Chapter Four: Visitor from the Stars

Link…..Liiinnnkkkk…are you afraid of the dark, Link? …because if not…..YOU WILL BE! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I gasped as I woke up. I had fallen asleep under a tree in a forest somewhere. I was having a nightmare. It wasn't really anything new; I've had similar nightmares all my life. Before, all I saw was darkness and heard a voice, but this time… I saw something. Along with the voice, I saw a pair of gigantic red eyes staring at me wickedly. It was scary, but something else happened. Before whatever owned those eyes could do anything to me, a flash of emerald green light burst out of nowhere inbetween me and the… thing. That's the part that caused me to wake up suddenly. What was that thing? And what was the green light supposed to mean?

It had been nearly five days since I left Lanayru Village, heading west just as the spirit told me. It was around 7pm or so when I arrived on the edge of a city set near the ocean. The sign at the city entrance read "Jump City." Now that was an unusual name for a city. But then again, "Link" isn't a very normal name either. Regardless, I ventured into the city, hoping that this was the place Lanayru was talking about. Every surrounding was new to me. I had never seen such tall buildings, or lights on posts, or motorized vehicles. I was too distracted with my surroundings that I failed to notice someone heading towards me.

Apparently neither of us were paying attention, and we accidentally crashed into each other. We were both knocked to the ground.

"Ow," I said. I then noticed who I crashed into.

It was a girl wearing a blue hooded robe. She looked like she hadn't been out in the sun a lot, because her skin was really pale.

"Oh no! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" I said.

She got up and dusted herself off. I noticed that rather than a regular outfit, she was wearing a black leotard.
"It's okay. I wasn't exactly paying attention either." She told me.

Then she paused for a moment then raised an eyebrow. "What's with that getup?" she asked.

She had noticed my… peculiar outfit. Over top of my regular clothes, I was wearing a green tunic and a long, pointed green cap that hung down behind my head. I guess it was kind of unusual, I was about to answer, but she cut me off.

"You know what… It's none of my business." She said. "Anyway, sorry for the collision."

After that, she left. I was unsure what to make of the situation that had just happened, so I just decided to continue onward. What I did not realize though, was that she had not really left.

I was nearing a three-way intersection and it still did not seem like I was getting any closer to finding… whoever I was supposed to find. I thought about the hint that Lanayru gave me: "Look to the stars, and the answer shall come". I guess that meant to look at the stars in the night sky, but I didn't see how that would help. I didn't have any other ideas though, so I looked up. The stars were as beautiful as ever, but this time I saw something different. Hanging in the night sky was a star shining a brilliant green. And it was moving….right towards this area!

I ran for cover as the meteor came crashing down right on the spot where I had been standing. The force of the impact knocked me off my feet and straight into a building wall. When the smoke cleared, I saw the crater, dust billowing out of it, and still glowing with a faint green light. What on earth was that? Or rather, what off of the earth was that? I took another look, and saw something I never expected. Standing on top of the crater, was a girl!

Her hair was red, and her skin was kind of orange. But what I noticed most of all was that her eyes were glowing with a green light. It was almost exactly how my eyes look when I use my powers, aside from the color. After seeing that I knew that this was who the spirit wanted me to find. I wasn't sure how, but I just knew. I started to approach her and the crowd that had gathered around the crater, but after the first few steps, I heard her say something to the crowd. It was not in English. In fact, I wasn't sure what kind of language it was.

"She doesn't speak English…" I thought to myself. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

Right after I thought that though, something strange happened. The spirit ring on my hand began to glow for a few seconds. When it faded, something even stranger happened. I heard the girl talk again. I could still hear her speaking her own language, but I was also hearing English overtop of it. What had just happened? Did the ring do this? Maybe it was translating for me or something? Regardless, I was able to understand her now. But would she be able to understand me.

I saw her slam both of her arms into a nearby support beam. It was being bashed pretty badly, and it was scaring the bystanders. When she stopped, I noticed what was on her arms. It looked like some sort of shackles. I saw her slump down in failure. Then I heard her say something under her breath. "Somebody….anybody….please…help me…"

My hearing is really good, so I was able to hear what she said. I felt so sorry for her. I had to help. I continued to approach her. She was still slumped downward so she did not notice me at first.

"Um…..hi?" I said when I was in front of her.

When she heard this she sprang back up and stood in an attack ready stance.

"Wait! Don't hurt me! I…uh…come in peace?" I told her.

I didn't know if she understood that, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. But I noticed a surprised look on her face.

"You…speak Tamaranian?" she asked me.

Wait. Did this mean she understood me? That the ring was translating both ways? English for me, and…uh…her language for her? I guess that didn't matter right now.

"Uh…yeah, I guess…" I said. "My name is Link. What's your name?"

When I asked that, I held out my hand. She looked at it for a moment, as if contemplating what to do. After a few seconds, she looked up at me again, giving me an aggressive look.

"My name is of no importance to you. Now leave me alone!" she told me.

She turned and walked away from me and began to slam her shackles into the ground, and she was going to hit the support beam again, but I grabbed hold of her arms to stop her. I was kind of surprised I was able to, as she seemed like she was incredibly strong.

"Stop that!" I told her.

"Why?!" she responded.

"Just look around! You're frightening everyone!" I said.

She looked around everywhere. Everyone in the area looked terrified and stood at a distance. When she saw this, the girl calmed down slightly.

"Do you want them to think you're a monster?!" I asked her.

That comment apparently affected her, because she looked towards the ground, and her expression changed from aggressive to depressed.

"I…I don't…..I wasn't…" she began to say.

I'm pretty sure she was going to say that she didn't want to seem like a monster. I guess that comment was a bit too harsh.

"I know what's going on." I began to say.

The girl looked up at me with a surprised and confused look on her face.

"Well, I don't know everything that's going on…. But I know how you must feel right now," I said. "To be thrust into a world that you don't understand without any warning, or any choice…. It's scary. Trust me, I'm going through the same thing. But that's no reason to freak out and start destroying everything! No one here is going to hurt you. I promise."

After she heard this, the girl calmed down. Then she gestured to the shackles on her arms.

"I was not trying to destroy anything. I merely want to remove these arm shackles. I've tried to myself, but they are quite durable. I thought that if I hit them against something hard enough, I could weaken them and get them off. But it does not seem to be working." She said.

I had a feeling that was what she was trying to do. Even so, I couldn't let her smash everything around her; it would just scare everyone even more.

"I can help you get those off." I told her.

When she heard that, her eyes widened in surprise. But when she turned to look at me, she looked confused.

"Why would you help me?" she asked.

"Why not? You're in trouble and I want to help. Do I need a reason?" I told her.

She looked unsure at first, but after a few seconds she walked up to me and her eyes stopped glowing.

"Okay." She said. Then she held her shackled arms out in front of me.

I was still looking in her eyes. They were a very beautiful shade of green, without any white in them. I was so distracted by them that it took me a few seconds to react.

"Oh! Sorry…. Let's see…." I said before I examined the shackles.

They were unlike anything I'd ever seen, very advanced and complicated. But I soon found what looked like a lock. I didn't have a key, but my sword could probably break it. But before I could inform her of this, I heard something coming at us very fast.

"Watch out!" I said as I grabbed her and got her out of the way.

"Ow! Why did you do that?!" she asked as she got up.

"That's why!" I said as I pointed to what was stuck in the wall behind us.

I went and pulled it out. It was some sort of boomerang-like object shaped like a bird, with blades instead of wings. I got her out of the way just in time. This could've taken her head off!

"Who threw this?!" I asked out loud. "It almost hurt someone!"

After I asked this, another person appeared. This one was a boy with jet black spiky hair who was wearing a cape and a mask over his eyes. He was standing on top of a car and looked mad.

"That would be me." He said responding to my question.

"You almost took her head off!" I said.

The boy took out another bird shaped boomerang and held it ready to throw.

"Sorry. Next time I won't miss!" he said.