Link's Awakening
Chapter One: Memories of My Youth
My name is Link, er… well technically its Link Junior, because I was named after my father, and I've decided to start a diary… is that right, a diary? Or are those for girls? I don't know, a diary, a journal, whatever… I just want to get all this written down before I forget, because the whole ordeal is a little harder to recall every day. At first it was all so fresh in my mind, as clear and real as if everything had happened only hours ago, but I'm getting older now… and I don't care if anyone ever wishes to read it or not, I just don't want them all to be forgotten.
Hey, maybe I'll have it published as a book when I'm finished, who knows? If so, then maybe I should begin with a proper introduction, uh, it can always be edited later if I decide I don't like it. As I said, my name is Link Junior, but I will absolutely not stand for anyone calling me Junior, not since my friend… we'll get to that later. Anyway, I am the Lord Sheriff of Hyrule, responsible for dispensing justice and keeping the peace throughout all the different provinces, just like my father was before me.
My father… when I was a boy, a stupid, stupid boy, I hated being his son, and for selfish reasons. The whole kingdom loved Link Senior; after all he was the great hero who defeated Ganondorf and rescued Princess Zelda from Spectacle Rock, not bad for a common forest bandit, right? Surprised? Most people don't know that part of the story; my father was not some high-born noble who rode on a white horse to protect the land, no my mother told me the truth. He was a thief who swindled travelers out of their money.
How he did it was actually pretty creative; he and his best friend, Agahnim the wizard, that's Agahnim Senior, not the one my age, would stage a robbery, with Link coming to rescue the frightened people at the last minute. The travelers were so grateful for their hero that they always rewarded him quite well, and then once it was over my father and Agahnim would split the rupees. It was a complete accident that they ended up involved in the quest to save the Princess, and although The Legend of Zelda is an epic stage play performed every year, the real story makes me wonder how any of them managed to survive at all.
My father, Agahnim, Lady Miranda, and Prince Façade of Arcadia, the great heroes of Hyrule… sure. Link and Façade nearly killed each other because they each thought the other worked for Ganondorf, while Agahnim and Miranda ended up getting married when the whole affair was done. Did you know that she was actually Blind the Master Thief back in the day? Yes, they reclaimed the two Triforces, and defeated Ganondorf, happily ever after as Zelda and Façade got married, yes, wonderful… I had to hear that story so many times.
Throughout my whole childhood I was always told how great my father was, and how everyone expected the same of me, but I wanted to be noticed for my own deeds, not just because I was the son of a hero. My father would tell me that one day I was going to be the Lord Sheriff, and that the silver sword he had been given by the King would be passed to me, but honestly I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to go off and have my own adventure, somewhere far away where I could start off on my own, but then my mother would tell me how just running off like that would break my father's heart.
Defeating Ganondorf wasn't his only accomplishment, oh no, just being a hero once over was not enough for Link Senior, not at all. There is another stage play that gets performed at yearly celebrations, and although the actors do their rendition of The Adventure of Link, it is nothing like the real story. The play would have everyone believe that my father went on an epic quest to recover the lost third Triforce, and that he rescued my mother in the process of saving the whole kingdom… not quite.
See, the original Princess Zelda was placed under a spell by my mother, but I guess she screwed up somehow and ended up trapping both of them by the curse forever, I don't really understand that part. Anyway, after getting dozens of Hyrule's greatest heroes killed by traps that she created, it was finally my father's turn. This time he had to go alone, since someone named Gooma, who was Ganondorf's butler or something, was trying to steal the throne. The other heroes stopped him, while Link managed to not get himself killed… I'll just skip to the end; he found the Triforce, woke up the Princess, and then married my mother… just between you and me, the Princess turned him down flat.
I knew my responsibilities, but I still wanted to leave the kingdom, at least for a while. Instead I was trained as a guard, and sent to do a tour of duty in several villages in different Provinces, since this was how my father believed I should begin learning how to succeed him. Not by pillaging ancient crypts or fighting off evil sorcerers, but by breaking up tavern brawls and listening to villagers argue about property lines. My little brother seemed to enjoy it enough, and I suggested that he should become the next Lord Sheriff, but my father wouldn't hear it. Besides, they had different plans for him.
My best friend throughout those days was Agahnim Junior, the son of my father's best friend… fitting, right? Anyhow, my best friend had a younger sister, and my brother went head over heels for her the instant they met. It was decided by our collective parents that while I was to be the next Sheriff and Agahnim was to be the King's next Court Wizard, my brother was to marry his sister, and become the next Lord of the Southern Outskirts Province… so much political nonsense to remember that it makes my head hurt.
Agahnim wanted to leave Hyrule as much as I did, and no not just because his blue skin would turn red with anger whenever he saw his sister holding onto my brother's arm when they walked together. He wanted his own life as well, being that his father was a great hero as well, and we started making plans to take a voyage together. I remember feeling thrilled as the two of us stayed up late at night, figuring out how we were going to get a boat, and then actually where we were going to go… honestly, we had no idea. Getting a boat was easy, it just took money, but then, I guess… just sail until we landed somewhere?
What foolish, prideful boys we were, thinking that just because at our age our fathers lived in a cave and had to make their own way, that we could do the same. We talked about rescuing some Princess from a faraway land and becoming heroes ourselves, and then the people would say: Gosh, does anyone know where they came from? No, I've never heard of their fathers. Yes, eventually, we planned to come back, maybe after a couple years or so, but the only problem was that we were going to have to sneak away. My father would never allow it, and Agahnim's father, well… I once saw him turn a prisoner into one of those gelatinous Bot creatures… it was horrible… not a man you wanted to cross.
So we had everything planned out; enough rupees saved up for a boat, plenty of supplies, and the infinite hopefulness of youth. However, when the morning came for us to leave, the two of us received the shock of our lives when not one, but both of our fathers were waiting there for us. They were just sitting there on the boat, laughing together as they talked about nothing important, and I thought that we were in a lot of trouble. However, this was not the care… instead, our fathers both wished us luck, with Link Senior saying that he understood why we were leaving.
I think that was the first time I really had a conversation with my father that didn't begin with 'now see here, boy', and that was also the first time that I really felt like I was an adult in charge of my own destiny. Funny thing is that anyone who has actually grown up would give anything to be a child again, but those are lessons that we learn in time. He told me to be careful, and that he expected me to come back with plenty of my own stories to tell, and he was right… oh, my word he was right. Agahnim and I should have never left home.
Our fathers left just as the sun was coming up, and that was that… time to cast off. The two of us were all smiles as we untied our small wooden boat from the dock and set the sails… sometimes if I think really hard I can still smell the warm breeze that carried us away from the port. I looked back as the kingdom of Hyrule got smaller, eventually losing sight of my home completely as we hit the open water, and that was the first time it dawned on me that we were off on our own. No history, no responsibility, just me and my best friend off to find our fortunes, and seek out adventure… and all that.
Adventure, though… while it can be fun and spark the imagination to hear the tales of great heroes like my father, one thing I learned was that the stories are better. Real adventure is frightening, and it can hurt… not just physically, but deep into your heart. Oh, you better believe that I had my own adventure, much more than I expected, but I didn't tell any epic tales upon my eventual return. In fact, I didn't say much about the whole affair, to anyone really… not to my parents, my brother, not even to my little niece Lina when she would ask me to tell her stories before bed.
Now I have to write it all down, there's no choice, because I almost forgot Marin's name the other day. Marin… sometimes at night I still cry a little when I think about her… her, and Agahnim, and my damn selfish need for adventure. I've never told anyone the tale, but I will now… I will write down every word about what happened to me on Koholint Island, no matter how painful it is to remember… and it all started with two idiots on a little wooden ship… headed for stormy weather.