Chapter 4

Departure

Link opened his eyes slowly to a faint sound from above. At first he thought his eyes were still closed, for all he could see was pitch black. At first he could neither move nor hear anything. His laboured breathing relaxed as he realized the sound he was hearing was Saria's ocarina. His vision slowly returned, only to reveal the faint torch light dozens of feet above him. His body was in too much pain for him to move still. He slowly worked on moving minor muscles in his body, lifting his neck or moving a finger, all the while focusing on the sound of the ocarina. After what felt like several minutes, the ocarina stopped, and he suddenly felt very cold.

"What else can we do for him?" he heard Mido ask.

"I've done all I can," Saria replied to Mido. "If his body is intact, my song may have been of help to him," Saria said, her voice grim.

"I don't know if our torch can last us much longer Saria…." Mido prompted gently. Link could tell by Mido's voice that he did not want to abandon Link, but his point was valid.

"We can return by nightfall and tell the village," Saria said, almost crying.

"If we tell anyone in the village they will cower at the thought of us venturing into the cave," Mido replied.

"If we have enough people we can come try to save Link… c'mon he needs us," Saria cried.

"At best, we could have a team of people here by tomorrow morning. We would still be too late," Mido calculated sadly.

"As someone responsible for his fall, you could try to be more helpful in fixing this," Saria sobbed.

"You think I meant to kill my best friend?" Mido yelled, "I grew up with him, he was my brother," Mido said, now crying too.

The two of them both stopped talking. Link was suddenly a little warmer again as he reckoned they both faced the cliff, and said their final goodbyes. The two of them departed in silence and Link saw the faint light slowly fade into the rest of the darkness.

Link had never thought he would witness his own funeral. His body still numb, he closed his eyes and spent his last few seconds conscious hoping his friends would make it back to the village and not be ridiculed.

Cold. Black. Gone.

Link opened his eyes once again in disbelief. His arms were no longer numb, he could extend his fingers and even grip. When he tried to lift his head, his hair clung to the rock floor. It was blood. Dry blood. He moved his shoulders loose of the dry puddle he was lying in. With his arms, he slowly reached back and gripped large rock, using it as an anchor to pull himself into a sitting upright position.

As he tried to recover his limp legs, he went over the details in his head. He had been knocked out for quite a long time if the blood was already dry. He could not see, but as his sense of feeling returned he detected multiple open wounds. By all rights, he should have been dead. He thought of the song Saria had played, and how it affected his will. He remembered back to the bird whom he had allegedly healed.

Link spent the next 20 minutes slowly standing up and supporting himself on the rock wall, then carefully walking off the stiffness in his muscles. He was not sure what to do next. It was pitch black, at the bottom of a large cliff, with no way of knowing how to get out or up. He cursed to himself as he thought of the aspect of being recovered just to die of starvation in the depths of a secluded cave.

He slowly wandered the cave, tracing along the wall for support and guidance. He went over the details once more. He was somehow not dead, where he should have bled to death. Some exterior force he did not know of was keeping him alive. He wondered back to Saria and her ocarina, along with his recent discovery of her knowing something he did not. He also remembered the bird, and how in his time of desperation he had acted in a way he didn't think he was capable of.

His pulse quickened. He was very cold, and he had not eaten in quite some time. He somehow managed to keep moving, but he did not feel he was making any progress. He could not see, nor maintain himself much longer. What reason did he have to go on?

"Rauru," he mumbled without realizing it.

The cave illuminated instantly. In Link's surprise, he tried to locate the source of the light. The light appeared to be coming from a floating orb above his head. When he reached out to grab it, the orb willingly slid into his grip. Link could not describe the texture or this ball of light. It was not solid like a ball, but it was still tangible. It emanated heat in a subtle way, relieving some of his fatigue. Link playfully maneuvered the orb for a few minutes. It bore no weight when he let go, and he found he could alter the ball at will. He did not even understand how he was controlling any of this. In his moment of adrenaline, he felt he could do anything.

It was a couple more minutes of distraction before he realized his ability to maintain this light could be taxing his energy. He released the orb from his grip and allowed it to follow Link while hovering behind him. He could now properly examine the cave. Behind him was the cliff he had fallen from. Looking up, he could now see that he had fallen a distance much greater than he had imagined. The drop was at least 40 feet to the ground he now stood on.

Looking further away from the cliff, the jagged cave continued as the ceiling lowered and the tunnel narrowed. This being the only option he really had, Link began walking down the tunnel, hoping it would lead him to better fortune. As he followed the narrow corridor, Link wondered about whether this cave had no animals living in it, or if his light spell had disrupted the wild life. He had seen very little since entering the cave, so he figured it was an underpopulated area.

The cave was getting wider. Link continued following his straight path, and almost missed the nook in the cave wall. Had it not been for the sound, Link may have completely bypassed the creature that hid to the shadow of the cubby.

"This light," a moderately high pitched voice remarked in Link's native language, "This light is not natural. No natural light makes it this far into the cave."

Link jumped back. Slowly, a child-sized being emerged from the shadow, covering his eyes. Link snapped out of his surprise and dimmed his light, then lowering it to the floor so both men could see each other's faces. As Link examined the character, he determined that he was not in fact a child. He had the face of a full grown male, though he wore an odd looking green costume, with a pointed cone for a hat, tight green shirt and pants, and had a large red nose to go along with his goatee. Link was very curious as to what this creature was, but he had never talked to another species before.

"That's better," the creature said, relaxing and opening his eyes slowly. He smiled up at Link and took a polite bow, "Good day to you, master spell caster."

Link, unaccustomed to any other culture, mimicked the critter's gesture, which seemed to satisfy him. "Wha-" Link cleared his throat, "Who are you?" Link asked, trying to be polite.

The creature chuckled "You must not be from around here. Much too polite to be. I am Tingle. I can see what you really want to know. What am I? I'm a fairy." When Link did not say anything, Tingle laughed again. "Well maybe not really. I was not born a fairy, but I have always wished I was. And what's important is who you are on the inside right?" He giggled, "My father tells me I should grow up. He tells me because I am 35 years old, I should stop dressing up like a fairy." Tingle laughed again, directing his attention back to Link. "And who might you be, master elf?"

"I'm Link," Link introduced, not entirely grasping what was going on.

"Link?" Tingle repeated. "And where do you hail from, Link? Not many visit my cave, and I don't believe I saw you enter. In fact you came from the opposite direction than the entrance."

"I'm from the forest. I'm a Kokiri," Link replied.

"Kokiri? Never heard that word before. Can't say I've met many forest folk before either. Is your home near the Faron woods perhaps? That is the only forest I have heard of anywhere near here," Tingle said.

"No…" Link said, "But it can't be that far. I entered this cave from the Kokiri forest."

Tingle raised an eyebrow. "The entrance to this cave," Tingle said pointing in the opposite direction Link had come from, "Is at the edge of the great plains."

Link's eyes followed where Tingle was pointing. "I did not come from that direction. I followed for several miles along a path coming from the opposite direction. With a large drop in the middle, I was forced to come this way as I could not climb back up the ledge I had fallen off of."

Tingle's eyes widened. "You came from that path? My goodness boy, I've lived in this cave for 10 years now, and not once has anyone come from that direction. When I first moved in I explored all the way down that narrow path and realized it was a dead end. I did not realize that above that large stone wall was another pathway." Tingle giggled, "So you are foreign to this area." When Link nodded, Tingle went on to explain, "Beyond that exit around the corner is the border of Hyrule. I take it you have no way back to your home, so I suggest you get comfortable in a new life. And what a good time you have picked to move!" Tingle giggled. "Peace has been established. The economy is doing great, and infrastructure is advancing!"

"But I didn't choose to move…." Link stated. "I'd rather go back home. My friends think I'm dead. And I need to talk to them as well."

Tingle sighed, "I understand it is hard to accept change. I myself have not left this cave since I moved in. My knowledge of the outside world is that which I am told when a passerby stumbles upon my cave. But you look so young! You've got so much time ahead of you to start over here. Perhaps it's best if you forget your old life."

"I'd rather not forget," Link said. "But either way, it seems my only option right now is to go into this outside world. Will you show me where I can go? I do not know where to find anything outside the forest…"

"But of course!" Tingle chuckled, turning around and searching for something in his small pile of belongings. "I would love to help," he said, returning to Link and handing him a piece of paper. "Tingle made this map just for you!" he joked. Link studied the map as the two of them walked along the path towards the exit.

"I don't think I can read this language…" Link said.

"Can you not read Hylian, boy?" Tingle asked surprised. "No matter. I suppose it's understandable. But there are pictures which should still help you. And maybe this map will help you when you start to learn Hylian!" Tingle cheered.

As they approached the exit where light reached the inside of the cave, Link released his light orb and Tingle stopped. Link took a step ahead and turned back to Tingle. "Will you not come with me?" Link asked.

"Leave this cave?" Tingle said, almost afraid, "No, no I could never. This cave is my home because I cannot handle the outside world."

Link thought about it. "Are you sure? I'm new to this world too. We can adjust together."

Tingle shook his head frantically. "Tingle cannot handle this yet. But thank you kind young spell caster. I wish you good fortune on your journey, and maybe that you even come back one day to visit!" Tingle laughed.

Link proceeded towards the exit to the cave. Behind him he heard Tingle's voice chant "Koolooh-Limpah!" When Link turned around, Tingle was gone.

With one last word of farewell to his new friend and old home, Link stepped foot out of the cave, into the Kingdom of Hyrule.