Link's Awakening

Chapter Eight: A Missing Bow-Wow

I never had trouble dealing with Moblins, most guards didn't after being properly trained, at least as long as the little pests didn't lure them into an ambush, but I had never expected to see one that was that was bigger than me. Sometimes I tell myself that if that bookcase hadn't fallen on top of me, I could've stopped the Moblins from carrying out their business in the village, but that big one, the Captain they had called him, I don't think I could have fought him off after taking that kick… either way, the bookcase knocked me out, and the sun was rising by the time my eyes opened again.

With his chest still a little sore from getting kicked across the room last night, and his head throbbing a little from the bookcase's sneak attack, Link slowly pushed open the library's front door to find that it was still raining. Although the sun was up, there was a thick, dark gray overcast that made the landscape a nowhere near as bright as it had been yesterday, and the falling rain had made the grass slippery while all of the dirt became mud. No signs of the Moblins, though, not that the young man could've really expected them to hang around after what happened.

The lantern was still lying where it had fallen, although long put-out by the rain over the course of the night, but… what the hell did Moblins want from a place like Mabe Village? Usually the little dog-like creatures only risked attacking lone travelers along the road, or maybe a village if there was something really valuable, and except for the Full Moon Cello… oh shit, the Full Moon Cello! Nearly slipping and falling down in the mud as he started running, Link was only just barely able to keep his balance as he made his way back to Marin and Tarin's house.

Dropping to his knees and looking under the big man's bed, the young man let out a loud sigh of relief when he saw that the reclaimed instrument was still there, but just then the door opened, forcing Link to jump up to his feet just as the owners of the house came in. Marin and her father were nice enough people, but he wasn't sure how they would react if they found out that one of the most precious artifacts on the island was under the bed… but thankfully their minds seemed to be on other things at the moment.

"Oh Link, it's horrible!" The young woman exclaimed, sounding like she was about to cry while throwing her arms around him. "Haven't you heard?! They came in the night, and they… and they… oh, poor Madam Meow-Meow!"

"It was those things from the forest, I tell ya." Tarin grumbled, folding his arms. "I seen'em wandering around, getting a little closer to the village each time… this wouldn't have happened if Prince Richard did somethin' about those things when we first complained."

This conversation caused Link to bring up several questions, beginning with who this Prince Richard was, and apparently he was the Lord of Koholint Island. There had been a large castle at the center of the island's map that he saw, and this was presumably where the Prince lived… one more person the young man would be able to ask about Agahnim and the last castaway once there was time. This brought him back to the Moblins, specifically asking the big man where he had seen them in the forest, and what they had done to Madam, uh… Meow-Meow?

She was crying at this point from being so upset, but Link didn't mind hugging the young woman and comforting her while her father explained that the little creatures had broken into her property and stolen something called a Bow-wow. All right, maybe it would just be easier for him to go over to the scene of the crime with Tarin and have Madam Meow-Meow… was that really her name? Anyway, have her explain what happened. Man, who would've thought that after leaving Hyrule so that he didn't have to be a town guard, that Link would end up having to act as one in this place?

Marin had come along as well, wanting to do anything she could to help get Bow-wow back, so after walking through the rain again the three of them ended up at the house of Madam Meow-Meow. She was about as old as his mother, with dark hair that was rapidly going gray, and appeared to live alone since the only furniture visible in her home was a small bed, one chair, and a large sort of makeshift bed that Link assumed was for the missing Bow-wow… fine, apparently it was her pet, but why would Moblins want to steal that? Madam Meow-Meow didn't appear to be rich or anything.

Seeing the woman sitting there all alone in this house also made Link think of his own mother, and how terribly he missed her, even though it had only been a short time since he left Hyrule. Well, his mother wasn't exactly alone, either; Link Senior was there, as was his brother and Agahnim's sister, since the pair were literally inseparable… maybe the young man was feeling this way because after everything was said and done, it was him who had ended up alone.

"I heard them break open the door, and my Bow-wow was just gone!" The woman wailed, blowing her nose into a handkerchief. "My precious little baby is out there with those monsters, all alone… he's all alone!"

"Don't cry, Madam Meow-Meow." Marin said, trying to be reassuring without crying again herself. "Link used to be a guard where he came from, so he can find your baby… you can do it, can't you, Link?"

The honest answer was that no, the young man had absolutely no idea how to track down a bunch of Moblins through an unfamiliar forest, especially since the rain probably washed away their tracks… but when the young woman looked up at him with those big, sad eyes, pleading with him to help find the lost pet… the answer that came out of his mouth was yes. Sure, why not? After all, Link was already searching for his best friend and some missing castaway, on top of collecting musical instruments for an owl that he didn't even like… so why shouldn't he add find this woman's pet onto the stack?

Marin hugged him again after answering, and now Madam Meow-Meow was looking more hopeful as well, but… how in the hell was he going to find the Moblins again in the first place? Faced with disappointing both of them, which was actually worse than just admitting that he didn't know what to do, Link's salvation came when Tarin volunteered to go with him, since the big man had already seen where the little creatures had been gathering. The young man wanted to hug him right there, but instead remained calm while saying that having a guide would definitely make the search go faster, and everyone seemed to agree.

The young woman was so happy about this that she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and by the time that Link's thoughts recovered enough for him to become aware of his surroundings, he was suddenly following Tarin toward the north edge of town. His mother had told him that when starting the quest to save Princess Zelda, his father had some kind of magical compass that pointed him constantly in the right direction, but even better than that, the young man had Marin's Dad… a man who seemed surprised by the rain, and didn't even bother trying to find some kind of weapon before tracking down Moblins.

Some distant thunder rumbled across the sky as the rain just kept coming, but thankfully the lush canopy of leaves protected them from most of it as soon as they passed the tree line into the forest. Only thing was, that it was dark, like almost as if the sun had gone down. There was slightly more light than that, allowing the young man to see the dim outline of trails and pathways curving around the larger trees, but without the lantern there was just no way to even see where they were going, let alone find Madam Meow-Meow's missing pet.

"You're gonna want to stay close." Tarin said, lighting up the freshly dried lantern, which illuminated a small area around them. "When I was a boy, the forest was completely safe, but ever since those Moblins started skulking around, it's hard to even gather mushrooms in broad daylight."

Unlike the open area outside the library, the close proximity of the leaves and trees around them was actually causing the flickering orange light to reflect, thereby illuminating a slightly larger area. It was good that the big man was holding the lantern, since it left Link's hands free to wield his sword and shield in case they were ambushed, but when the young man asked him about where the Moblins had come from, he insisted that they must've come from some other part of the island, even though no one had ever seen them before a few years ago.

"I think they might have come from Hyrule, like I did." Link continued as they slowly navigated down a path. "After we find, uh… Bow-wow, I was wondering if you could help me track down the last person who was shipwrecked here, more than ten years ago. I'm hoping that he either has a map of the seas or…

"Now son, I need you to just stop right there." The big man said, suddenly turning back to face him. "Look, I know you're sweet on my Marin, and that's fine, she's grown, but don't be fillin' her head with that nonsense about other places out in the water. We both know you were born right here on Koholint like the rest of us, so take some advice from someone who knows a thing or two about women, and just be honest with her… now let's go find Bow-wow."

Nonsense about other places out in the water? Those words echoed throughout the young man's mind as he continued to follow Tarin down the path… how could he believe that there weren't any other places out there? Was it possible that Koholint was so small and isolated from the rest of the world that the people there really did think that they were alone? If so, then how did they explain the Moblins suddenly appearing years ago like he said? Or how no one on such a tiny island had ever seen Link before?

It seemed that with Koholint Island, every time one of the young man's questions got answered, three more just popped up in its place… yes, Link was going to find Bow-wow and all that, but once the precious baby was returned to its owner, the young man was going to start doing some serious digging into what exactly was going on around him.