Author's Note: I know you're all thinking, "He's a LinkxMalon-er!" well, to tell the truth… um… I'm not entirely sure yet. There are reasons I don't think this Link should end up with Zelda, but I don't really care too much one way or the other. In any case, I don't think Link will actually pursue any girl in particular in my story, but we'll see where it goes. Here's chapter 7!
Chapter 7: A Princess and a Plan
"It's so dark," Link said as they hurried down the path.
"Shh…" Navi hushed. "We're almost there, and in a couple of hours it will be light out."
They took a turn around a rocky wall, and saw straight to the castle grounds gate. There stood a guard next to it.
"Let me in," Link said when they reached him. "I need to see the princess."
The guard laughed. "You want to see Princess Zelda, eh?" He laughed some more. "I guess you heard about her in town, and decided you had to meet her, right?"
"Not quite," Link said.
"Well… Go home! Get out of here! The princess would never grant an audience to the likes of you!"
"What do you mean?" Link replied. "I have an important message for her!"
The guard laughed again. "You know, I almost want to let you in to entertain the king."
"Fine," Link said. "I didn't want to pull this out, but…" He took his rupee bag off his belt and dangled it from his hand. "I'm a rich man! Rich people can get in, right?"
"Where in the world did you hear that?" Navi said.
"From Malon."
"Ack!" the guard exclaimed. "Is that a fairy? Does that mean you're a Kokiri?"
"Yep and yep," Link answered.
"So you're the one who fought the Stalchildren?"
"Hey! We're the two, buddy!" Navi said, as if he'd hurt her feelings.
"Hmm…" the guard thought. "All right, you know what? I'm still being paid to keep people out, but, since you're the hero, I'll let you in if you pay me."
"Pay you!" Navi cried. "What kind of sleaze ball…"
"How much?" Link asked.
"Well, how about a hundred rupees?"
"A hundred rupees! You think money grows on trees!"
"You said you were rich…"
"Yeah! Rich as in, like… How much is rich anyway?"
"Well, the king of Hyrule has well over two hundred million," the guard informed.
"Two hundred million! Is there even that much in the world?"
"Well, if you can't pay me…"
Link and Navi hurried back around the corner.
"What do we do now?" Link asked.
"I thought you said you had a 'Plan B'."
"The rupees were Plan B!"
"Link! You're supposed to do better than this!"
"Alright, alright. I do have a Plan C."
"Then why'd you ask what to do?"
" 'Cause I forgot!"
Navi moaned and they went back to the guard. Link stopped in front of the man and just stared up at him. This, of course, made the man very uncomfortable, and he wondered what in the world Link was doing. After a minute, Navi whispered, "This is Plan C?"
Two or three minutes of staring later, Link finally spoke. "Can I go in, now?"
Navi smacked Link's head.
"No," was the man's reply.
Link stood silently again for five more minutes.
"How 'bout now?"
"No."
Ten minutes later, Navi had dozed off on Link's head.
"Now?"
"No, kid! You are the weirdest little hero I've ever seen! Why not go home?"
"Because I promised the Great Deku Tree when he died that I would visit the Princess of Destiny and tell her about the wicked man from the desert, and the terrible power he possesses."
"What? Listen, kid. You didn't by chance drink too much potion today, did you?"
"How much is too much? Anyway, I've never even seen this 'potion' you speak of. Is it tasty?"
"Actually… Now hold on a minute! Look, I don't even know why I'm conversing with you. You're making up strange stories about trees' dying wishes, and Ganondorf being evil… Although he does have that look in his eye… Look, kid, just go away. I'm trying to work here!"
"Fine." Link stormed off, back around the wall.
He woke Navi up. "What?"
"Okay, Plan C failed."
"I could've told you that!"
"And your backhand packs a wallop!"
"Eh, what can I say?"
Link started playing with a vine hanging from the small cliff. "So what do we do now?"
"How about we call it a morning, and go to bed?"
"I'm all for the first part. The sun's coming up."
"No. 'Call it a night' is the actual phrase and it means to just quit what you're doing."
"Oh. So if you call the morning, 'night', and the night, 'morning', you should quit what you're doing and go to bed?"
"Yeah… wait. Link, do you even know what a metaphor is?"
"Wouldn't know one if it bit me in the face."
"Right…"
Link was now tugging on the vine. "What is this, some kind of root? It's holding on tight!"
"You're right! I bet you could climb it!"
Link grabbed hold and started pulling himself up. Surprisingly enough, the vine held up as he used it to climb the rock wall. When he reached the top, he found it was a root to a tree on top, and the surface he stood on was practically level and grassy all the way to the top of the gate.
"What did I tell ya? I sure know my plant life!" Link boasted.
"Yeah. Hush."
"Want me to stop rubbing it in, huh?"
"No. We're sneaking in the castle, so you don't want them to hear you!"
"Oh yeah. Right," he whispered.
They walked over to the top of the gate. They were still in the shadow of a much larger hill, but they could see a guard on the other end of the portcullis wall. There was a ladder leading down into the wall, into a room that opened out to the other side of the gate. They climbed down, but the exit would leave them in plain sight of the guard at the gate.
"I have an idea!" Navi said. She flew back up the ladder and Link waited.
After a moment, Link heard Navi start shouting.
"Listen, Mr. Guard Man! We need in, really bad! If you won't let me and my friend in, I'll beat you within an inch of your life!"
Link took this opportunity to run out the door and into the shadows. Navi saw him and shrieked as the guard swatted at her. She flew away, then reappeared a moment later at Link's side.
She shone so bright that if anyone paid attention, they would see Link standing there. He took off his hat and snatched her up. "They'll see us!" he said as her muffled voice cried out. He put his hat back on with Navi inside.
So from then till almost an hour later, Link snuck around the courtyard, working toward the towering pinnacles ahead. Finally, he reached the castle gate, where two elite guards were positioned.
"Great," he said under his breath as he hid in a bush. He then noticed a spot in the wall still in shadow, one of the few spots in the courtyard that were. Also, there were no guards near it at the moment. He ran for it, and climbed the high wall quickly, gripping between stones. He reached the top and flipped over it, falling head first toward the ground. "Waagh!" he cried, but rolled to keep from hurting himself as he landed. Unfortunately, the roll caused him to go straight past the path around the castle, and into the narrow moat around the castle itself.
SPLASH! He fell in the water and swam back up to the top. Gasping for breath, he thought for sure he heard a guard say, "What was that!"
"Quack! Quack!" Link said. Surprisingly enough, he sounded almost like a real duck. Later on, he'd probably tell you he just swallowed too much water.
"Huh. Guess it was just a duck."
"Yeah."
Navi popped out of the water. "Are you crazy?" she whispered. "You could've gotten caught!"
"Well it was my only chance. Besides, I had a Plan B."
"What? If it was your only chance, there was no Plan B!"
"No, there was. But you know what my Plan B's are like."
He swam to a point where he could safely climb out of the water, and did. There, Link opened his pack.
"What are you doing?" Navi asked.
"Making sure everything is okay," Link answered. "Big tunic, check. Green rock, check. What's this?" He pulled out a small, black box that seemed pretty well sealed.
"Oh, that," Navi said. "I snuck it into your pack before we left home."
"How?"
"You probably don't want to know."
"Oh. Okay. So what is it?"
"A gift to the princess. The Great Deku Tree asked me to give it to her."
"Well, whatever. Ah, here it is. Ack! I crushed it!"
"What?"
Link pulled out pieces of the odd egg Malon had given him.
"Oh…" Navi said.
"Wait. What's this?" Link said. He gently pulled out a small item.
"I didn't put it in there, whatever it is," Navi said quickly.
The thing in his hands turned out to be a small, yellow bird.
"It's a cucco!" Navi said. "The egg hatched!"
"Oh. I didn't get to count it."
"What? Oh. Link, just give it up."
"What? Fine." They heard an odd sound, like a snore. Looking over, they saw a man in overalls laying up against a crate with a picture on it. His black hairline was far back on his head, and the hair came down on his face to form a mustache.
"That man's asleep!" Link said.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Navi said.
"What? No, I think he's Malon's dad."
"Oh, right. Well, wake him up."
"How?" Link stood and walked over to the man while Navi watched the baby cucco. Link cleared his throat. "Mr. Lon? Uh… Are you Malon's dad?" No answer, unless you count another snore. "Navi, he's not waking up."
"Try shaking him."
Link poked him. Nothing happened. He tapped his head. Nothing. Link started to grab the man's arm, but just then the sun peeked over the mountains. At that moment, the cucco gave one of the loudest (and most high pitched) cock-a-doodle-doo's you could ever hear.
Link covered his ears and Navi started buzzing in circles. The man in overalls woke with a start and shouted, "What in tarnation?"
The chick stopped crowing and the man continued.
"Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?" He stood up and noticed Link standing there. "Hello, and who might you be?" he asked.
"My name is Link. Are you Malon's father?"
"What? You know Malon?"
"Yeah. She asked me to look for you. That is, if you're her father."
"Yep, that's me," the man answered. I'm Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. I came here to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep… Wait a second. Did you say Malon was lookin' for me?"
"Actually she's having other people look for you," Link corrected.
"Uh-oh. I'm gonna catch it from her now!"
"Catch what? Is she sick?"
"I messed up bad, leavin' Malon behind to wait for me!"
"What are we talking about? She got sick in town?"
"She's really gonna let me have it!" Talon ran off shouting in terror, back toward town.
"What is she letting him have? I'm lost."
"That's okay, Link," Navi said. "Let's go see the princess."
"What's that?" Link said, noticing a hole in the castle wall across the moat, where water was trickling out into the moat. "Wow. A man made waterfall. I guess if the Hylian people can make their own springs…"
"What are you talking about?" Navi said. She saw what he was talking about. "Oh! Hey! That looks like the drain hole that man in town was talking about!"
"You're right… I guess. I wouldn't know. Well, grab the cucco."
"What?" But Navi's question came too late. Link strapped on his pack after quickly stuffing it and jumped across the moat. He grabbed the ledge the water was pouring off of, and nearly slipped, but moved his hands to either side of the drain hole, above the water.
Navi picked up the chick and flew into the hole ahead of Link. It looked to be a bit of a squeeze, but Link could make it, and then he would be in the castle. He wiggled through and came out in a shallow pool of water in a serene grassy area inside the castle walls.
"Huh. I figured the castle would be like… inside," Link said, taking a look around. "You know, like a house."
"This is obviously some kind of inner courtyard," Navi replied.
"Whatever that means. Hey, that little cucco is cute, but I can't take care of him. Not if I'm jumping around and rolling and swimming and fighting scary monsters when they randomly pop out of the ground."
"That was a little bit random, but… you are right," Navi said. "We'll just see what we can do with it."
"Maybe Malon didn't know there was a cucco inside. Maybe we should give it back."
"I think she knew, Link. She lives on a ranch."
"I don't care if she lives on a mountain! We can give it back to her!"
"Link, listen," Navi said slowly. "Malon gave you the egg. Eggs have cuccos inside. So, Malon gave you a cucco. But you're right. If we're going to keep going on adventures, we can't keep him."
"I'll name him Chub!"
"Chub? Link, if we're getting rid of him, we can't name him!"
"Why not? We can't just keep calling him 'Baby Cucco'."
Navi sighed and, though no one knew it, shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. I'll carry Chub until we find him a home."
"There's the spirit, Navi! Now quiet down, there might be guards around!"
"You're the one talking loudly."
Link was right, though, as they soon found out. Guards were all over the green passages in the inner courtyard. As sunlight had not yet penetrated the castle walls, they were still able to hide in shadows. They found themselves ducking behind statues and fountains. Link tried to keep the tails of his wet tunic from slapping his thighs and took off his boots so they didn't make a squishing sound when he walked. They passed several locked doors along the way, but eventually found a wall with only one passage in it. This doorway had no door, but was like an open corridor, opening into what appeared to be a circular area, roofless like the rest of the inner courtyard, with flowers in the central area and water skirting the area and hugging the walls. There were three windows; one across from the passageway and two others across from each other perpendicular to the other window and entryway.
At this moment, a single ray of sunlight climbed over the wall behind Link, Navi, and Chub, and reached in the opposite window. Glowing in the ray of sunlight was a girl about Link's age, peering in the window. At the sight of the sun, Chub gave a loud, shrill crow, which startled the girl into turning around and spying Link. The moment Chub cried out, Navi swooped into Link's hat with the cucco. Link could make out the sound of Navi trying to teach the chick that crowing in the castle right now was not good.
"Who!" was the girl's first reaction. She paused for a moment, but Link didn't answer. If Malon was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen, this girl was the prettiest. She had a smooth, round face, and bright, blue eyes. She wore a pink and purple dress with interesting designs on it, and held herself with an air of self-confidence and maturity.
After Link didn't respond, she repeated her question. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"
At this point, Navi flew out of Link's hat. "I think he'll behave now," she said. "What are you doing in the shadows? You're scaring her!" Link took a few steps into the courtyard.
"Oh? What's that?" the girl asked when she saw Navi. "Is that… a fairy! Then, are you…" She noticed his green clothes. "Are you from the forest?" She wiped her face and recomposed herself.
Link nodded. Somehow he wasn't sure if he should say anything, and wasn't sure he could anyway. His mouth was dry and shut tight, afraid of what to do or say. Was this the princess?
"Then… then…" the girl seemed to be just as startled and scared as Link, as though she had been searching for him. "You wouldn't happen to have… the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you?"
Link walked forward after being prodded by Navi. He took off his pack and pulled out the Kokiri Emerald. He stood in front of her, holding it out.
"Just as I thought!" She giggled, seeming very pleased. Link was strangely happy to have pleased her.
"I had a dream…" she continued. "In the dream, dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule… But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds, and lit up the ground… The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy…"
"That would be us," Navi said.
"I know that this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest… And, yes, I thought you might be the one… Oh!" she said suddenly, causing Link to jump. "I'm sorry! I got carried away with my story and didn't properly introduce myself! I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."
The princess! They had finally arrived! Now, their journey was done. They fulfilled the Great Deku Tree's wish.
"What is your name?" she asked him.
"L-Link. My name is Link, Princess," he responded.
"Link…" she rolled the name over her tongue. "Strange… it sounds somehow… familiar. Okay then, Link… I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone."
"Sure," Link said slowly.
"The legend goes like this," she started. "The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule – the power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands."
"Oh. Cool! So, I could get, like, a ham sandwich, or a… fruit of some kind… man, I'm getting really hungry. When was the last time I ate!" Link started backtracking in his head.
"Link, would you take this seriously?" said Zelda. "My goodness. You Kokiri are quite… what's the word? Rambunctious?"
"Uh… I wouldn't know. That's a big word." Link got the impression that Zelda didn't like his remark. But he was hungry.
"Anyway, Link, back to the legend. If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity. If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil. That is what has been told. So the ancient sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones."
"Temple of Time?" Link asked.
"Yes, that's right. The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need three Spiritual Stones."
"Door of Time, Spiritual Stones," Link noted aloud.
"Right. And another thing you need… is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend… the Ocarina of Time!"
"So what's with all this 'Time' stuff?"
"What?"
"Temple of Time, Door of Time, Ocarina of Time… couldn't they come up with other titles?"
"I guess it's a theme, Link. Perhaps it means they have withstood the weathering of time."
"What's that? The Weathering of Time. How does that fit in?"
"Link, give it up," Navi said.
"This story is only what has been told, as I said before," Zelda said.
"By who?"
"What?" Zelda asked.
"That is what has been told by who?" Link asked. "How do you know it's real?"
"It is real, Link. It is the oldest tale in Hyrule! There are shrines, pedestals, and temples all over the world dedicated to this belief."
"So who told you?"
"My mother."
"Oh. What's that?"
"What? Oh! You don't have a mother, do you? Just the Great Deku Tree."
"No, not him either," Link said. "He was cursed, and he died."
"Oh. I'm sorry. Wait…" She paused for a moment. "Do you know who cursed him?"
"Yes. A bug," Link said. "Wait! No! The Deku Tree said it was a man from the dessert."
"Dessert?" Zelda asked, confused.
"Desert, Link!" Navi corrected.
"Oh! The desert."
"A man from the desert? I think I know who," Zelda said. "There's only one man from the desert that I know of."
"Who is it?" Link asked.
"He's in here," she said, waving her hand to the window. "I was spying through this window just now. The other element from my dream, the dark clouds, I believe they symbolize that man in there! Do you want to see him?"
"Yes, I do," Link said. He stepped up to the window and looked in.
"Can you see the man with the evil eyes?" Zelda asked.
Link saw a long room with guards lining the walls. Inside, he noted, was a man in a chair wearing expensive clothes, and a dark skinned man with red hair was kneeling to him. Link recognized him: the man from his dream! The sorcerer who attacked Link in front of Hyrule Castle Town!"
"I think I know who he is," Link said.
"That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert far to the west," Zelda informed. "Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere."
"I'll say," Link commented.
"The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream… They must symbolize that man!"
Suddenly, Chub knocked off Link's hat and crowed again. The guards inside looked toward the window, as did Ganondorf. Link's eyes met the desert man's and Link's heart jumped. The look that man gave him made him leap back in fright.
"What happened?" Zelda asked. "Did he see you?"
Navi had tackled Chub and was chastising him again for his racket.
"Don't worry," Zelda said, though her voice was slightly wavering. She seemed to take on new courage when she said, "He doesn't have any idea what we're planning… yet!"
"What are we planning?" Link asked.
"To stop him from taking Hyrule from my father, of course"
"Didn't you tell your father about him?"
"Yes. I told my father about my dream. However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy. But… I can sense that man's evil intentions! What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And he wants to conquer Hyrule… no, the entire world!"
"You 'sensed' all of this?" Link asked.
"Well, yes. I've also found some of it out for certain myself."
"And your father still doesn't believe you?"
"Link, my father will not… cannot believe me. Now, we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule!"
Link laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, no!" Link said. "I'm not laughing at you, Princess. It's just that you're telling me that two children are the only hope to save the world from an evil sorcerer! I mean, all I've got is a sword, a shield, and a slingshot!"
"A slingshot?" Zelda asked. She seemed unusually interested.
"Yeah. But I won an archery game with it!"
"You what?" Zelda started laughing now.
"Now what's so funny about that?"
"No, no. Just ironic."
"Okay."
Zelda suddenly became very somber. "Link, I am afraid. I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it is fortunate that you have come. We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! If I have anything to say, he shall not have it! Your mission, Link, will be to find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does, and then defeat him! One more thing…" Zelda picked up a piece of parchment that had been sitting on the windowsill and started writing with a quill. "Take this letter," she said when she had finished, and handed it to him. "I'm sure it will be helpful to you."
"But I didn't get you anything, Princess," Link said.
"No, we did, Link!" Navi reminded. She reached in his pack and pulled out the box. She tried to carry it to Zelda, but it was too heavy and she had to drop it in Link's hands. He handed the box to her.
"Actually, it's from Navi and the Great Deku Tree," Link said.
"Link!" Navi said.
"Navi?" Zelda asked.
"Me!" Navi said.
"Hmm… I know!" Link said. He picked up Chub and placed him on top of the box in Zelda's arms. "Keep him! He'd just end up getting hurt with me!"
"Oh. Thank you," Zelda said less than enthusiastically.
"His name's Chub."
"Okay. Well, good luck," she said. "My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Don't be afraid to talk to her."
Link turned back to the entrance to leave and found a strong looking woman with dark skin and white hair. She wore battle clothes and bore a strange eye-like mark on her chest.
Link's first thought was, 'Uh-oh! The guards found me!' But Zelda calmed him.
"That's my attendant and bodyguard," she said.
"Oh." Link walked up to her.
"I am Impa of the Sheikah. I am responsible for protecting Zelda. Everything is exactly as the princess foretold."
"Okay," Link said. "I guess you believe her, then."
"Yes I do."
"And you heard our whole discussion?"
"Yes I did."
"I didn't even see you!"
"You are a courageous boy… Link was it?"
Link nodded.
"You are heading out on a big, new adventure aren't you?"
"Yep. Lookin' for Spiritual Stones."
"If the castle soldiers find you, there will be trouble. Let me lead you out of the castle."
"Sure!" Link said. He ran back over to Zelda and picked up his hat. "Almost forgot this!" he said.
"Goodbye, Link," Zelda said. "And good luck on your quest! May the goddesses protect you!"