Chapter 17

Return to Kakariko

Link and his companions had finally reached the outskirts of the village of Kakariko when they heard a rooster crow. It was dawn. Link stifled a yawn and stretched his arms. They slowed their horses down to a trot when they neared the gates.

"Link, do you remember those gates being there?" Aragorn asked in confusion.

"No, they must have just put them up recently. But, why? Impa would never put gates up!" Link said as it dawned on him that some terrible fate had besieged Kakariko.

Link ran a hand through his long blonde hair. This was bad, worse than the time he had come back seven years later to a ghost attack.

"We're breaking in." Link told the others.

Aragorn cocked an eyebrow.

"How are supposed to break in? That's an iron gate with cortosis imbedded in it! It will shut down your lightsaber upon impact!" Aragorn asked the Hylian.

Link immediately shut down his lightsaber upon hearing mention of cortosis.

"How do you know that?" he asked in shock.

"You see those shiny specks? That would be cortosis!" Aragorn explained.

Link shook his head in defeat.

"We're doomed!" he muttered.

Suddenly he heard Anakin Skywalker's voice through the Force.

"The Force will be with you, always." The voice whispered.

Link chuckled to himself. Aragorn looked at Link with concern.

"Link, are you all right? This is a serious situation we have ourselves in, you know." Aragorn told Link.

Link just smiled out of the corner of his mouth and walked towards the gate. He stopped when he was within a foot of it and stretched out his hand. He closed his eyes and drew onto the Living Force. All of a sudden the gate shook violently and fell to the ground in a pile of rubble. Link opened his eyes and lowered his hand with a satisfactory smile. He turned to the others with a smile.

"Well, that did the trick. Come on, let's go! We have no time to waste. We must find the Sheikah and Impa!" he ordered as he ran over the rubble and into the village.

The others just shrugged and bounded after him. Link was running through Kakariko when something in the Force told him to stop. So, he stopped in his tracks. Ilia and Malon ran right into him and fell ungraciously on the ground. Link just stood there transfixed by something.

"How rude!" Ilia moaned as she got up and brushed herself off.

Malon gave her a punch in the shoulder for the remark.

"Would you just keep your mouth shut for once?" she asked clearly annoyed.

Link suddenly hushed them with a hand.

"I have a bad feeling about this. There is nobody around." He said as he suddenly turned to the gates once more.

"Get behind me!" he ordered as he drew his lightsaber.

Three horrific dark creatures suddenly strode in over the rubble. Midna was whispering to Link.

"Those are creatures of the Twilight. Destroy them and a portal shall open." She told the Hylian.

Link nodded with resolve. He ignited his lightsaber and advanced upon the creatures.

"For Hyrule and all lands of the free folk!" he yelled as he leapt into the middle of them.

It was a very quick battle. With ease, Link rapidly sliced through them all in one fell sweep. They all let out wails of dismay and vanished in a puff of black smoke, which disappeared into a portal. Link shut down his lightsaber and reclipped it to his belt.

"Well, that will teach them to invade this village in my absence!" he laughed as he began to investigate the village.

All of a sudden a door silently opened nearby. Link whirled upon the door and drew his lightsaber. Link dropped the saber in shock as he saw who it was.

"Impa, I've been looking all over for you! What happened?" Link asked as he picked up his lightsaber and clipped it back on his belt once again.

Impa smiled, at last the Hero of Hyrule had returned. She beckoned the travelers inside. Once they were all seated around the fire, Impa scanned her eyes over Link's companions. As soon as her eyes reached Midna, she let out a long low gasp of recognition.

"Well, if it isn't Midna, Princess of Twilight! Be gone with you and your evil schemes!" she roared as she grabbed Midna by the helmet.

Midna hissed with fury and let forth her twilight upon Impa. Impa blocked it with her hand. With a brilliant show of strength, Impa slammed the door open and threw the imp out into the village. Link was out the door like a flash and was soon back with Midna.

"Impa, how dare you treat our guide like that! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Link admonished her.

Impa blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Midna." She mumbled under her breath, clearly not pleased with the situation.

Link sighed in exasperation.

"Besides the state of this village, Impa, I'm here to find out what made Zelda betray us and all of Hyrule like this." He said as he motioned towards the window.

Impa gave Link a small smile.

"Link, I have some good news, and some bad news. Which do you want first?" Impa asked as she eyed the hero with a knowing look.

Link could barely believe it, was Impa implying what he thought she was?

"Zelda didn't betray us did she" he finally said after a long tense silence.

Impa nodded. Link let out a loud whoop and raised a fist in the air.

"I knew she was too wise, and too noble to willingly betray her kingdom! She is truly of the Skywalker line!" he said with a broad smile.

His smile vanished a moment later, when he remembered that Impa had bad news as well.

"What exactly is the bad news?" he asked fearing the worst.

"Princess Zelda –"Impa began but was cut short by Link.

"Has been captured, again." Link finished for her.

Impa let out a small laugh.

"It's not that bad, my young hero. The bad news is that Princess Zelda has vanished from Hyrule. She can't be found anywhere." Impa was saying when suddenly Anakin Skywalker appeared at the doorway.

Impa's jaw dropped in shock.

"You're a ghost!" she cried out in alarm.

Anakin chuckled in amusement and walked into the room.

"You have done well, Link. Zelda is safe for the moment. Now you must journey to Death Mountain and dispel the Twilight. Only then will Hyrule be restored to light." He said as he bowed and vanished.

Impa was rubbing her eyes in amazement.

"Who in Hyrule was that?" she asked mystified.

"That was my Brother, Darth Vader." Link said with a yawn.

Impa looked at Link with shock.

"You have a Dark Lord as a brother? But, that would mean Zelda has one too!" she said as she began to freak.

Link began to chuckle, but was cut short with a jab in the ribs from Aragorn.

"He was a former Dark Lord. He came back to the light, but passed from the world of the Living Force. He pops up now and then with helpful insight and advice." Aragorn corrected.

Impa sigh with relief and gave Link a look of annoyance.

"Link; there is a group of Hyrulians I would like you all to meet. They have formed a resistance and are willing to fight by your side and help restore Hyrule! Come with me!" she explained to the travelers as she led them down a secret passageway in the fireplace.

The company finally reached the exit hours later. Link could hardly believe it. A group of freedom fighters, like himself in Hyrule? Hope was renewed. If he could train these folk to become heroes like him, he could leave Hyrule without fear. As Impa opened the door Link saw a face he thought he would never see again.

"Colin, you're alright!" Ilia gasped as she ran in.

Colin laughed as he reunited with his long-time friends.

"I escaped by the nick of my teeth. It was a fierce fight, but in the end I triumphed." He said with a broad smile at Link as he held up his sword.

Aragorn was shocked that such a young boy could fight with the sword.

"You have done well, Colin of Ordona." Link smiled as he shook the boy's hand.

Colin beamed with pride.

Link stretched out his awareness in the Force and was pleasantly surprised to find that Colin was very Force-sensitive.

"Colin, you shall be my new apprentice. I shall teach you the ways of the Force." He said with a smile.

Colin jumped with glee. Link finally locked eyes with the others who sat around the small wooden table in the bar, which was coincidentally directly underneath Hyrule Castle. Among the group, he spotted the smith from Ordona Village, Telma, the bartender, and none other than Darunia! Telma widened here eyes in shock.

"He's returned, the Hero has returned." She whispered in awe.

Link bowed to the group and ignited his lightsaber.

"This, my fellow Hyrulians, is a lightsaber. It is a symbol of the Jedi. I am now a Jedi Master. With your help, I believe Hyrule just might be saved from this wretched Twilight. I will now inform you of my plan to stop this madness." Link began.

The hero told the group of the beginning of his adventure and how he had recently restored light to the Ordona Province. He had but two more Provinces to restore, the Eldin and Lanayru Provinces. Darunia nodded his head in understanding.

"The Eldin Province is enshrouded in this Twilight, I barely escaped. It has engulfed Death Mountain and driven my fellow brothers, the Gorons, to insanity. You must help us, Hero of Hyrule." Darunia said with great sorrow.

Link nodded his head.

"You have my word, Brother Darunia; I will restore light to the Eldin Province." Link said with a bow as he turned on his heel beckoning the others to follow.

Within seconds they had vanished down the secret corridor to the village of Kakariko leaving Impa with the Resistance.

"That's our hero!" Impa said with a small smile.

Link was sprinting down the corridor while his friends were struggling to keep up with him.

"What's the rush?" Colin panted.

"He's got a mission to accomplish. He won't stop for anything. We're almost there. Come on!" Aragorn smiled as he dashed after the Hero.

The company soon reached Impa's house once again. Link was out the door in a flash with the others straggling out minutes later. To their astonishment, Link was already halfway to the entrance to the mountain and was leaning against the gate waiting for them to catch up. Once the company was all gathered around the gate that lead to the fiery and dangerous Death Mountain, Link looked up.

"Alright, fellow Jedi and Hyrulians, we have a most urgent mission to accomplish. It must be executed with secrecy and skill. Our mission is to find the source of Twilight that has been issuing out of the mountain and eliminate it, thus restoring light to the Eldin Province. I am assuming there are more of these 'Twilight Bugs' to eliminate as well, so I'll handle that. I am also sensing a temple nearby, so my guess is we'll have to defeat yet another boss as well before the light fully returns. Any questions?" he finished with a smug look.

Colin was itching with anticipation. He had always wanted to go on a quest with Link. He drew his sword with a broad smile.

"Let's go. Link, the sooner we finish this mission, the sooner we can rescue the Princess!" he yelled.

Link lifted an eyebrow at the boy.

"How did you know about the Princess of Hyrule's plight, young apprentice?" he asked with suspicion.

"I just assumed she was in trouble, since you have always had to rescue her." Colin answered.

"Oh, whatever." Link shrugged as he got ready to embark on his next mission.

The Hero soon dashed off up the mountain followed by the others as the gate swung close with a low creak.