Link's Awakening

Chapter Twenty Two: A Nice Evening

Agahnim's words weighed heavily on me as I returned to Animal Village and tried my best to enjoy the remainder of the honey festival, and even though I was aware that he did not want the Wind Fish woken up, it was only then that I understood the truth. If I was to continue on my search for the three remaining instruments, how far would my friend go to stop me? It was true that I risked my possible relationship with Marin if he was right, but Agahnim had a wife and children… it was hard to imagine him already being trapped on Koholint Island for twelve years before I even arrived, but… I didn't want to fight my best friend.

By the time Link returned to Animal Village, the honey festival was in full swing, with several people… or maybe it was all of the people from Mabe Village arriving to take part. There was more singing, plenty of food, and lots of opportunity for the young man to dance with Marin, although no one was paying any attention to the harp that he was suddenly carrying with him. Agahnim was busy with his family now, although the wizard kept looking over at Link every now and then, and Prince Richard was nowhere to be found.

Now that he had the harp and was out of the desert, there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, so the young man took his friend's advice and enjoyed the rest of the day. He ate and laughed with the rest of the people, danced with Marin, and before he knew it night had fallen, bringing with it the time to go back home. It was strange how Link was actually starting to think of Mabe Village as his home, even though this was not the case… no, his home was back in Hyrule, and the young man just hoped that if he really did wake the Wind Fish, that he would be able to take Marin back there to meet his parents.

Even though it was dark now, traveling back across the island was a lot easier when accompanies by a dozen people who carried lanterns, so he and the young woman held hands, enjoying the night and walking closely together. It was hard for him to know what would be considered to be too forward, since he had only known the young woman for a few days, so Link tested the waters once again by giving Marin a kiss on top of the head… and she didn't slap him or yell at him or anything, so that was a good sign.

Upon reaching the village, everyone began splitting up, heading back to their own cottages, leaving the young man alone with Marin and her father as they entered the home that he had been staying in. Tarin grumbled something that might have been a goodnight, before lying on his bed and snoring a few seconds later, with his daughter not far behind. All of the singing and dancing the young woman had done at the festival appeared to have worn her out, so she said goodnight as well, but not before surprising Link by giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

She smiled at him as she went to her bed and laid down, snoring almost as quickly, and as loudly as her father was, but the young man didn't care… she was so perfect… and wonderful… that he might have spent an hour just standing there watching her sleep. It was tempting to go to bed himself, but after blowing out the last candle Link realized that he couldn't just leave the Instruments of the Sirens there, for one thing because their faint glow was strong enough to be seen coming from under Tarin's bed. The easiest way for Agahnim to stop him from waking the Wind Fish would be for him to steal the instruments, so the young man needed to hide them… but where?

He couldn't put them back in the places where they had been found, since that was too obvious and the creatures could come back at any time, so where? The only spot he could really think of was Zelda's old cottage down by the ocean, but it was stupid to think of hiding them in a place that the wizard had first shown him… or was it? Being a place that both of them were aware of, only an idiot would hide something so important there, so maybe the idea was just stupid enough to work. Either way, he couldn't just leave them there, so Link quietly gathered the remaining instruments from underneath Tarin's bed, and left the cottage.

The nice thing about carrying five instruments at once was that their collective glow was more than enough for the young man to see where he was going on his way out of town toward the beach, but at the same time he was carrying five musical instruments, and it was hard to walk without dropping them or tripping over things. Eventually Link made it back to the old cottage, lighting a candle so that he would still be able to see after placing the instruments inside the wardrobe with Zelda old dresses, where their glow wouldn't be seen once he closed the door.

"So what are you going to do, kid?" The owl's voice asked, startling him. "I saw you get the Surf Harp from Yarna Desert, which tells me you want to wake the Wind Fish, but then again you're getting close to Marin, which tells me you're considering taking the same actions that Agahnim did."

"Look, it's not easy, all right?" Link snapped, turning around and walking over to where the animal was perched on the window frame. "I know I can't leave the island unless I wake the Wind Fish, but what happens if Agahnim's right, and everything just disappears?"

The answer to this question was obvious, if the wizard was wrong then the young man and Marin would be able to leave, but if he was right, then everything would just be gone forever. The owl didn't seem too concerned with that fact, even though this meant that it would vanish as well, and even going so far as to suggest that Link finish gathering the instruments before making his decision. It was at this moment that the young man realized that even if he managed to get all eight of them, he had no idea what he was supposed to do after that point… like… how exactly was he supposed to use them to wake the Wind Fish?

"It's simple; once you have them, take the instruments up the mountain to the egg." The owl explained. "Then all you have to do is get a certain young lady to sing like she did in Animal Village, and then… well… it just happens."

"It just happens?" The young man asked. "Wait a second… you don't know, do you? All this having me run around the island and get these things, and you have no idea if its even going to work?"

With an annoyed tone, the animal reminded him that no one knew for sure what would happen once the Wind Fish woke up, but all of this speculation was pointless if they didn't try. As always, it was solely up to Link whichever way he wanted to proceed, but if he intended to keep going, then the next instrument could be found in the graveyard. As if expecting him to just head there immediately, the owl told him to just start heading north, and that there was no way he could miss it.

"But be warned, kid." The animal said with a serious tone. "Up until now you have been following Agahnim's trail, battling his allies and the weakened creatures that survived his attacks. The hidden sanctuary in the graveyard is a small place, but no one who has faced its guardian has ever returned. Be on your guard."

The young man called out to the owl as it flew away, asking it for more information, since a guardian that no one had ever returned from facing was no small matter, but it was gone. The graveyard, huh? Straight north and you can't miss it… without rainclouds to block the full moon, the was illuminated enough for him to be able to find his way… no… no way, only an idiot would travel to a graveyard in the middle of the night. No, tonight Link was going to rest in the relative safety of this old cottage, and then in the morning he would make his way to the graveyard and face… whatever it was that was waiting for him there.

Hopefully such a creature wouldn't be too fond of sunlight, giving the young man an advantage for once, so he took off his boots and laid down on the bed like he had done the previous night. Quickly drifting off to sleep, Link was having a really nice dream about going back to Hyrule and introducing Marin to his family, and of course they loved her just as quickly as he did. Everything was perfect as he and the young woman fell deeply in love, eventually marrying and raising a family like Agahnim had done with Tracy, but then a loud crash made the young man's eyes snap open as he sat up in the bed.

The wooden walls of the cottage were creaking and groaning from the gusts of wind now coming in through the window, bringing with it a spray of water from… from the pouring rain that was coming down in sheets while more thunder rumbled in the gray, cloud filled sky. Another rain storm, are you kidding me, Link thought? Maybe he should've gone to the graveyard last night, at least then he wouldn't have had to walk through another storm… damn it, at least during the first one he had the forest to give him some shelter from it.

Well, there was really no avoiding it, he supposed, since every second that the young man delayed, was another opportunity that Agahnim had to try and stop him if he chose to, so after putting his boots on and getting out of bed, Link opened the cottage door. Instantly the wind kicked up, spraying him in the face with so much water that his body was completely soaked by the time he managed to shut the door again, leaving the young man just standing there dripping all over the floor.

"Are… you… kidding… me?" He asked, wiping the water from his eyes. "Ugh… I bet my father's adventures weren't this annoying."

There was no getting out of heading to the graveyard this morning, since Link had already waited longer than he wanted by getting some sleep last night, so the young man pulled the door open, using his arms to protect himself from the stinging rain as he headed out into the storm, on his way to the graveyard.