Chapter 3
Dream, or Prophecy?
Link blinked. Where was he? The walls around him were not at all familliar.
Without warning, the walls shifted, revealing an open field. Hyrule Field. Link didn't know how he got there, but he was home. The last thing he expected was what happened next.
Link had to watch, helplessly, as the Hyrulian people, Hylian, Kokiri, Zora, Goron, and Gerudo alike, were all rounded up in the middle of the field. A lone horse managed to break free of the chaos, and went speeding past Link.
It was as if everything was in slow motion. Link saw the horse coming for him, but he took no notice of it. Instead, he noticed the rider. It was himself. The Link on the ground shook his head, not believing what he was seeing. He would never run away from something... Would he? Strangely, he could not find an answer. Opening his eyes, Link finally concluded that he was not seeing things.
Both Links locked eyes for several moments. The Link on the horse had all sorts of emotions shinng in his eyes that Link had never really felt before. Fear, anguish, lonliness, sadness, and was that... recognition?
Link's eyes widened, and he ran out of the way. As soon as he moved, the world seemed to go at normal pace. The horse went speeding past him, and toward the Forest, the rider's dark cloak billowing out behind him.
Turning around, Link once again payed attention to what was going on in front of him. The drawbridge of Castle Town lowerred once again, and two horses came out slowly, not at all panicking like Link's was.
Instantly, there was silence across the field. Link was too far back to see the rider's faces, but he knew that banner anywhere. The Royal seal of Misina was being waved over the man's head, bringing Link to the conclusion that the man was Prince Starger. The other banner over the woman's head, however, was what really shocked him.
The Royal seal of Hyrule flew in the breeze, as Princess Zelda made her way out of the town alongside Starger. There seemed to be something very wrong here.
Link was transported onto a horse riding alonside Zelda, on the other side of her. The two riders took no notice of him, like the other Link did. From his new vantage point, he could see the faces of the riders. Prince Starger held a look of cold triumph. Zelda, however was another story.
She looked as if she were broken. As if she were just a puppet on strings. There was no light in her eyes, and the Triforce of Wisdom had been reduced to a dull glow on her hand, as if it were waning. Tears were spilling down her cheeks.
"Do it," Starger commanded, "now!"
"No..." Zelda said weakly, "No."
Starger raised his hand, and took her unmarked hand in his own. Zelda stifled a scream, but Link could still see the anguish she was in. When Starger removed his hand, her hand was as black as charcoal. The bastard had burned her.
Starger demanded that she do 'it' again, and Zelda refused. This time, it was her wrist, the next time, it was her lower-arm, then her upperarm, and still , she refused.
"Do it now, bitch!" Starger yelled, slapping her and burning her beautiful, tear-streaked cheek, "Or I will kill them all one by one, slowly and painfully."
Zelda stiffened. It seemed to take an eternity as she raised her marked hand, and opened her palm. A wave of magic sweeped the land, killing everyone that it came into contact with. Except for, that is, Zelda, Starger, and Link. Link watched, horified, as the people in the field moaned in anguish, as they died, seemingly instantly. Zelda turned to Starger.
"Will you let me go, now?" Zelda sobbed, "I've done what you wanted!"
"Oh... Shoot." Starger mocked her, "Didn't I tell you? I was never going to let you go."
Zelda's eyes widened in fear and surprise. Starger's eyes flashed red, and he pulled a dagger out of nowhere. Laughing like a maniac, he plunged the dagger deep into the heart of the helpless Princess.
Everything seemed to be going in super-slow motion. Zelda spluttered, and began to fall off her horse. Blood spilled everywhere. Her horse felt the sudden shift in weight, and was frightened. It took off, letting Zelda's body fall to the ground, dead.
REALITY
Link bolted up, panting heavily. He was in a cold sweat.
After a few minuties of disorientation, he realised that he was in a tent. Feeling his neck, he discovered that someone had bandaged him up. There wer also numerous bandages all over his arms, head and chest. He looked similar to a Gibdo, from the waist up. Tenderly standing up, he donned the clean green tunic hanging on a chair, and gingerly walked outside.
He was in familliar territory. What he was doing in Termina Field, and how he got there, was a mystery. Looking around, he noticed roughly ten other tents, all with the same seal on them. He cautiously lifted the front of one of them, and saw no-one inside. It was the same with teh other nine. Link assumed that the people had gone into town.
Thinking that her might be able to lose tham, he walked cautiously in the gate, emerging in West Clock Town. It certainly had expanded over time. There were numerous stalls that were not there ten years ago. is first prority, though, was money. Wondering where he was going to get it, he walked past the bank.
"Hey! Don't I know you?" The teller called out, "Come over here!"
Link, perplexed, walked slowly and painfully over to the teller.
"What's your name?" The teller asked, kindly enough.
Link sighed, and tried to indicate the word 'link' with his hands.
"Hook?" The teller guessed. Link shook his head, and indicated the chain that was holding up the bank sign. The teller furrowed his brow.
"Chain?" Link shook his head, and indicated a specific link, "Oval? Round? Metal?" The teller threw his hands up in exasperation, "What is it, man? Why are you indicating a link!"
Link pointed at him, to communicate that he had gotten it right. The man blinked.
"Link?" he said in disbelief, "That's your name?" Link nodded.
"That sounds familliar... Did you by chance, travel around here when you were a kid, roughly ten years ago?" Link nodded. The man told him to wait there, and retreated to the back of the little stall. Returning with a small book, he began to ruffle through the yelowing pages.
"Ah, yes! Here it is!" The teller smiled a toothy grin, "Link, you still have one thousand and two ruppes saved up. Would you like to withdraw any money? Or would you prefer to deposit." Link indicated taking something with his hands, "Withdraw? OK, how much do you want?" Link indicated the number two hundred, "Two hundred ruppes? Wait just one moment."
The man disappeared back into the stall again, and emerged with a small pouch of money.
"Don't spend it all in one place!" The man joked, and Link flashed him a smile of thanks. Walking around, he tried to remember which store sold potions. Thinking he'd found the right one, he entered a small, dingy shop. Walking around the aisles, he kept a lokout for red potions.
"So, this will reverse the spell?" Link heard a familliar voice whisper, "I wont have to get him to ingest it, or anything, will I?"
"No, no." Another voice chuckled, "Just cast the same spell on this object, and burn it. You can do it right now, in here, if you wish." Link peeped around the corner, and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
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