A/N: Heh, sorry this took so long. I won't pile on my wondrous excuses to help hide the real idea that I just was lazy, so without further ado here is chapter three.
Sorry if it's crap compared to the other authors who have written before me XD
Chapter 3: Nostalgia?
Link had made a mad dash in the direction Zelda had escaped after Impa's first question. He decided that it was probably best to stay away from inquisitive people from the castle until he had asked the princess what was going on. From there he could make a decision on whether he should turn the princess in or not. He really knew nothing about what was going on. It all seemed somehow familiar though. When he had met Princess Zelda today it seemed like it hadn't been the first time. It had seemed that way with Impa also, but it couldn't be possible. Link was only a mere merchant; doing whatever he could on the side to help out the poor citizens of Hyrule. It would be impossible for him to have even seen Zelda for she rarely made public appearances, and truthfully, Link hadn't the slightest care to see Hyrule's rich, snobby, arrogant rules. Princess Zelda had pretty much changed his stereotype on Hyrule's aristocracies. To catch the princess stealing from her own people! That took guts…or perhaps just plain stupidity.
Out of the blue Link was pulled into an abandoned alley with a jerk. He was met by the princess' blue eyes looking at him through the shadow of her good. Zelda continued to pull Link further into the darkness. Link opened his mouth to speak, but Zelda pressed her finger against his lips as a signal to be quiet. Impa rode by on her white stallion, followed by a few castle guards. After they passed by Zelda exhaled loudly as if she had been holding her breath.
"I need your help," the princess whispered urgently. Her eyes were pleading silently as she stared into this newly met stranger's eyes. Zelda could see that the man was slightly taken aback by her suddenness. She held onto the hope that he would be generous and possibly want to help.
"So you want me, a complete stranger, to help you? I don't know anything about you at your situation," Link replied. He wasn't sure if being outside of the castle would be a good idea for Hyrule's seemingly fragile princess. If she was in trouble, why shouldn't he turn her in to a place where she'd be sage? It did bother him, though, that the princess would be willing to accept help from a stranger such as himself. She had all the help she could possibly want at the castle, so why was she searching the streets like a lost dog?
Zelda looked to Link uncomfortably before murmuring, "It's unsafe to talk here." She grasped Link's wrist and pulled him with her to the end of the alley. Her head poked out to look to the left and then to the right, and when she saw that the coast was clear she made a beeline for a set of steps near the drawbridge of Hyrule Town. Zelda pulled Link along and quickly ran up the steps and into a small plain apartment.
The inside of the apartment was decorated with small trinkets and knickknacks. It only seemed to have five small rooms, with very little furnishing. Although it didn't seem like much, it was a comforting, homey feeling place. An elderly lady was standing beside the door Zelda and Link had entered through. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth creased deeper in her withered skin as she smiled at Zelda.
"Is everything well, Princess?" the little decrepit old lady asked warmly. She smoothed back her silver straying hairs and tried to tuck them back into the loose bun on the back of her head.
"Yes, thank you, Melanie," Zelda replied. "Your generosity and hospitality have been so helpful. I'm going to my room, if you see a guard please worn me." With that Zelda entered though a door to her left. A cot was set up and a pile of Zelda's clothing sat in a basket. There was one small stool in the room along with what seemed to be a desk. The desk was really only a slab of smoothed wood attached to a long, think neck which was attached to three feet to keep it balanced. It didn't look very sturdy, although a ton of papers lay on top of it.
Link sat down on the stool and Zelda shut the door behind herself. She scurried over to the bed and sat before looking up to show Link he had her attention.
"So, what's going on? Who are you running away from and why?" Link asked getting straight to the point. He leaned over and rested his elbows on his things with is chin propped up on his clasped hands. His eyes still gazed into Zelda's eyes intently as if trying to sort out and lies she might tell from the truth.
Zelda cleared her throat and squirmed in her seat slightly. She didn't even know this man's name, and honestly, his stare made her feel really uncomfortable. "Well, as you know, I'm Princess Zelda―"
"Oh, right, I'm Link," he interrupted. He smiled childishly at Zelda and she partially relaxed.
"Yes, no, you probably know the story of the triforce, correct?" Link nodded and Zelda continued. "Well, I am the owner of one part of the triforce; the triforce of wisdom. The only other person that I know of who has a triforce part is Ganondorf, an evil Gerudo who thinks he's a king. I found this information only recently‒" here she motioned towards the papers on her desk which looked to be notes "‒and I got this crazy idea that if I stole Ganondorf's triforce part I could stop his evil ways. What I didn't know was that in order to take a triforce part, you much defeat the holder of a piece in battle. My stupidity caused Ganondorf to find that I owned a piece of the triforce, and now he's been after me ever since."
Link looked completely dumbfounded by all the information he had just received. He knew she hadn't told everything to him. There were still a few questions he had, like what Zelda actually did to Ganondorf. It didn't matter much though, the main thing was that she needed help, and he would get her help. "And you can't return to the castle because…?"
"I cannot put my father in danger like that!" Zelda quickly answered. "So, will you help me?"
"What do you want me to do?" Link asked. His eyes showed that he was about to give in. It would be against his moral well-being not to help a lady.
Zelda replied softly, "We need to defeat Ganondorf and take his triforce part so that he can't cause any more trouble."
With a soft sigh, Link nodded his head signaling that he would help. "Let's start something so we can get this over with." Link stood up and started for the door. He didn't make it very far because Zelda grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Wait, I have a question of two, also," the princess quickly said. "How did a simple merchant learn the ways of a sword so skillfully?"
A huge sheepish grin formed on Link's face. "Actually," he replied, "I don't really know." Even though Link's eyes shined like a child's, there seemed to be more hidden behind the bright blue orbs. Zelda took notice of the secret that lurked inside him immediately and tried cautiously to pry further into the bit of his past she had found.
"Why don't you know? Did something happen?" Zelda rested her chin in her palm as she looked up top Link. Her golden locks spilled from the hood of her cloak and she nervously began to twirl a strand around her finger. Link was just staring at her as if thinking about how to rip her to shreds. Maybe she shouldn't have asked anymore of him.
"I don't know that either," Link finally answered with a shrug. "One day I just sort of woke up from what seemed to be a long daze and I could use a sword really well. My childhood has always been kind of hazy, so I only remember bits and pieces of it. I remember going on a long adventure, but it could have been me playing pretend as a kid. All I know is that every morning I wake up, I feel like this wasn't the destiny I had originally been planned. It feels almost like I've already lived this part of my life once and it somehow got changed." Suddenly Link chuckled. He waked over to the door and put his hand around the old wooden doorknob. "Sorry for the crazy sob story. I know that sounds weird."
Zelda jumped up from her seat with glee. "You've really felt that way?" she asked smiling broadly. "I‒" Suddenly a door slammed and a shriek came from Melanie in the other room. A look of pure fear sprang onto Zelda's face. She stood completely still and motioned for Link to do the same. From the other room a man's deep vice asked where the princess was being hidden.
"I don't know!" Melanie's frail voice cried out. Then like a senile old person she yelled out a completely random phrase. "Biscuit ran away!"
Link looked over to Zelda with the 'you-stayed-with-her?' look. Zelda only rolled her eyes and quickly but quietly began to pick up as many of her chicken scratch notes as he could and put them in a bag. She stuffed them in a bag before pushing Link over to a dirty window beside her bed.
She whispered so quietly that it was barely audible, "Biscuit ran away was my warning! Now go out the window!" In the other room both Zelda and Link could hear the same deep voice announcing to others to begin searching the apartment. Zelda made an attempt to open the window quietly, but it was so old that when she tugged upwards it wouldn't budge. After pushing with all of her might it suddenly opened quickly and busted the glass causing an extremely loud noise. This of course confirmed the men's hunch of Zelda residing there and informed them of her whereabouts.
"RUN!" Zelda screamed nearly pushing Link out of the second story window. She threw herself out of the window, landing on her feet with a thud. Link didn't seem to be suffering much from the fall, despite the fact he had practically been pushed out the window. He grabbed a hole of Zelda by the elbow and began to pull her away. They looked to the window and saw a bulky man with blood red eyes and Ganondorf's crest sewn into the fabric across his chest. In his hand he grasped the bag that contained all of Zelda's notes about the triforce and even Ganondorf. They were lucky they had escaped the clutches of Ganondorf's minion, but that still didn't make them completely safe. The drawbridge at the main entrance of Hyrule was beginning to close.
Link began to take control of the situation because Zelda had become oddly silent. "Jump and squeeze though." He commanded as they neared the closing bridge. Link glanced behind his shoulder and saw a small group of Ganondorf's men following behind them. They didn't have a chance at making it through, but Link and Zelda did. "It's now or never!" Link jumped sideways for the slowly closing opening. He was followed by Zelda and they both barely slipped through.
Outside, Link and Zelda were met by the orange glow of the setting sun. Both of them landed in the shallow water of the mote as the bridge loudly came to a close. They could hear the angered shouts of Ganondorf's men from the other side and began to slosh out of the water. Zelda seemed to be in a daze when Link glanced over at her.
"Melanie will be fine you know, and the papers, they can't be too much trouble," Link whispered trying to help console her some. "We can't dwell on it now. They aren't going to be held long." Link motioned towards the drawbridge.
Zelda looked at Link in shock. He had figured out what she was thinking about so easily. "Yes, you're right, I guess. We should go." She began to walk, still breathing heavily from all the rush and running. She stopped when she heard the sound of a soft, flute-like instrument. When she turned she found that the sound was coming from Link who was playing a dark blue ocarina.
"I've got transportation," Link informed Zelda, answering what her next question would have been.
For some reason the ocarina looked familiar to Zelda. She stared at it, trying to remember where she had seen it before. It seemed that no matter how hard she raked her brains, she couldn't figure it out. "Where'd you get your ocarina from?" she asked curiously.
A reddish, rusty-colored mare was galloping towards Link and Zelda. She stopped when she reached Link's side. After Link hoisted Zelda up onto the horse's saddle he replied to her question. "I think I got it from a girl when I was a little kid," Link said with a goofy grin. He got serious quickly. "It's getting late. Should we hide and camp out somewhere?"
Suddenly the drawbridge fell and out came the follower's of Ganondorf riding on their dark haired horses. Link pushed himself up on to the horse and yelled a command. The horse took of immediately and Zelda wrapped her arms around Link's waist for support. They were followed by the sounds of the other horses' feet thudding against the ground and the men's angry voices.
The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and the wind whipped around as the horses raced into the twilight. "Maybe we can lose them in the dark?" Zelda shouted over the wind.
Link's reply was drowned out in the wind.
A/N: Ha, what's this? What is this 'past life' so to speak that Link has talked about? Muwahahaha. Yeah, well, I don't think I answered any questions, but whatever. That's it for Serene-Moon-Princess :)