Woo-hoo, an update! Sorry for the multiple cliffhangers, but it's what keeps people interested in the story! At any rate, thanks, as always, to my reviewers since my last update- Alli-dunno; adrian-air-fire; Hylian Princess; Omega87; Futuristic-dudette; TheGoddessKnight; Kariah; Ygfi; Gir Crazy; Silvara; shinsei101; Goku's Mistress; Infernal Flame Zero; lilykat14; Sheik's twin; UlrichYumiforever; sasukeuchiha (for two reviews); Some Guy (for two reviews); Hououza (for two reviews); and Ericketiting (for three reviews).
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series, in whole or in part.
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"What it is, Zel?" Link asked, entering the room.
I gestured for him to kneel next to me.
"I still don't get it," he said.
"Here," I answered, grabbing his hand and guiding it across the floor.
"Oh, I understand now," he murmured, his eyes widening.
He knocked hard on the plywood, which emitted a hollow sound. "It's a trapdoor, alright."
I felt along the grooves cut through the floor until I happened upon a small latch. Releasing it, I struggled to force open the door. With Link's help, I finally jerked it open.
We looked down into the small hole under the door for merely a few seconds before a musty smell came welling up, making us cough. I went to open the window, while Link went to get a lantern. We went back to the hole once the musty air started to thin out. Link shined the lantern over the hole, and we studied it thoroughly.
It looked to be several feet deep, with muddy water on the bottom glittering in the soft yellow light from the lantern. The sides of the hole were relatively clean, except that they were spattered with reddish stains in some areas.
"Is that... blood?" I gulped.
"I don't know. Could be. Guess there's only one way to find out," Link said.
Before I could object, he started down the small ledges carved into one side of the hole, like a ladder.
"Wait for me!" I called.
After a long descent, we hit the last "rung" and jumped down into the water, which was about knee-deep. Having sighted a tunnel, we waded through the water, finding it getting shallower with each step. Eventually, we were out of the water and walking along the dirt.
We eventually reached a fork. Unsure of where to go, Link held the light close to the dirt floor, and we looked at it carefully. I finally picked up on a faint set of tracks. It appeared that not only had some strange creatures passed through there- perhaps Moblins- but that they had been dragging something. Or someone.
The tracks led towards the left, so that's the direction we took. After some time walking, we finally came upon the end of the tunnel. I began to scale the wall, with Link following me. Reaching the top, I shined the lantern along the ceiling and found a latch. Releasing it, I pushed up, and another trapdoor opened.
I slowly stuck my head out and looked around. Seeing that it was clear, I clambered out, Link quickly following. We closed the trapdoor and, concentrating on our surroundings found that we were in a large chamber, empty save a cell in the corner.
"This is just like the chamber in my dream," I whispered to Link. "The one where Ganon..."
My voice trailed off as we heard a low moan, that seemed to be coming from the cell. I crept over and peered in, and, to my shock, found it was occupied.
Although I didn't recognize the beings inside, I could tell they were Hylians by their ears and manner of dress. There were four of them, and they appeared to be a family- two parents, a young daughter, barely school-age, and an infant son.
"Please, don't hurt us!" the mother begged, clutching her son to her breast as her daughter clung to her legs.
"Adalia, please, calm down, Love," the father said. "Princess Zelda, I apologize for my wife's actions," he said, bowing before me.
"Oh, Princess Zelda! So sorry, I did not recognize you!" Adalia proclaimed, curtsying as best she could, considering the children were attached to her.
"It's quite alright," I smiled. "But, please, tell me what has passed. It's very important that my fiancé, Link, and I know."
"Well, Princess, my name is Kiefer, and I am a craftsman and farmer. While I work, my wife maintains the house and cares for our children, Gretchen and Anton. The other day, I had just come in from milking the cow when we sat down to dinner. Suddenly we heard a noise that seemed to be coming from under the floor.
"I crouched down and put my ear to the floor to investigate, when a sudden force threw me back. My wife's scream wiped away the haze, and I realized that a portion of the floor had been pushed up and hit me. We watched in horror as a mist began to creep into the room. Suddenly, the mist materialized into several mysterious, dog-like creatures. They were dressed in strange outfits, and some of them wielded spears, while others wielded arrows."
I raised my eyebrows at this. Moblins.
"My husband yelled at me to grab the children and escape," Adalia continued for Kiefer, "but it was too late. The creatures had blocked the doorway, and there was nowhere to go. As they circled us and closed in, we had no choice but to surrender."
"Had you ever seen the creatures before?" Link asked.
Kiefer and Adalia shook their heads. "We just moved to Hyrule not six months ago. I was once a merchant, but lost my business when our hometown was suddenly invaded by evil forces. I was forced to take refuge here with my family," Kiefer explained. "I barely had enough money to purchase the farm, and we were half-starved already."
"Well, the creatures you saw are indeed native to Hyrule. In fact, they attacked Link and myself just a couple days ago. You see, we were caught in a storm, and sought shelter at your farm, seeing it was abandoned. And the creatures, called Moblins, ambushed us."
"What has happened to our farm? We have been imprisoned here for two days," Adalia spoke up.
"It was ransacked," Link informed her. "We returned earlier today to figure out why, and that's when Princess Zelda stumbled across a trapdoor. It must be the same one that they used to come up through the floor and capture all of you."
"But don't worry, we'll get you out of here," I reassured them. "And we will take care of this problem for good, and see to it that you get your farm back, and in even better condition than when you first moved there. Just stand back, all of you, against the eastern wall."
Once the family moved back, I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I could feel the power channeling into my hands, until it felt as if it would burst forth. I reached out to the bars and touched them, and they heated up rapidly.
I opened my eyes and watched as the white-hot metal began to melt with my touch. Soon there was a big enough hole for the prisoners to escape. I grinned happily before swooning from the loss of energy.
"Princess," Link caught me just before I hit the floor. He helped me to the wall, and I leaned against it, sliding down until I was seated. As I took a moment to collect myself, he spoke with Kiefer and Adalia.
"Listen carefully. There is a trapdoor a few steps away, right next to the muddy footprints. All of you are to go through it at once, then close it and travel through the tunnel. It will eventually meet up with a larger tunnel; continue down that other tunnel until you reach the end. Climb up the wall at the end, as there are several small ledges that will collectively act as a ladder. When you reach the top, you will find that you are back in your farmhouse.
"There isn't much left at your residence, but gather up what you wish and go into Hyrule Castle Town immediately. Stay at the inn there until the princess and I summon for you. Here is a bag of rupees that will pay for your room and board until it is safe for you to leave. Go now, and do not look back!"
"Oh, thank you so much," Kiefer said, shaking Link's hand. He started to bow to me, but I clambered to my feet and hugged him.
"Best of luck," I whispered. I did the same to Adalia.
"Thank you, Your Grace," she whispered back, as she and her family hurried off.
Link and I watched until they disappeared into the tunnel, closing the trapdoor behind them.
"What now?" I asked.
"I say we do a little more investigating. I think I know where we are, but we'd best make sure before we head home."
Link took my hand, and together we crept over to the massive door.
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