Chapter VI: Troubles Beginning

Link mumbled softly underneath his breath, trying to stay asleep. Eventually, he drifted from dream to reality, and woke up, rubbing his eyes. He was lying in a lime green-sheeted poster bed, in a room with a dark green carpet, a window with dark green curtains, walls painted lime green, and a table and two chairs (not painted green, much to Link's relief).

Link looked around the room and smiled inwardly to himself. Zelda must have brought him in here. Across the room, lying against the wall, was his sword and shield. Link's eyes brightened, and he jumped out of the bed and ran over to his weaponry. He strapped them to his back, just like he had for seven years, and looked around for the rest of his stuff. It was all jumbled in a bag by the foot of the bed. Link dashed over and selected his fairy ocarina, bow, and most importantly, his hammer. Link loved to use the hammer.

I mean he loved to swing the hammer.

Link had equipping himself when he felt something come and embrace him.

"Where are you going, Hero?" Link turned to see Fayore standing behind him, her hands behind her back and standing like a drill sergeant.

"Um, I don't know," Link answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes you do," Fayore corrected, wagging her finger at him. "You can't lie to a Goddess. You were going to leave the castle, weren't you?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Maybe." Link slumped his shoulders slightly. Fayore shook her head and folded her arms.

"Link, you can't leave now."

Link stood looking at his shoes, then his head shot up with a smirk, and he asked, "Wait, if you know everything, then why were you just make me confess? Ha!" Link pointed his finger at her. Fayore smiled and shifted her weight to one side.

"Because the look on your face is worth it every time," she replied, and laughed at the incredulous look on Link's face. Link sat down in a chair, folded his arms, and set his foot on his knee.

"Alright, so why do I have to stay?" Link asked, wanting to leave and have an adventure.

"Because an enemy is at the doorstep," Fayore said, and pointed out the window. Link walked over and stuck his head out the window. A noble was riding a horse and was entering the castle.

"You sure that's an enemy?" Link asked, pulling his head back in the window. Fayore had left. Link stood around for a while, fighting with himself. Finally he growled at himself and left through the door. He ran through the castle, and met seven dead ends on his way to the Great Hall. He jogged over to the large wooden doors, and put his ear to it. He heard Zelda and the noble arguing inside, and quietly opened the door and walked inside.

The noble stood before Zelda, who sat on a throne. The room was rectangular, leading down to Zelda and two thrones with a red carpet. Six pillars on each side decked the walls, while six soldiers stood to the side. The noble himself wore silken red cloth, which covered him head to foot. He carried no visible weapons on him. But he and Zelda were arguing hotly about something. Link made as to stand by Zelda, watching the soldiers in the room tremble slightly at his appearance. Zelda's eyes flicked briefly to him, then went back to the noble.

Link was right behind the noble when he spotted something. A knife in the boot. Link stared at it skeptically, and then looked at Zelda with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I will be recognized!" the noble shouted, and pulled the knife from his boot. He rushed forward to stab Zelda.

Link reached forward and grabbed the noble's right arm. He spun the noble in the circle so Link was in between him and Zelda. Link's sword and shield were out, and he braced his shield defensively in front of him, with his sword pointed at the ground behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw soldiers bring their arms to bear, and he swore he could hear Zelda's heart beating, along with a sharp gasp.

The noble turned towards Link, angry, and shouted, "How dare a commoner touch me!"

"He's no peasant," Zelda declared, her voice bursting with anger and contempt. "He's Link, the Hero of Time."

The noble looked darkly at Link, and then said, "Then he'll be the Hero no more!" He pulled out another knife with his free hand, and attacked Link, bringing his knives in an arc. Link rolled under, and kicked him in the chest, knocking the noble on his back. The noble got back on his feet and threw one of the knives. It jammed itself in Link's shield, and Link dropped his shield. He swung at the noble diagonally, and the noble blocked it with his knife. Then, while their weapons were engaged, the noble started punching Link in the face multiple times. After the tenth time, the noble stopped to see what damage he'd done. Link's face had no marks on it.

The noble freed his weapon and thrust it at Link. Link moved to the side, grabbed the noble's hand, twisted it to make him let go of the knife, then used the arm as a pole to spin around which broke the noble's arm, then landed on his feet behind the noble with his arm still in Link's grasp, and thrust his sword through the noble's back. It protruded through his chest, and the noble died seconds after.

More gasps from the spectators. Link pulled his sword out of him. The body fell to the ground, and Link caught it. He sheathed his sword, and picked the body up. Then he looked around, not quite sure what to do next. No one else seemed to know either. Finally, Zelda spoke up.

"Guards, please take care of the body for Link. Link, can I speak to you alone?" Zelda asked. Silently, everyone left, and they took the body with them. Zelda walked up to Link, calm and serene. Link began to realize that killing a noble may not have been the best idea, and started to panic, thinking Zelda was going to yell at him. Link braced himself silently, fear gripping him. The Triforce of Courage answered his fear with a glow, and Link felt calm again. He knew would get it from Zelda, however.

Zelda stopped when she was a foot away from him. She spotted the glowing Triforce of Courage on his right hand. She stared at it for a while, as if trying to wonder what he was afraid of. Then she closed her eyes, looked down, and smiled. Then she faced Link again and opened her eyes.

"Link, I'm not angry at you," she told him. "I'm happy and thankful you did that." Then she kissed him, and Link didn't feel the Triforce of Courage fade away; he was too busy kissing her back. Link felt wonderful, and he broke away only because Zelda did.

Zelda turned away and sighed. Link tilted his head perplexed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, thinking Zelda might be lying just to make him feel better.

"Well," Zelda said, still facing away from Link, "It's just that if he would attempt that, others might as well." The second she finished, there was a great clamorous noise. Zelda turned inquisitively to see what had happened. There was a pillar, five torches, and seventeen chairs in front of the locked door. Then she saw Link running over to increase the barricade's power by bringing the spare throne. Zelda saw Link running with the throne towards the barricaded door, and started laughing hysterically. Link stopped half-way there and turned to see what Zelda was laughing about.

"Link," Zelda gasped, who had stopped laughing, "How we get back through?" Then she started to laugh again. Link looked from her to the barricaded door, then at the throne he was holding, and started to chuckle as well. He dropped the throne, and it landed on his foot. A throne landing on your foot is going to hurt, and Link immediately stopped laughing, yelled in pain, and hopped around holding the injured foot. This caused Zelda to laugh only more.

After Link stopped hopping around, and Zelda got her laughter under control, Link removed the barricade from the door. He held the door open for her, and watched her depart and head for her chambers. Link sighed quietly, and went back inside the throne room. There he picked up his shield and sword, and then he left to the castle courtyard. There, Link took out an ocarina. He softly started to play Zelda's Lullaby, which turned into the Song of Time.

Link had been playing for about an hour when he spotted something. There was a very large spider sitting in front of him. His one thought was, why do I play with my eyes closed?

The spider attacked. Link rolled under it and thrust his sword through its belly, killing it. More spiders came out from on top the wall. Link charged. He ran forward and drove his sword right between one of the spider's eyes. Another jumped down. Link knocked it away with his shield. Another ran at Link. Link made a false diagonal swipe, then slashed downward vertically, cutting the spider in two. A spider jumped on Link's back and started to tie him up with webbing. Before the spider could begin, though, Link's foot came up, and he kicked the spider onto its back. He twirled his sword and stabbed it through the spider into the dirt.

Another spider was approaching. Link removed his sword from the earth and threw it. It collided with the spider and impaled the spider to the tree, killing it. The last spider tried to sneak up behind Link now that he didn't have his sword. But Link loved to swing the hammer. He spun and brought the Megaton hammer down on the spider. It squashed it and sent spider parts and yellow flying. Link put his hammer away, and he started to smell smoke. He looked around, and saw the fire was coming from the direction of the castle entrance. Link gritted his teeth, pulled his sword out of the tree, and ran to meet this new disaster.

Link arrived at a battle scene. About two scores of skeleton warriors and spiders were assaulting the gate guard. Unfortunately, there was only a score of Hylian soldiers. Link ran forward to aid them. He took out his bow and shot off three arrows at three spiders, piercing them though the head. Then he put it away and took out his sword and shield. Link went up to fight a skeleton, and put his shield in front and brought his sword pointing low behind him, arching Link's back. He brought the sword up above him, and after that brought it back down on top of the enemy. It deflected off the skeleton's shield and kept going. Then Link raised his sword back up and it cut the skeleton in half. Link sheathed his sword and took out his hammer. He deflected a skeleton's slash, then, because he was holding the hammer in one hand, awkwardly made a powerful side-ways swing. It smashed through the skeleton's shield and him as well.

Link put his shield away. He jumped up at a spider and slammed the hammer down on it, sending more parts and blood flying. Link rose to his feet and twirled, bringing the hammer as he did into a jumping spider, knocking it into the castle wall and killing it. Link put the hammer away and took out just his sword, and started to fight holding it with two hands. Link ran forward. He parried a blow from a skeleton, and brought his hilt behind him to knock back another leaping spider. Then Link parried in front of him again, and swung his sword high in an arc at the skeleton. The skeleton blocked it, and Link spun in a circle, lowering as he did. He finished the spin and swung his sword low at the heels. It knocked the skeleton on its back. Link lifted his sword above his head, and shot it down through the skeleton's head.

The spider from behind bit Link's shoulder. It wasn't poisonous, but hurt all the same. Link grunted sharply, and spun rapidly. He spun fast enough the spider was still in midair when Link turned to face it. His sword flashed, and the spider finished it descent in two pieces. With much help, they drove back the monsters, which were wiped out.

The soldiers were cheering when an injured soldier burst forth from inside the gate.

"Hero Link, it was a distraction!" the soldier gasped, blood pouring from a head and shoulder injury. "A wizard appeared in the throne room! He defeated us, then took Her Highness and left!"

There was a sharp gasp from the soldiers and Link. The injured soldier, having lived long enough to tell his tale, collapsed and died. Gently, the other soldiers carried him away to bury him. Link stood on the bridge, tears quietly streaming. Zelda was gone.