You don't have to be my boyfriend if you don't want to. I know you don't like me too much anyway."

Link didn't expect to hear that come out of Tifa's mouth. He looked at Tifa, deciding on what to say. He didn't want to encourage her senseless pursuits of romance, but he didn't want the girl to feel down, either.

"That's not true. I think you're a great person for trying to help me out," he finally said. "Sure, your dad has been ordered to kill me, and I don't expect I'll have things go my way anytime soon... But at least you're trying. That's what counts."

Tifa smiled slightly, eyes downcast and sad. "That doesn't mean you want to be my boyfriend, thought."

Link wanted to get off of the subject. "Honestly, I'm not ready for a relationship, Tifa," the hero started to say. He paused, and then hesitantly added, "But if it helps you at all, I guess I can stay your 'boyfriend' for a little while longer, provided nothing comes of it."

The girl's shoulders shrugged. "I guess that's fair..." Her smile widened just a bit. "Thanks," she said.

"For now, though, I think I have a solution to getting outside of the castle..." Link said, rising to his feet and helping Tifa to hers.

!-T- -H- -E- -W- -E-!
!-N- -D- -I- -G- -O-!

"I can't believe I didn't think of climbing out the windows before..." Tifa said, angry at herself as she pulled her small frame through the window in Link's room.

After she had placed her feet safely on the grass, Link climbed up into the window to follow her.

"I don't have a window in my room, so I didn't realize that we could just climb through..." explained Tifa as Link jumped down.

Tifa looked around to make sure the coast was clear. "Piper will be waiting at the tavern," she said as she began walking around the castle wall. When she didn't hear Link walking beside or behind her, she stopped and turned around.

Link was standing still, staring at the stables.

Biting his lip, he said, "I'm going to get my horse..." Then he started running at top speed for the building. Being this close made him cave in. He just wanted to get Epona and escape.

"Link! Wait!" yelled Tifa as loud as she could without notifying any guards. She ran after Link, her legs carrying her surprisingly fast.

Link was within twenty feet of the building when something tackled him from behind. The boy clenched his eyes shut as he rolled a few times and ended up on his back. He opened his eyes to find Tifa pinning him down.

"You can't go in there!" she hissed angrily. She was using all of her upper body strength and body weight to keep Link's arms held down, despite the fact that he wasn't struggling.

Link was surprised at how strong and fast the seemingly pampered girl was.

"Why not?" he almost yelled back. His blue eyes glared up at Tifa harshly.

"Because there are always guards in there!" Tifa snapped, being as silent as her temper would allow. "They'll kill you on sight! We need to get to the tavern; not go chasing after your horse on a rescue mission that will definitely fail."

Link didn't care; they had taken his friend from him, and he was going to take her back.

"I want to get Epona, Tifa. That's the only reason I'm even sticking around this place!" Link said bitterly. The boy noticed that Tifa shifted her weight slightly when he said that.

"The only reason...? Well, you know what? If you go through that door, chances are you'll be dead before you even see your horse. I don't want you dead, no matter how much of a death wish you have."

Link saw her features soften, and then she moved off of Link and stood up.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Link looked ahead at the stables. "I wish I hadn't come here... Maybe if I had been more alert, Epona and I could still be searching for Navi. We possibly could have found her by now," he said quietly.

Link felt a raindrop fall on his leg. He looked up and a few more splashed onto his face. A heavy blanket of dark clouds moved to cover the sky, concealing the dark moon.

"We should go..." Tifa whispered, shivering. It was starting to get really cold, so Link stood up and nodded. He then followed Tifa in the direction of the market, taking one last glance at the stables as he walked away.

!-T- -H- -E- -W- -E-!
!-N- -D- -I- -G- -O-!

Link and Tifa moved for the tavern as fast as they reasonably could while staying undetected by the few guards moving around the castle. By the time they got outside of the castle gate, it had started pouring heavy, cold rain. Lightning could be seen and thunder shook the sky. The two young kids, however, weren't going to turn back. They were determined to reach the tavern.

They ran past the fountain in the center of the market and continued straight. The fountain reminded Link of Cyrus and Crystal; he'd almost forgotten about them. He made a mental promise to himself that when he had the chance, he'd help free them from their imprisonment at the jail.

After another minute of running, Tifa stopped in front of a door that had a bulky sign hanging above it. She opened the large door and dashed in. Link followed her into the warm building, closing the door behind him, and bending down to catch his breath.

He glanced up through his rain-soaked, blonde bangs, and saw a large, mostly empty tavern. The only two people in the building other than he and Tifa was a round bar tender and the blue-haired girl they wanted to find, resting her head on a table. Link could see that she was asleep.

"Piper," said Tifa, walking up to the table.

"She's been waitin' for ye for a while now," said the bearded bar tender, wiping off the counter. "I didn't have the heart to kick the young lass out. She seemed really determined to stay an' wait for the two of ye."

"Well, we had difficulties getting here on time," Tifa explain, standing at the side of Shia. She reached down and began to shake her friend slightly. "Piper... We're here now."

Shia raised her head, but didn't open her eyes. Then, in a loud, clear, yet eerie voice, she stated, "Link, you must run! The arrow is coming!" Her eyelids began to flutter, and then she slumped back in her chair.

Tifa stared at her friend with her mouth slightly open. "Piper? What was that?" she asked incredulously.

"She's been doin' that fer a while now, since she's been sleeping. I woke her up once, but she had no memory of it. I jus' figured it was something she did all of the time... Y'know, like maybe the lass is possessed," said the bar tender. He grinned to show that the last part was a joke.

Link ran what Shia had said over in his head. What could she mean by the arrow? And why was she talking about him?

His thoughts were cut short by Tifa trying to wake her friend again.

"Piper! Wake up!" said Tifa. She grabbed Shia's shoulders and began to shake her a little more violently than before.

Shia's eyes opened slowly, looking up at Tifa, then over at Link. "Sorry," she said. "I must have fallen asleep." She stood up, yawned, and stretched. Her eyes were only half-open as she looked around. It was clear to Link that she was exhausted.

"C'mon Piper, we need to get going," Tifa said, helping Shia, who was wobbling a bit on her feet, from falling over. She looked over at Link and flashed a smile. "Link can't be my boyfriend if I can't show him the Shrine!"

Shia shook her head to wake herself up. "Okay... I'm ready," she said confidently. To show that she was telling the truth, she moved away from Tifa and walked to the door, almost tripping in the process.

The bar tender met them at the door. "Here kids, ye might be wanting these," said the man. He held out three folded pieces of clothing in his large hands. Link walked up and grabbed one for himself. Unfolding it, he discovered that it was a cloak about his size.

"They belong to m'kids, so don't ye be forgettin' to bring 'em back," said the bar tender, smiling brightly. Tifa and Shia walked up and grabbed one of their own.

"Thank you, sir," said Shia, putting hers on. Link and Tifa mimicked her.

The bar tender bowed politely. "My pleasure. I hope ye find what yer lookin' fer," he replied. "I gotta close up now, so don't bother bringin' those around tonight."

"Okay, thank you. Bye!" Tifa said, waving and walking outside with Link and Shia in tow.

!-T- -H- -E- -W- -E-!
!-N- -D- -I- -G- -O-!

The trio marched slowly along the road, heading in the direction where Link assumed an exit to the town was. They moved slowly for two reasons: One, their cloaks were getting soaked, which made them heavier and harder to walk with. Although, it did keep Link a lot more dry and warm than he would have been without it.

The second reason was Shia. She moved lethargically in her sleepy state. Link told her it was okay if she wanted to go back home, but she would always tell him that she was fine.

"The trip up the mountain should take long, unless there are a lot of guards. Then we'll have to go on a different path that Piper and I found," Tifa explained. "It takes longer, but we wouldn't encounter any guards. We'll attempt the main path first and break away if we see any signs of guards."

Link looked at Tifa through his raised hood. He was amazed at how she seemed to be taking charge in an intelligent manner. He was just getting used to seeing her as a little girl who just wanted to flirt and annoy Link, and now he was beginning to see her as someone who was becoming increasingly more helpful. He would even say she was becoming his friend.

Smiling to himself, Link pondered on the possibilities of coming back to Keystone to visit Tifa and Shia after he found Navi.

Something still troubled him about Shia, though... He wanted to know what she meant when she had that episode in the tavern. What did she mean by "The arrow is coming", anyway? She had told him to run, so it couldn't be anything good. At the same time, what if he was over thinking it and she was just talking in her sleep? What if she was just dreaming?

Whatever the case, Link could tell there was more to Shia than meets the eye...

After another five minutes of cautious walking, they finally reached the large gate of the town. It was guarded in the usual manner of two guards standing beside the door. The only difference was one guard sat up on top of the wall next to a crank mechanism.

"How are we supposed to get out with them there?" asked Link, raising his voice just enough so that he could be heard over the downpour.

Tifa leaned in close to Link. "They'll let us out, but they won't let us back in," she replied loudly so he could hear. "But don't worry; we know another way in. This is just the nearest entrance to the Shrine."

The group moved forward until they were at the gate. When the two guards saw the trio of young adventurers, they glanced at each other, obviously wondering why someone would be trying to leave the town in the heavy rainstorm.

Dismissing it as nothing too unusual, one of the guards whistled at the man standing on top of the wall, and then said, "'ey Open th' gate!"

The guard on top moved quickly to rotate the mechanism that pulled the gate up.

"Thank you!" Tifa said happily as she, Link, and Shia moved past the guards. Link made sure to keep his face mostly hidden inside his hood.

Once they were clear of the gate, it slammed shut behind them. Link glanced back and saw the three guards resume their posts.

He was finally out of Keystone.


End: Chapter Six: Leaving Keystone