Chapter 2

Ian returned to his hut with seven beautiful gems, each one a different color, and each one about the size of a fist. He could hardly believe he could find such precious gems, but figured it was because of that man in his dream. It had to be. Oh well, he thought, just as long as I have them. As he put the gems down he noticed two new objects in his hut. He slowly walked over to them.

"What in the world are these?" he asked out loud.

Inside his head, he could hear the voice of that strange man. "These two objects will aid you in your quest. The first is a container in which you can store the gems. The other is a book that will guide you through time and eventually help you trap the Sages."

"I see," he said aloud.

Ian opened the case and noticed that the groves for the gems where in a pattern. There was a spot toward the top, and another opposite it toward the bottom. On each side were two more groves equally spaced from the others. And, directly in the center of the case, was the final grove. Ian randomly placed them into the case and closed it. He then reached for the book and began to read it. This book has everything in it. 'How will I ever know what to do?' he thought. He sat on his bed and read some more.

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Link finished his drink and slammed it down onto the table. The bartender walked over and poured him another one. Link thanked him and turned to Nick.

"That was a lot of hard work."

"Tell me about it. And we're not even done. We are done for today, however. I ache all over," Nick replied, rubbing his arms.

"But it's got to be done, and someone has to do it. Too bad that someone includes us," Link smiled.

"I agree with that," Nick added, raising his glass into the air.

"Here, here," Link said as he raised his glass up to Nick's. They both emptied their mugs. "Sorry, to drink and run, Nick, but I've got to start heading back if I want to be on time for this banquet thing."

"I need to be heading to Hyrule Castle, too. So we can make the journey back together."

"Aren't I the lucky one?" Link shot back. He loved joking with Nick, it was always so much fun. Nick could always give out as much as he could take. The two paid the bartender and walked outside toward the stables.

"Uh, oh. Looks like it's going to ran," Nick observed. Link looked up with a frown.

"Damn." The two men mounted their horses and sped off toward Hyrule Castle.

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Soon, Ian found himself standing in front of a portal of some kind. Not a portal of some kind, he thought, a portal through time. I wonder where I'll be going? Or rather, when I'll be going. He looked at the portal a little longer, and then grabbed the book and case.

"Here goes nothing."

He stepped into the portal and instantly felt strange. It was as if his body wasn't there, just his thoughts, flying through this doorway. The pathway twisted and turned until he could see a bright light ahead of him. That better not be the great beyond he thought. He came closer and closer to the light, until it was all around him, then all was dark.

He awoke to find himself on the ground. The first thing he noticed was that it was raining. But soon, that was replaced by the feeling of pain and tiredness. He tried to move but couldn't, or wouldn't, he didn't know for sure. All he knew was that he was hurt, and he was getting wet. Then, off in the distance he heard the galloping of horses. He tried to call for help, but couldn't get out more than some undistinguishable noise. Great, I'm going to die out here, was all he thought.

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Thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and Link and Nick pushed their horses even faster. The rain was beginning to come down harder and they were still a ways from the warmth of the castle. Link thought he heard something, but he just blamed it on the rain. No one in their right mind would be out here. Well, except for Link. Again, he thought he heard something, but he was in no mood for adventuring, he just wanted to get home.

Nick also heard the noise, but he was more curious. He glanced around him trying to see anything. Then, a bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky and Nick made out what he thought to be a person laying face down on the ground. He had to help this person. "Link! Link!" he shouted. Finally he got Link's attention and pointed over to where the man was lying on the ground. "Someone's out here! We've got to help him!"

Link nodded and turned Epona around and headed for the spot that Nick had pointed to. As he rode up, he saw the figure of a man in very ragged clothing with a case and book. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the man was very thin, maybe even malnourished. But there was no time to think about that. He grabbed the man, who was very light, and placed him in front of him on Epona. "Let's go!" he yelled to Nick over the roaring thunder and pounding rain. "He looks sick, and we might end up sick too if we don't get out of this rain!" Nick nodded in agreement and the two of them directed their horses to the castle.

The town was in clear view and the two travelers, with one unconscious man, raced toward the drawbridge. The guards immediately recognized the rider in front as Link on Epona, but they had no clue as to who was on the horse with him. They didn't dwell on this fact as they lowered the bridge for the Hero of Time to cross.

Link and Nick hurried across the bridge. It was still raining very hard, and the two riders were very cold and wet. They continued sprinting through the town toward the castle stables. As they stabled their horses, Link picked up the unknown man and began to run to the castle. Nick was right behind with the man's book and case.

Link ran up to one of the guards. "Get Zelda and the Sages and tell them to go to the guest room wing!" he shouted to him.

"Yes, sir!" The guard ran off toward the dining hall where Zelda and the Sages were seated.

Link had just gotten into the room with the new man and put him on a bed when the rest came into the room.

"Link, where did you find this man?" Zelda asked.

"Nick found him out in Hyrule Field. He was completely out of it, but we knew we had to bring him here."

"We need to get him out of these… clothes… if that's what you would call them," Impa stated.

"Well, I'm not doing it!" Ruto said.

"Oh, please. Get over it." Nick gave Ruto a teasing smile.

"Fine, then you do it, Nick," insisted Nabooru.

"You, too?" Link asked. Nabooru just smiled back at him. "Oh fine, you ladies can turn around if you want to, but I can't believe that you could be so embarrassed." He then added, with a smile, "Except for you, Zel. I'm the only man that you should see with no clothes on."

"If I want to see a naked body, I'll see one," she defended.

"So you want to help Nick and I?"

"No, that's disgusting!" she replied. Link, Nick, Darunia, and Rauru all let out a small laugh, and then turned to help the sick man.

They soon had him out of his ragged old clothes and into decent sleeping attire. After placing him on the bed and under the covers, the girls all turned around.

"He looks so peaceful in that bed," Saria said. Impa nodded.

"Let's leave our mystery guest alone for awhile so that he can get the necessary rest. We'll take shifts so that we know when he wakes up. Saria, take the first shift. Then Darunia can watch over him."

"Ok," said Saria.

"Yeah, I want to get cleaned up and changed anyway," Link said as he just remembered that he was drenched and dirty. Nick nodded.

"Its almost time for the banquet. We should start to go to the dining hall," Zelda brought up. Everyone nodded and left, except for Saria.