Link's Awakening

Chapter Twenty Three: The Graveyard

I admit it, I was pretty upset about having to walk through the rainstorm, especially after just having to endure one two days before. Making my way north through the prairie, my clothes were soaked by so much water that I had to hold a hand above my eyes in order to see what was ahead, and I'm pretty sure that my mother would have smacked my face if she heard all the cursing I was doing. As the owl told me, the graveyard was not very far away from the old cottage… in a place where the grass was brown and the trees were dead.

It wasn't long before the tall grasses of the prairie began to grow shorter, losing their green color a little more with each step until there was nothing but dirt and wilted remains along both sides of the partially graveled pathway. A few more trees were present, though, spaced out few and far between, but without a single leaf between them. Their branches were dried and wilted, with grayed bark missing in patches across their rotting trunks, making the trees almost look like monsters themselves… that thought was stupid, though, so Link just kept going until he saw what looked like an old metal fence.

Made of black iron that was mostly covered in rust, this fence ran across the path in both directions before being obscured by the rain, and there was a heavy lock on the gate itself, with the words KOHOLINT CEMETERY across the top. Clearly this was the place, the young man thought as he looked for a way in, although it occurred to him that if this place really was just a part of the Wind Fish's dream, then why would there be a need for a graveyard in the first place? Whatever the deal was, the gate was locked so tightly that there was no way he could force it open with the sword, so… there had to be a way in somewhere.

The bars were too close together for him to squeeze through, and maybe Link could have climbed up if the bars weren't so slippery, as well as too tall for him to simply jump and grab the top to pull himself over. Looking through the bars, all the young man could see were a few rows of old looking gravestones, so why did this place need such a border? The ground was also too rocky and firm for him to somehow squeeze or dig his way underneath the fence, so the only option seemed to be finding another gate, and… perhaps he would go left?

If the fence went all the way around the graveyard, then it didn't matter which direction he went in, because it would all lead back to the front gate anyway, and at this point it wasn't like getting out of the rain any faster was going to keep him from getting wet. So Link followed the fence, walking unobstructed as he passed by a few of the dead trees, and still finding nothing by the time he reached the first corner post. The young man hoped that he wasn't going to have to go searching for whoever the grave keeper was, or anything like that, since it would mean more time in the rain, but then something appeared up ahead.

At first he thought that it was some kind of decorative statue, like a gargoyle or something, but as the structure got close enough to be no longer obscured by the rain, Link realized that it was some kind of small doorway building that was built right into the fence, like maybe a second gate or something like that. Walking toward it faster, the structure consisted of stone walls with a matching roof that was carved to look like the kind on top of the town cottages, but with a wooden door… that was open just a little bit. Well, this was his lucky day, the young man thought as he pushed it open; someone had left the gate open, and now he could walk through into the… or maybe not.

Instead of just going right through the fence into the graveyard like some kind of border check point, the door opened up into a carved stone staircase than went down to what looked like a passage underneath the graveyard. Feeling uneasy enough about wandering through a graveyard itself, Link didn't know how eager he was to go down there, since there was only the vague hope that it would provide another way past the gate, or… was this where he was supposed to go, like in that hidden grotto in the back of the swamp? He wasn't sure, either way, but just in case, it was probably a good idea to make sure that there wasn't another way in.

Feeling a strong since of relief as he left the structure, the young man didn't mind the rain so much now as he hurried around the fence, hoping to find some other way in, but of course there was nothing to be found. Before he knew it, Link was passing the front gate again, still unable to open it no matter what he tried, and then… yeah, and then he found himself standing inside the structure looking at those stairs once again. Part of him just knew that he was going to regret this, but since he had been unable to find another way, this had to be it… and now the young man's footsteps were echoing softly as he headed underground.

With the sound of the falling rain becoming muffled, and the scent of damp earth taking its place, Link drew his sword just in case there was anything down there like the spiked turtle/beetle things in the Tail Cave, but then he realized as he got to the bottom that he could still see. The light was dim, coming from a single wall mounted torch in the center of the corridor ahead, flickering just enough to see that where were no weird creatures waiting… and also some words that had been scratched into one of the wooden supports. They read simply: THIEVES WON'T LEAVE with some kind of symbol carved next to them, and later down the corridor there was another warning.

This one said LOOK DON'T TOUCH with that same symbol carved next to it, but the writer must have had really shaky hands, because it was hard enough to read the words, let alone figure out what the hell the symbol was supposed to be. The passage ended at another wooden door, this one opening up into a rounded chamber that was made of cobblestone, with another burning torch hanging on the wall, and… bones. It didn't surprise the young man that there were bones down there, since the chamber was underneath a graveyard, after all, but it was more of how the things were arranged.

Around the chamber, there was a set of metal restraints attached to each support pillar, set in low to the ground like what would be found in a lot of dungeons, where the prisoners were forced to sit with their wrists locked above their heads, but instead of prisoners there… most of the restraints had skeletons in them that were in varying states of decay. Some of them looked like they were only a couple years old, while others looked so ancient that the bones themselves were starting to crumble. Only one set of bones was free of the restraints, and even though all the bones for a complete skeleton appeared to be there, they had simply been piled up in the center of the chamber and left there just to rot.

"Uh… hello?" The young man asked, holding up his sword defensively while looking around the chamber. "I don't want any trouble, if you're here, and… I'm just going to move on… okay?"

No answer even after the full minute that Link waited, and so he did just what he said, walking to the far end of the chamber, where another corridor awaited just beyond one final warning that read STEAL AND BE STOLEN. This one also ended at a staircase, and when he reached the top, the young man found himself standing inside the graveyard. Aside from the doorway that he used to get in, the only features of the place were a couple dead trees, and a few rows of gravestones with writing that was too old and faded to make out the inscriptions. The only other feature in this place was at the very center, and consisted of a small stone pedestal, with… with a shiny instrument on top, a strange one that sort of looked like a small marimba.

That music, the Ballad of the Wind Fish, was heard again just barely over the wind and rain as he approached the pedestal, but stopped when he saw that there was another warning carved into the pedestal itself that said LEAVE NOW OR NEVER with… what was that symbol anyway, it kind of… was it a word, or maybe a skull, or… oh who knows? Apparently no one had been in the graveyard for at least as long as the freshest bones were in the underground chamber, so Link picked up the marimba and started back toward the door.

No traps were sprung, nothing jumped out at him, and nothing got in the way as the young man entered the door, walked down the stairs, and headed back toward the center chamber, and at least now he got a break from the rain. Taking a few moments to warm himself out by the torch that hung in the corridor, Link continued to listen for threats, but couldn't hear anything, so once his hands were at least dry, the young man made his way to the first door, pushing it open and starting through, only to stop for a moment when he became aware that something in was different.

Granted the room didn't have many features, aside from its rounded shape, and the skeletons which were locked in the restraints, all of which appeared to be there, so then why did he have this feeling? Forget this place, he was getting out of there before something did happen, so Link ran for the wooden door into the next hallway, only to stop in his tracks when he saw another set of words that were carved into this side of the door where he wouldn't have noticed them on the way in. This one said LAST CHANCE PUT IT BACK, but looked just as old as all the others, so he pushed the door open, and came face to face with… a pair of empty black eye holes.

Grabbed by the front of the shirt before he could recover from the shock, a white arm swung upward, making the young man reel backwards when it struck him across the face, and it was only when he fell down in the center of the room that he realized what had been different: The bones that had been piled up in that very spot were gone, only to have been somehow reassembled on the other side of that door… where they were now slowly walking back into the chamber, toward him.

"Never listen… they never listen." The skeleton said in a hollow voice. "How many warnings does it take? No matter… you've made your choice, thief… so welcome home… this is where you will die."