Ch 2

Ch 2

As an initial response, Link was baffled. What did he just say? Slowly weighing those words, he came to the simple and most reasonable conclusion that this guard had once again made a fool of him. Link dismissed it, knowing that mockery was a part of his daily life. Townspeople always looked down upon him, thinking nothing of him but a lowly and homeless child.

"If I may ask, is there something troubling you today, prince? You seem a bit disturbed this afternoon." The guard commented, a look of concern painted on his face.

"Sir, I need to leave." Link said bluntly and curtly, wishing to just hasten off. The further away from Hyrule, the further away he would be from his feelings of doubt and worries.

The guard frowned, and straightened out his posture, only to say,

" But I believe The King has summoned you, Young Prince. It is important you greet him immediately. The matter may be essential. I advise you head towards the castle at this moment." So that was his humorous way of taunting him once again. No matter, Link thought.

He knew this market and town with its back alleys like it were home. Especially when he spent those days at the market for the first time, trying to find his way to the castle to meet the Princess. He simply scurried off, leaving the guard standing there, a bit confused. Returning to town, he pushed past the mobs of customers bargaining for merchandise at the market stalls.

He endured complaints and yells like, " Hey kid! Outta my way!" or what the most common things the pudgy and greedy for clothes women would say, " Would you move? Dear me, the guards should lock away pushy brats likes you."

Link couldn't help but smile just a bit. It felt kind of good to be a kid again. At that moment, he felt no worldly burden on him. No lives to save. He was now just a kid. After accomplishing that difficult task, he slipped into the narrow alley at the left and headed down that particular way. The walls of the alleys he took were worn down and cracked, added with the stench of bums inhabiting the area.

Finally reaching behind the building of the tattered mask shop, Link climbed the damaged, ancient wall that bordered the town of Hyrule. Using his foot on the ledge to the left, he hoisted himself up over the wall. Struggling just a bit, he managed to make it over, but stumbled on the other side, falling face first in the tall grass of the vast Hyrule fields that lay ahead of him. He finally had gotten out of the town.

Lying there for a few moments, he turned over and a question popped in his head that made him stop. Link sighed and sat up, squinting his cobalt eyes to look over the many miles of the fields that rolled out in front of him, with the sun illuminating the sky over the light green grasses. He couldn't help but acknowledge how clear and blue the sky was today. This kid was always that observing. Peering ahead, he finally decided to mentally organize himself, and attend to that important question. Link stressfully pondered where his next destination would be.

Where would he go? Should he return to the Kokiri forest, his home? At first, Link shook his head. He was unwanted there. Following Mido's accusation, every Kokiri except Saria thought Link was the source of the Deku Tree's peril. I could never return there, he sorrowfully admitted to himself.

But, wait. A moment of realization occurred to Link. The Deku Tree's death was Ganondorf's doing. And since Ganondorf was imprisoned after his defeat, his actions and wicked undertakings were erased in the past!

A minute flame of hope within Link burned brilliantly. He clumsily picked himself up and dashed south. To home. Perhaps, Link hoped, the Deku tree would be alive! Link had recalled the intense melancholy he had endured when the Deku Tree died in front of his very own eyes, despite the great effort Link made to destroy the beasts that lurked within it. He thought he could save the great tree, which took him in as an infant and granted him protection, but he failed to do so.

As an orphan, the great Deku Tree seemed to be the closest thing to a parent figure that Link had. His death was always a burden on Link's conscience, like a problem that never got solved. Link would never disregard it.

His hope and exhilaration sent him sprinting through the fields, the wind pushing back his golden bangs that hung around his face. His fit and lean body persisted through the scorching Hyrule weather. Beads of sweat began to form at the back of his neck, but he kept of running. He silently prayed that matters would be easy to handle at the Kokiri Forest. The sun beamed upon him, doing everything in its power to melt him down. If things turned out exactly the way Link wanted, he would be beyond contentment. He ran like there was no tomorrow.

At last, he arrived at the deep and enigmatic tunnel that led to the lost woods, then the Kokiri forest. Hesitant and stalling, he collapsed, panting, and deciding to catch a breath from running all afternoon long. Lying in the grass, the day had chilled down a level, and the sun dimmed a bit as well. Link closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and considered of what lay behind that tunnel. His adrenaline had disappeared.

Rejection, he hated to admit, would be a hard blow and something he wouldn't want to deal with. But he knew matters don't always turn out the way he wants. Staring at the sky and collecting his thoughts, he ran his hand through his hair. Feeling it, Link took off the gold circle that lay on his head, and observed it intently with full curiosity. What was this thing? It kind of looks like a crown…he suggested to himself. Shimmering under the sun, its brightness blinded his eyes.

Eventually, losing his interest, Link flung the item across somewhere in the tall grass. He decided to stall no more, and stood up. He gazed into the tunnel and braced himself. Who knew what was beyond it? As the sun slowly dipped beneath the horizon, Link proceeded in, fully unaware of and a bit anxious of what he was to perceive.