Link of the Dead
Chapter 7:
It was now the next morning, and Link and Tetra were once again travelling through the forest. The night had felt like it went on forever.
"How did you sleep?" asked Link.
"Terrible," said Tetra, "I got a sore neck."
Link chuckled.
"Well," he said, "Let's be glad we made it this far."
"Where do you think we should go?" asked Tetra.
"I don't know. Until we find other survivors, we can't stop walking."
A short while later, they heard something over the hill.
"OY!!! LINK!!!"
Link looked up on the hill and saw three figures. They began to climb down.
"Aryll?" said Link, "Aryll! You're alright!"
One of the figures was indeed Aryll. The other two were a man and a woman. The man was tall and thin with medium lenght black hair and a handsome face. The girl had maroon hair and pale, but pretty face.
"Link!" said Aryll, "I'm so happy to see you!"
The two ran up to each other and hugged for a few seconds.
"I can't believe you're okay," said Link, "I was worried."
"So was I," said Aryll, "Oh, by the way, these are some friends of mine."
"I'm Lenny," said the man.
"And I'm Katy," said the girl, "We're from Windfall."
"Nice to meet you," said Link, "I'm Aryll's brother, Link, and this is Tetra."
"After everyone began running from the cabana," began Aryll, "I decided to go to. But when I couldn't find you, I turned back to look for you. When I saw the cabana was surrounded by those monsters I thought..."
"It's okay, Aryll," said Link, hugging Aryll once more, "I'm fine. We're all good."
"Did you meet any other survivors?" asked Tetra.
"Unfortunately," began Katy, "We saw several of those Redeads, but no survivors."
"Then," continued Lenny, "We had to spend the night in 'fort' we made of old logs. There were bugs everywhere!"
"I know," said Link, "We all had a rough night."
"When exactly do you think help is gonna arrive?" asked Aryll.
"I don't know," said Link, "Maybe three hours, maybe three days."
"Well," said Lenny, "We can't be here when the boats arrive."
"Lenny's right," said Katy, "We should head back to the beach."
"We could hide out in my ship," suggested Tetra, "Or, what's left of it..."
"But it's not safe there!" said Link.
"It's not safe anywhere," said Aryll, "We'll just have to be careful."
Link thought for a moment.
"Fine then," he said, "Let's go...That is, if we can find our way outta here."
The gang walked down the large forest for another few hours. Occasionally, they would encounter a single Redead, but the slow and weak creatures were no match for Link's sword. Eventually, the gang stumbled upon a strange sight:
"What is this?" asked Link.
The gang found themselves in what appeared to be a small sanctuary. The trees that surrounded the spot had markings in them and there were random treasures such as beads and coins thrown onto the floor. The middle of the area had a stone with writing on it.
"What does it say?" asked Lenny.
Link got on his knees and approached the stones. Link cleared his throat and began to read what was written on the stone:
"Ages ago, this island was a large and prosperous land, now buried beneath the sea. The King of this land had a clan of priests that performed many important tasks around the Royal Territory. These priests were to be mummified and buried in a sacred burial ground near the Royal Palace. When the land was sunk under water, the gods allowed the bodies to be moved to a mountain top to protect them on the condition that no one disturb these sacred bodies. Should the blood of a peasant be spilt upon this sacred spot, then the dead shall return to the land of the living to feed on the wrongdoers and cleanse the land."
"Don't you see?" said Link, "Back when this was Hyrule, this was a burial spot for priests."
"Wait," said Lenny, "What the fuck is Hyrule?"
"It doesn't matter," said Link, "Tetra, did you say that Manny saw something weird in the basement?"
"Yeah," said Tetra, "A bunch of corpses. Why?"
As he stood there, Link remembered the story that Old Man Ho-Ho had told him the previous day.
"Old Lasar," began Link, "Came to this island many years ago with his family, but he went insane and killed them all, sparking the curse. He dumped the bodies in the basement of the cabana."
"That must be where the priests were buried," said Tetra.
"But Lasar must have managed to escape this island," continued Link.
"How do you know?" asked Katy.
"Because if he was killed," replied Link, "The curse would have been over. As long as he's alive, the Redeads will be searching for the 'wrongdoer'. And since we're on this island now..."
"They think it's us!" added Aryll.
"Yes," said Link, "The only question is how those things left the basement."
"It must have been the passage we found in the basement," said Tetra, "It probably leads right into the forest, and when Gonzo smashed the bars, it made it easier fo the Redeads to go right through."
The gang stood there for a while.
"Well?" said Lenny, "Why are we all just standing around? Let's get back to the ship!"
"Easier said than done..." said Link.
For the next while, the gang continued their journey before finally leaving the forest. The cabana was not too far...