Link's Awakening

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Rider

At first I couldn't believe my ears when Agahnim told me that he had decided to help me wake the Wind Fish, and as excited as I was to finally be working together with my best friend again, there was a part of me that doubted him. But the thing was that Agahnim could have easily taken the instruments from me, or even killed me if he wanted to, so what would be the point of trying to trick me? Of course, since he hadn't gotten this far on his own quest twelve years before, neither one of us knew where to find the last two instruments, and the owl didn't exactly like him.

Once Link had completely recovered from his injuries, thanks to Crazy Tracy's Medicine, he and Agahnim had a lot to discuss, beginning with how they were going to handle getting the last two Instruments of the Sirens. The wizard believed that the two of them should split up, since it would make the whole process go a lot faster, but he didn't even bother asking where the young man had hidden the other ones, so either his friend had genuinely decided to help out, or there was something else going on that he couldn't see.

No, his conflicted mind replied, there was no point in Agahnim tricking him, but… but why did every fiber of his being feel like this whole situation was wrong? The wizard's whole argument against this quest was that it risked his wife and children, and he had gathered allies to help him stop it from happening, so… Link just didn't know what the answer was. But then his thoughts were interrupted by the soft flapping of wings, just before the owl swooped down and landed on the windowsill.

"Can this be possible?" The animal asked, raising an eyebrow. "Has Agahnim, the great hero of Koholint, finally realized that the Wind Fish needs to awaken?"

"Shut your beak before I burn it off, deceiver!" The wizard snapped, making the owl jump a bit. "Now tell us where the last two instruments are, before I change my mind."

Link watched as the two of them just glared at each other, and then the animal spoke the words Turtle Rock, before asking Agahnim if he knew where that was. The wizard knew from the map he had been studying in the Mabe Village library, but when he asked about the other instrument, the owl refused to speak, telling them that the location would only be revealed to the young man once he was alone. This suited Agahnim just fine, and without another word he vanished, leaving Link and the owl alone… and allowing the animal to let out a long sigh of relief.

"I don't trust him, kid." It said, turning to face him. "I don't sense any deception as far as him wanting to help wake the Wind Fish, but there's a feeling I'm getting from him… a kind of certainty that he hasn't shown since deciding to abandon the quest, so… watch yourself."

"I will… I guess." The young man replied, pretty confused himself. "But owl, before anything else happens, I need to ask you… when I went to the graveyard, I saw corpses chained up just like Stalfos did to me… who were they?"

Link supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised when the owl explained that they were the ones who came before he and Agahnim; castaways who tried to wake the Wind Fish, and just as the animal had warned him before, none of them had ever returned from the graveyard. That was why it had such faith in the wizard when he arrived, since his magic gave him an advantage over almost every creature on the island, but none of them had ever just refused to even try before.

"The remaining nightmares that hold the Wind Fish are even more dangerous than Stalfos." The animal continued. "Simply attacking them with your sword is not going to be enough, you're going to have to use your head and get creative, but don't worry… since Agahnim was so eager to help all of a sudden, I sent him after the worst ones."

The owl's plan was simple, if a bit devious; send the wizard blindly into Turtle Rock where the worst nightmares on the island were waiting, and if he somehow managed to get out with the instrument, it would leave Agahnim weak enough to be defeated if he really was planning something. Worst case, according to the animal, was that he would be killed in there, but not without taking many of the nightmares with him, giving Link as easier time once he got there.

However, before anything like that could happen, the young man needed to begin preparations for the ceremony that was needed once they had all eight instruments. This required all of them to be brought up to the giant egg on top of the mountain, and then someone was going to have to play them, but… how in the hell was Link not only supposed to get the instruments all the way up there, while also convincing people who knew how to play to go with him? Wasn't everyone on the island against waking the Wind Fish?

Finding someone who could sing the Ballad of the Wind Fish was easy, since Marin would probably jump at the chance, and… I don't know, maybe she could convince the people of the village to help out if they knew how to play. The owl found this amusing, reassuring the young man that they didn't actually have to know how to play the instruments, it just required people to be holding them and they would basically play themselves. The challenge was just getting them to agree to it, and again, Link was hoping that Marin could help with that.

"Off you go, then." The animal said. "The last instrument's location will be revealed in time, but first focus on getting people to the egg."

Just as quickly as Agahnim had done, the owl was gone, flapping its wings as it left the windowsill, and leaving Link alone in the cottage. At the point in his mindset where he no longer wanted to explore the island or meet anyone, the young man left the health spa, not even bothering to go over and say goodbye to Agahnim's family before heading back toward Mabe Village. Now that he wasn't forced to blindly stumble through a rainstorm, the path was actually pretty easy to find, and before too long Link found himself back at the edge of town.

Just like every day in Mabe Village, the people were going through their same routine, but this also made Marin easy to find. She was in the center of town, picking flowers over near a decorative statue, but as soon as the young man approached, she set down the basket and ran over to give him a hug. The young woman smelled so nice and it felt so good to hold her after what happened to him at the graveyard, that for a moment Link forgot why he was there in the first place. He just kissed her on the cheek and they held hands while staring at each other, just like his brother was probably doing right now with Agahnim's sister back in Hyrule.

Oh course that random thought of home caused him to refocus, and the young man just flat out asked her if she would be willing to sing the Ballad of the Wind Fish on the mountain later, to which she quickly agreed. Well, that was easy, he thought, now all they had to do was convince the villagers to help him bring the instruments from the old house by the bay, and… and why was there suddenly a shadow moving across the ground? Looking up reflexively, the young man was forced to shove Marin away form him while diving backwards himself, in order to avoid the hard landing of… a very large bird?

Standing twice as tall as a man, the bird turned its angry eyes down at Link, then at Marin, before tucking down its huge, feathery wings. The monster's beak was large enough where it looked like it could easily swallow him whole, but that was when the young man realized that there was a bit in the creature's mouth… a bit that was connected to a set of reins… which led up to a saddle on the bird's back where someone was sitting. As unbelievable as it seemed, this giant monster appeared to be someone's mount, and that person was now looking around as well.

"Excuse me, you there, good day to you sir." The rider said, tipping his metal helmet upon spotting Link. "I seek a young man, a newcomer to our fair Koholint Island, goes by the name of Link, I believe."

The nearby villagers were understandably startled by the sudden arrival of the rider and his giant bird, but unlike most other things the young man had encountered so far on the island, this one was being pretty polite. So after helping Marin to her feet and making sure that she wasn't hurt, Link stepped forward, and replied that he was the one that the rider was looking for. In response to finding this out, the rider nodded politely, before adjusting his helmet, and then spurring the giant bird so that it swatted the young man with its wing.

Caught completely by surprise, Link was thrown off his feet, crashing to the grassy ground a short distance away, where he rolled to a painful stop. Marin gasped when she saw this, immediately running toward him to see if he was all right, only to be stopped when the giant bird blocked her path. The young woman tried to back away, but one of the bird's talons reached out and grabbed her, wrapping around Marin's whole body and picking her up as if she weighed nothing. Link pulled himself up from the ground, and drew his sword, but the bird simply swatted him again, knocking him back down.

"I abhor violence, so I'll say this politely." The rider continued. "I'll not have you coming to Eagle Tower for my organ, so to make sure you don't, I'll just have to keep this lovely girl for, um… forever, probably. What do you think, my darling? Do we make a cute couple?"

"Let go of me!" Marin yelled, trying to struggle her way free. "Link, help!"

But there was nothing he could do, since immediately after he was done talking, the rider gave a polite wave, and then his bird rose into the air, quickly flying away and taking Marin along with him.