Link's Awakening

Chapter Seven: The Library

I had a good time at the supper festival, and I enjoyed Marin's company more and more with each moment that I spent with her, but there were so many things going on at once that it was hard to concentrate. The rarity of outsiders on the island, Agahnim's disappearance, the instruments, the Wind Fish, that whole thing with the owl… Tarin invited me to continue staying with them until I got everything figured out, but that night was going to be one that was spent inside of the town library. A night that turned out to be a lot more eventful than I had expected.

Link didn't care for the owl very much, but it had been correct in saying that he needed to learn more about the island before wandering around, especially after the close calls the young man had inside of the Tail Cave. So after borrowing Marin's lantern, and saying goodnight to her and her father, he began making his way toward the library. It was a good thing he borrowed the lantern, because Koholint Island got amazingly dark once the sun went down, and its small circle of orange light made it a lot easier to find his way.

Upon reaching the small stone building at the edge of the village, the young man was surprised to find that the door was unlocked, but with as dusty and stale as the air was inside the place, Link wasn't surprised to find it in a neglected state. Just like down in the hidden sanctuary, there was a thick layer of dust on the floor, as well as across the tables and even the bookshelves, as if no one in Mabe Village had felt the need to look at a book in years. It was a bit hard to breathe, so the young man opened the small window on each side of the building, causing him to cough when the incoming breeze kicked up a large cloud of dust.

Between the windows and the door all being open, the cloud was sucked out in a couple minutes, but there was still quite a bit of dust. It was manageable now, so Link went around the large room, using the lantern to light the old candles that sat on metal brackets, illuminating the library in a soft orange glow. This was not the ideal amount of light to read by, but it was fine once the lantern was set down on the table next to where he decided to sit, and… it was just more comfortable to have the building not be completely dark.

For such a small village on a tiny island, there sure were a lot of books to choose from, and the young man was trying to figure out where he should start, since there wasn't any kind of directory system, when he discovered that there was already a pile of books left out on one of the back tables. A mostly burned out candle sat next to them, along with a dusty chair as if someone had been reading there right before the library had been abandoned, and there were bookmarks left inside each one as well, so… maybe these volumes were a good place to start if they were interesting enough to be left out like that.

The largest, but thinnest of the books turned out to be an atlas of Koholint Island, and although the place was a bit larger than he thought, getting oriented was easy once he found Mabe Village. So far the young man had visited the village, the Tail Cave, which was surprisingly plainly marked, and Toronbo Shore, which was where he had been shipwrecked. Beyond that, however, a diverse landscape was illustrated, including one other large settlement labeled… Animal Village… odd name, and everything from flat lands, prairies, and even a swamp. The entire northern section of the island, however, was dominated by the Tal Tal Mountains… where a very large white orb with pink spots sat on the very top.

Next to the orb, someone had handwritten the words 'Wind Fish?' with a circle around it, but that object didn't look much like a fish of any kind to him. Looked more like an egg, Link thought as he looked around at the rest of the map, discovering that a few more locations had been labeled in a similar way. The Tail Cave was one of them, along with a small cottage just to the south of the mountains that was labeled 'Tracy' but surrounded with a heart instead of a circle, and… gosh, there was just so much on the map that someone must have spent a long time figuring it all out.

Not wanting to waste the whole night looking at the atlas, the young man decided that he would simply take the page with him… no one would notice… and chose another book to look through. This one was more like a children's storybook full of local folk tales and legends, but the marked page just happened to be about the Wind Fish. The last castaway to wash up there must have been trying to figure everything out, too… but for a story that was as important as the owl said it was, there sure wasn't much written down.

The short version was that supposedly the giant orb on the top of the highest mountain on the island was actually the egg of the Wind Fish, and that the mythical creature was asleep inside. In order to wake it up, the eight Instruments of the Sirens had to be gathered together and played in front of the egg… so what, he had to get seven other people to help him play for the Wind Fish? That seemed kind of silly, but then again so did a talking owl, and even if Link did manage to put the band together, there was no mention of how the music was supposed to go in the first place.

What he needed to do was find the last person to wash up on the island all those years ago, but unfortunately no one in Mabe Village seemed to know much about him. The only lead as far as that was concerned was the cottage labeled Tracy… who knows, maybe the young man wasn't the only castaway to meet a pretty girl after arriving? If anyone could point him toward the other outsider, it was this Tracy person, but Link just hoped that the last arrival wasn't like a hundred years ago or anything like that… then he would truly be on his own.

Suddenly a distant rumble of thunder took his attention away from the book, and Link was forced to get up when a gust of stronger wind brought with it the first drops of rain. Closing the windows and door so that his candles wouldn't get blown out, the young man was now starting to hear the rain falling on the roof as it got heavier, and since that was about everything written about the Wind Fish in that book, he decided to try another one. But this attempt to read the third book was interrupted yet again, this time by the sound of something heavy slamming into the closed door.

At first Link thought that it was a tree branch or something that had gotten swept up in the intensifying wind and rain, but then the door shook again, this time more lightly, and there were… some kinds of sounds mixed in with the rattling and the rain. Almost sounded like a grunt or something growling, maybe an animal scratching at the door in an attempt to get out of the rain, but then another growl joined in… and now they were… arguing in hushed voices?

"Hello?" The young man called, getting to his feet. "Is someone there?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the tone of the growling voices changed to being startled, and then they were just gone, like whoever it was had run from the door to avoid getting caught. Well, that was about the most suspicious thing that Link had seen since washing up on the island, so he picked up the lantern and headed toward the door to investigate. Was it any of his business? Probably not, but he was a trained guard, and after all the hospitality the people of Mabe Village had shown him, the least the young man could do was stop a crime from happening… if that was even the case.

Walking over to the door and pushing it open, the young man didn't see anyone there as he held up the lantern, but there were some tracks in the dirt that didn't look like they belonged to an animal. If this were Hyrule, he could have identified those prints right away, but so far there weren't many things in common with his home, so keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword, Link headed out into the rain. It wasn't storming or anything, just a heavy sprinkle really, with the wind making it feel worse than it was, but then he discovered the source of the voices, and was shocked at what he saw.

"It supposed to be right here… somewhere." The first creature said, appearing to get frustrated. "You know map, where is house of Meow lady?"

"Me not know map, you know map." The other one replied. "Better find Meow lady fast or Captain be angry."

Link couldn't believe it… they were Moblins. Yes, Moblins, just like the ones in Hyrule, walking around barefoot with a kind of light armored shirt, and carrying spears… so some things here were similar to home after all. The stocky dog-like creatures were bickering back and forth so much that they didn't appear to notice the young man at all, even with the lantern illuminating his body for the whole world to see. Technically they hadn't done anything wrong… yet… but Moblins were known for causing all kinds of trouble in Hyrule, so why should they be any different here?

"Good evening, boys." Link said confidently while walking up to them. "What's your business here in the village?"

During training, the young man had been taught that while questioning suspicious characters, to keep his hand on his sword without drawing it, and to speak in an assertive tone without getting overly aggressive. This posture helped to show that the guards were in charge without appearing jumpy or afraid, and it worked perfectly on the Moblins. The stocky creatures began to talk over each other, stumbling over their words while trying to hastily build a cover story, but at least they hadn't readied their spears yet.

"Now, people might get the wrong idea, you walking around at night with those spears." The young man continued, stepping a little bit closer. "So to clear things up, I'll ask you again… what is your business here in the village, and what do you want with the, uh… did you call her the Meow…

Suddenly Link saw a flash of white as something struck him hard in the side of the head, hard enough to throw him sideways where he fell into the mud. The lantern fell from his grip at some point, leaving the young man in total darkness as he scrambled to his feet and started to draw his sword… only to feel a big hand grab his arm, forcing the blade back down into its sheath. All he could see in front of him was the barely visible darkened outline of something that looked like a Moblin, but it was huge; a lot taller and larger built than he was, growling angrily while looking down at him.

"Mind… own… business." Its deep voice said calmly, lifting him up by the arms. "You… live… longer."

The figure then raised its leg, kicking Link in the chest as it let go of his arms, sending the young man flying right through the door of the library. Rolling and bouncing his way across the dusty floor, he came to a stop hard against the bottom of a bookcase, and was just starting to get up to go after the Moblins and their big friend… when the whole bookcase fell over on top of him.