Chapter 3: Kaze?
"That's what happened," Link finished. Zelda nodded in understanding. "I knew Wythe was evil, and I made no move to stop him!" she scolded herself. Malon shook her head. "There's no way you could have done anything to hinder him. The darkness that radiated from him was so astoundingly powerful… Even I could feel it!" she exclaimed.
"Malon? You can sense dark energies?" Link said in surprise. The redhead nodded slowly. "Can't you too?" she asked nervously. The young hero shook his head. James looked on without the slightest clue as to what was going on.
Link's thoughts were interrupted by Zelda asking him a question. "What? Sorry, could you repeat yourself?" Link asked. The queen nodded and began again. "Could you describe the book that Wythe handed to the cloaked man?" she requested.
"It had leather covers on it and wool bindings… There was a strange emblem on the front embossed in ivory," he illustrated. Zelda's eyes grew wide with fear. "Not that book," she pleaded, though she knew it to be true. Link, Malon, and James looked at the young queen in concern.
"What was in it?" Link asked solemnly. His voice was fearsome and grim. "The book itself is worthless," Zelda explained, "but if you are clever, you can decode the text and it will reveal the location of a powerful object.
"Long ago, the Royal Family was in possession of something called the Staff of Dreams. It is a glorious object, crafted from the finest of ivories and silvers, with a gorgeous diamond situated at the top. However, if someone with a corrupt heart should obtain this item, the ivory and silver would shift to ebony and gold, and the diamond will turn to onyx. It would become the Staff of Nightmares.
"It was growing dangerous to keep such an object of power within the castle walls. You see, many a thief attempted to infiltrate the castle grounds and would go to any means to get their hands on the Staff. So we hid it. The knowledge of the whereabouts of the Staff was erased from the teachings of the younger generations. The secret was lost tens of decades ago from any human mind.
"Despite the dangers of such an act, the location of the Staff of Dreams was written into a book, the tome Wythe took. Disguised as an archive of the Royal Family's lineage, a clever scribe encoded the location within words hidden within other words! It would take a genius to decipher the text! We thought we were safe from any thief…"
"Did someone say 'genius' and 'thief'?" a young, male voice interrupted.
Zelda jumped, startled. Malon stared in the direction of the voice. James readied his slingshot. Link… just gave a sideways grin. "Long time no see, Kaze," he sighed. A boy about Link's age with dark hair and amethyst eyes emerged from behind the Guardian Tree. His clothes were in dreary colors such as gray, purple, and plain black. "Aw!" he whined. "Way to spoil a magnificent entrance!"
Link chuckled and ran forward to meet his friend, a friend with whom he had rescued Malon and saved all of Hyrule the third time around. The redheaded girl recognized him, but just slightly. "You're that boy… who helped Link save me, right?" she guessed. Kaze tripped on himself. "Well, yeah!" he shouted somewhat angrily.
"Temper, temper!" Link laughed. Kaze put his hands on his hips and huffed in indignation.
"So, dude… Where is she?" the young thief asked eagerly. Link averted his gaze. "Right there," he murmured, nodding his head at the Guardian Tree. Kaze followed his eyes and stared at the Tree in skepticism.
"Oh, I get it!" he said after a long pause, then his expression became grim. "She's buried at the base of this tree, isn't she?" Link shook his head, laughing meekly. "No, Hieke is the Guardian Tree," he explained. Kaze's face became blank.
Zelda stood with Malon's aid and brushed off her soiled gown. "It's true," she assented. "That's what we were celebrating today… until that evil man came along."
"Whoa! All that can wait; Link, what's up with your arm?" Kaze said, waving the princess off and inspecting Link's injured arm with an expression of horror. Link rolled his eyes. He hated being the center of attention; being a stealthy warrior, he always tried to draw attention away from himself. "My arm's fine. It's just something I did a while after we parted," he said hastily. Kaze regarded him suspiciously, but decided to let it go.
"What should we do, Link?" James suddenly said after being uncharacteristically quiet for so long. "We can't let that bad guy get the Staff thing! And that Wythe guy already gave him the book with the code! What now?"
Kaze looked at the brunette child curiously and cocked an eyebrow. "Seems you guys started the party without me," he said with his distinguishing smirk. Link, Malon, Zelda, and James all exchanged glances. "It's a long story, but you'll be an indispensable ally, so we'll fill you in," Link said, smiling. Kaze struck a pose. "Oh yeah! I'm that important!" he bragged. "But let's talk about it over some grub; I'm starved!"
The others voiced their agreement and they headed for the castle where Malon said she would prepare a luxurious meal for them.
