Click! went the pickaxe into the bare sandstone of the plateau. I hacked away at the rock, sending crumbling chunks falling past my shoulders and legs to the ground, more than eighty feet below. I was wearing a bodysuit like Zelda's, emblazoned with a tearing red eye, the rope dangled from my back – to which it had been tied – and my recently-acquired sword was strapped to my back, as was the iron spike. I was hacking holds in the face of the precipice. As I formed each one, I ascended about six inches further up the cliffs. It was slow going, but the sun was still halfway between the eastern horizon and the zenith. I could keep at this for a long time before dusk fell over the land.

Below me were Zelda and Impa, wearing similar dark-blue bodysuits. In addition, Zelda was wearing her gauze cap and mask, and Impa had put a coat of dark paint on the iron pauldrons over her outfit. They were standing there, waiting for me to reach the top of the plateau, and all the while, they were looking around to ensure that no Gerudo fighters emerged from the valley. So far, they had given me no warning, so I figured we were safe.

It took me another fifteen minutes to reach the top. After hacking out the last hold, I got my arms on top of the rocky face and pulled myself up and over the edge. Immediately rising to a kneeling position, I slid the spike out from where I had tied it to me, and planted it in the rock, giving it a few good whacks with the pickaxe to drive it in. To the spike I tied one end of the rope. Then I waited.

Zelda was the next up, jumping to get to the rope. She immediately grabbed it and started to pull herself up with her arms, as I'd done when I'd tested the rope's strength. She managed to scale the cliffs in this manner quite rapidly, and, in a single powerful burst, had ascended all the way to the top in about thirty seconds, before she stood beside me, our outfits matching.

Impa was even more impressive. She ignored the rope completely and went the entire way using my handholds and footholds, climbing like a cat. The holds weren't very wide, so the older lady was often kept on the cliff by the last inch of her fingers and toes. Still she climbed on, at a slower, but more rhythmic pace than Zelda. It took her just over a minute and a half to reach the top of the plateau. Once she was up, I took the spike out of the rock, untied the rope, and tied both to me. Then we set off in a northwesterly direction.

As we walked, I turned to Zelda. "By the way," I said to her, "there's something my friend from home wanted me to ask you."

Zelda's eyes – which were the only part of her face I could see – widened. "Ask away," she said in a muffled voice.

"Well, Kaylee told me that in the story of the game she plays involving you," I stated, "you sent Link back to his childhood. This was supposed to be two years ago, right?"

"It has been two years," Zelda returned. "And I did send Link back to his childhood. But a part of his spirit was left behind in his sixteen-year-old body. Thus, I'd imagine, there is a second Link in some alternation of the past. If my knowledge of the fabric of space and time is correct, both Links possess within them the Triforce of Courage."

That lead me to another question. "You've told me about this Triforce thing before. What exactly is it?"

This time, it was Impa who replied. "The Triforce is a powerful, triune relic. Its three parts represent courage, power, and wisdom."

"I possess Wisdom," Zelda continued, showing me the back of her right hand. I saw that a strange symbol on her hand was glowing. It depicted three gold triangles, stacked one atop two, pointing from her wrist to her fingers. The bottom-left portion of the symbol glowed with particular intensity. "Link possesses Courage," she continued. "And, up until two years ago, the Gerudo king Ganondorf possessed Power. It seems, however, that he has broken the Seal I and the other Sages made on him and re-obtained the Triforce of Power."

I nodded, satisfied with the conversation, and the three of us continued to walk on. As we began to skirt the river gorge, I realized what I was about to do; I was on my way to break into a heavily-defended fortress, navigate through it, and rescue someone within. The anticipation filled me with a good amount of dread. But I kept going.

Around that time, I became aware that my right hand was experiencing a vibration, as if a cell phone had been placed on it. I ascribed it solely to nerves, though, and continued walking. That is, until Zelda stopped. Impa and I stopped a few paces ahead, and turned to her, confused and concerned.

Zelda looked at us in turn. "My Triforce is resonating," she said cryptically. She showed us her hand again; the Triforce symbol on her hand glowed even brighter than it had before. Before I could puzzle out what this meant, Zelda suddenly looked at me and pointed. "Your hand is glowing," she stated.

That got my attention, and I noticed again, the vibration of my right hand. I lifted it up to look at it. And there, I saw it: three gold triangles, stacked one atop two, shining brightly, with the lower-right portion flashing brightly enough to nearly blind me. Zelda came over and inspected it, as did Impa. At length, Impa said, "That's the Triforce of Courage."

Immediately my heart sank. "That can't be right," I said, unwilling to believe what I saw. "No, that's not right. No, no, no!" I walked around in a tight circle, scratching frantically at the mark, trying to make it leave me. But it would not, and continued to glow. With a fierce cry, I rubbed vigorously at it with the sleeve of my bodysuit, but still it remained.

"It's no use," Impa said. "The Triforce of Courage has left the Hero of Time and chosen you to be its bearer."

"But I don't want to bear it!" I half-stated, half-shouted, turning to face the two women. "Do you know what this means? If what you're saying is right, it means I'm some sort of chosen hero. But I don't want to be that. I want to just go home when this is all over. I don't want to have to stay here for the rest of my life. I just want to break Link out and get out of this place!"

Zelda walked over to me and put an arm around my shoulder. "When this is all over, when Link has been rescued and Ganon defeated, we can find a way."

"Good," I replied, "because Triforce or no Triforce, I'd go crazy living here the rest of my life. I'm just going to get Link out of here, help him out with whatever he needs to do, and go home."

Still with an arm around my shoulders, Zelda responded, "I don't know if it is possible for a Triforce bearer to leave Hyrule. But if it can be done, I promise you, we will help you return to your home."

I calmed down, realizing I had been breathing hard and fast during this scare. "Thanks," I said. We hugged briefly – I felt more than a little awkward, since she was a single, a princess, and my age – before, along with Impa, we continued once more towards the fortress where, hopefully, Link was held.