Link's Awakening

Chapter Sixteen: Link's Great Escape

Out of all the things I had imagined doing with my life upon leaving Hyrule, breaking myself out of a dungeon and then running from the guards while disguised as a Prince was not on the list. Nevertheless, there I was, unable to find the front door of Kanalet Castle, and forced to flee to the upper levels as the alarm was sounded. I had no idea where I was running to, nor had I been able to come up with a plan beyond what I had already done, but I had to get away… I just had to.

"He went up the stairs!" A voice called from somewhere behind. "Come on, this way!"

Well, so much for being able to sneak up to the second floor undetected, Link thought as he started running again, rounding the first corner he came to in an attempt to keep from being seen when his pursuers reached the top of the stairs. Maybe if he was lucky there would be another stairway around the other side of the castle, and he could get back downstairs to find the entrance while everyone was looking for him up there. It was better than no plan at all, so the young man kept moving down the corridors in a direction that would make him circle around to the far side of the building.

The good news was that there was another stairway, however the guards had apparently been thinking along the same lines that Link had, forcing him to quickly turn back when more of his pursuers came running up. Trying to avoid knocking over the vases and decorative small tables that were on display, since the noise would give away his position faster, the young man went back the way he came, trying to find another way to go, but the first group of guards was already closing in ahead of him.

Plenty of rooms lined the corridors, but they were all bedrooms and dens, the kind of places that only had a single door, and would leave him trapped. In fact, only one promising pathway appeared just as the guards were closing in on both sides, so Link turned and shouldered his way through the heavy looking wooden door to the right, only to be startled when he found himself running out into the still falling rain. Apparently, the young man had found his way onto the roof of the castle, and… from where he was standing, there didn't appear to be any other doors he could run through.

Slamming the door shut and then moving away from it in an attempt to use the darkness of the night to conceal himself, Link's plan to hide was quickly thwarted when the guards who kicked open the door moments later were carrying torches as they rushed out onto the roof, illuminating the whole place with orange light that flickered faster than usual from being hit with raindrops. Forming a half-circle to surround him, the young man backed away from the angry looking guards, but could only go so far until his heels reached the edge of the rooftop.

"There's nowhere to go, criminal." The leader of the guards said, taking another step toward him. "Throw down your sword and surrender, and maybe we won't run you through."

Thunder rumbled in the skies above, with the flat stone roof of the castle being completely illuminated just for a moment by the flash that followed, but the lightning also allowed the young man to see what was down below him over the edge. There was no way Link could take on six guards by himself, not even on his best day, but in coming all the way up to the roof like that, he had brought himself just a little bit higher than the palace wall… maybe… high enough to clear it if he were to jump?

It was a dangerous thing to even consider, since the young man could be seriously injured if he didn't roll properly, or landed on something less than ideal, like rocks or anything sharp, or… or pretty much anything besides some nice soft hedges. Then again, the guards were slowly and carefully closing in to seize him, and anything down on the ground below was bound to be softer than their swords, so without giving himself the chance to talk himself out of it, Link turned and jumped as far over the edge as he could.

As he figured, clearing the wall from that angle was easy, but just as the young man was getting ready to tuck and roll across the terrain, he remembered that the castle was positioned on a little island that was surrounded by SPLASH! Suddenly all sound was muffled when he hit the water, and from being spun around on impact, it took Link a few moments to figure out which way was up. Finally being able to draw a gasping, coughing breath upon breaking the surface, he looked around for any signs of pursuit, happy to see that the flickering torches on top of the castle were getting farther away… very quickly, actually.

With the thick cloud cover blocking the moon, and no torches around, everything around Link was almost completely black, making it almost impossible to see, but he could still feel how fast the water was moving. In fact, it felt like ever since his blind leap from the roof, the current had been moving faster and faster, now reaching the point where it was spinning him around, forcing the young man briefly underwater again each time the river violently turned another direction, which it did a lot.

After a few minutes of this, Link became so disoriented that he didn't even realize that he was suddenly falling again, until hitting the water below so hard that his back was stinging, but that was quickly forgotten as the young man was once again forced deep underwater. It must have been a small waterfall or something that the river dumped him over, and now the downward force of the pouring water was flipping him around, even as he moved away from it. At least now the current was slowing down, allowing him to stay afloat for longer than a few seconds, but leaving him with absolutely no clue where he was.

Had to get out of the water, that was the young man's only conscious thought as he swam toward the barely visible shoreline, and thankfully the bell he had stolen from the Prince was faintly glowing the same way that the Coral Triangle had done. It wasn't a lot of light, especially in the rain, but it was enough to let him find his way to the shore, and pull himself up onto a rocky beach, where Link just stayed on his knees, trying to sort through everything that he had just gone through.

It was hard to believe that in the course of a few hours, the young man had been arrested and imprisoned, only to break out and run from the law like a fugitive… no, not like a fugitive… he was a fugitive. On top of all the other crimes that Link had been accused of, assaulting the Prince and escaping confinement were probably not going to go over well with most people on the island, and… that didn't do much for his chances with Marin. Of course, part of his mind couldn't believe that he was worried about a girl at a time like this, when… when suddenly the whole area around him lit up as if by magic.

With a loud fwoosh, everything was bathed in flickering orange light, revealing that this place wasn't just some rocky beach, but the edge of a courtyard for some kind of stone temple. Large metal fonts filled with burning wood were lit up all around the small building, which looked a lot older than anything else Link had seen on the island, with its cracked pillars and sharply angled roof that hung over the doorless entrance. Whatever this place was, it was better than simply kneeling out in the rain, so the young man pulled himself up to his feet, and began stumbling his way toward the temple.

The fatigue of today's events must have been catching up to him, because it was getting harder and harder to walk, resulting in a few awkward sideways stumbles. Some of those stumbles left him on his face, and each time it was more difficult to get up again, but the doorway was so inviting that he found the strength to press on. Was the young man going to pass out as soon as he got out of the rain? Maybe… but after finally reaching the doorway and stepping into the stone building, perhaps the passing out part could be held off until he had a look around.

What had looked like a simple old temple from the outside, was actually very well maintained, and quite beautiful on the inside. There was a much bigger version of the burning metal fonts sitting in the center of the building's single chamber, revealing that there were dozens of ancient looking paintings and carved reliefs along the walls; each made up of a couple images and some words, which Link had to rub his eyes to try and bring into focus. Man… even with the water out of his eyes, the young man was so tired that he couldn't make any of the words out while…

"I knew you'd make it here eventually." A voice said, startling him to the point of drawing his sword. "That cape suits you… I hope you didn't kill the Prince, though."

Rubbing his eyes again with his free hand, Link squinted his eyes to see that there was a hooded figure standing on the opposite side of the burning font from where he was, and… and he looked like the same one who he had seen in the dungeon… the one who vanished after melting off the lock so the young man could escape. Even so, it seemed that everyone on this island was either a good friend, or wanted to kill him on sight, so the young man kept his sword ready, carefully approaching the font and trying to get a better look at his, uh… savior?

"Who are you?" Link demanded, trying to fight off a tired yawn. "What do you want from me?"

Instead of answering with words, the figure slowly removed his hood, causing the young man's eyes to widen when he saw who it was. There were differences, such as the start of a beard on his face, and his eyes were much harder than they had been before, but there was no mistaking the blue color of the figure's skin, nor that familiar half smile that caused Link to relax a bit.

"Hello, Junior." Agahnim said in a friendly tone. "It's been a long time."