Link was back in the Water Temple. He had never been in this particular chamber before, but he had spent enough time in the complex to recognize the architecture, and he wasn't sure where else he would ever see such a massive, high-ceilinged, cylindrical chamber. There was water on the ground, but not much. Most of it had been drained out of the chamber through the large crack in the wall; the crack that had been caused by the gigantic eel-like creature that had rammed into the wall as it died.

Link stood beside the monster's massive corpse. It was slumped down on its side with its head embedded in the cracked wall. Link looked up into the creature's large, singular eye sitting atop the center of its head. Within the dead creature's eye, Link could see a swirling black darkness faintly radiating from inside of it. Walking forward, he put his hands on the monster's body and climbed upward until he reached the eye.

Clinging on with one hand, Link drew his sword and sliced the eye open. A foul stench overtook him, and he nearly lost his grip. Regardless, he could see his prize. Something that looked like a black, stone crown was embedded in the giant fish eye. Glowing green lines pulsated across it, which made him fear to touch it for a moment. Nevertheless, he plunged his hand into the monster's eye, pulled out the stone crown, and leaped back down to the ground.

After he landed, he coughed, still not quite over the stench. There was blood and oil covering the object he'd removed from the monster's eye, so he shook it clean before holding it up to examine it.

Suddenly, his shadow sprung to life, leaping out of the ground. However, it was not a shadowy version of himself like he'd seen the last time he visited the Water Temple. It was the shadow of that imp girl he'd seen in his wolf dream.

"There it is! The last Fused Shadow…" Midna said excitedly. A gigantic, orange hand extended from the imp girl's hair, reaching forward to grab the crown out of Link's hand. "I'll just take that, thanks! Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I need this thing!" The imp girl didn't seem particularly apologetic. "Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he is the king of shadows…"

Zant again?

The imp girl had mentioned him the last time Link had seen her.

"His power is a false one…" Midna went on, sounding as if she felt the need to remind everyone of this. "I'll prove it using these!" Still gripping the stone crown she'd called a Fused Shadow, she retracted her hair-hand back behind her head, disappearing the magical object from sight. "So…" Midna said, turning away from Link. "I've done everything I needed to. I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me…" She at least managed to sound a little more like she actually meant her apology this time, Link noted.

Midna floated forward, then raised her hand and waved it in front of her. A large black spot appeared on the ground, which soon opened into a portal of swirling green. The imp girl turned back to Link. "So… Shall we go?"

Link walked forward and joined her atop of the portal. A moment later, he felt the strangest sensation he'd ever felt, and everything went black for a moment.

When he came to, Link found himself standing on a ledge outdoors, looking out over a pool of water below him. When he turned, he suddenly found someone blocking his path. The person was so tall, Link only came up to his chest. He tilted his head back to look up, then gasped in shock.

Standing before him was none other than Zant himself. Link recognized him immediately by the distinctive conical helmet he wore that resembled the head of a chameleon. The Usurper King stared down at him with the bulging, lifeless eyes of his helmet. Link knew the man was a threat - likely the biggest threat he had ever faced - and he was too frightened to move.

Behind Link, a gigantic, glowing, golden serpent burst forth from the water, baring its fangs and roaring at the Usurper King. But Zant was unmoved. He did not even flinch at the sudden appearance of the serpent god. Instead, he emitted a blast of searing bright light that radiated from him in all directions. Link felt his retinas burn, and he was thrown onto his back.

Link must have been knocked out for a short time, but when he opened his eyes again, he was in a wolf's body once more. Looking up, he saw Zant standing over Midna. She was on the ground, clearly quite injured. A glowing ball of black and red magic hovered in front of Zant. He stared down at Midna with obvious intent to harm her. Without thinking, Link reacted by leaping at the Usurper King.

"Linkle!"

Link awoke with a start, reaching forward as if to grab his sister's hand to save her, but Linkle was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Midna, nor Zant, and Link wasn't a wolf anymore. Instead, he sat upon a sandy beach, with gentle waves washing over the ground he sat upon.

What…?

He examined his surroundings, trying to think of where he was or how he'd gotten there.

I was… fighting pirates…

Link's head throbbed, but his memories started to come back to him. He'd fallen into the sea, just as the tentacles of the colossal Octorok had pulled his ship into the swirling whirlpool. Before long, he'd been pulled underwater himself.

I thought I'd drowned…

For a moment, Link realized it was possible he really had drowned. He'd heard many stories about where the souls of the dead ended up after they passed on. Perhaps this was his afterlife for whatever reason. He looked down at his hands, then at his legs. He appeared to be in pretty bad shape. He had small cuts and bruises all over, and his skin was sunburnt.

Seems like a mortal body to me…

Link stood up, which was not as easy as he would've liked. He couldn't tell where he was. The shoreline did not remind him of his home province of Necluda. It looked more like the coast of Ordona, but he wasn't sure how he would've ended up there again.

He turned his gaze to the sea. Holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, he squinted as he looked off into the distance. Very faintly, he could make out a coastline.

Wait. If that's Hyrule, then…

"Great," Link said aloud. He was stranded on some island off the coast, he realized. He must have washed ashore after the ship sank.

Link patted himself down, checking if he had anything useful on him. His clothes were in tatters, and he had none of his equipment. However, when he glanced down, he saw his boomerang sticking up out of the sand.

"Huh." Link knelt down to collect the item. "I guess it really does always come back." He quickly searched his surroundings, but he could not find his sword or anything else he would've brought with him.

And, more importantly than that, he saw no signs of anyone else.

"Linkle!" He cupped his hands around his mouth as he shouted into the distance. "Linkle! Are you there? Linkle!"

Link put his hand to his temple. He remembered a little more clearly what had happened. Linkle had not fallen into the water with him. She had made it onto the enemy ship. However, Link had not been conscious for very long after that. For all he knew, she'd fallen in battle against the pirates, or the giant Octorok had sunk their ship, too. And then there was Dayto, Nat, and Chabi. Those three adventurers might have been dead as well, all because they'd chosen to travel with Link and his sister.

As he processed all the horrible possibilities, Link sank to his knees in the sand. He stared out into the sea for a long time.

My sisters always liked the sea…

The only sounds he heard were the gentle breeze, the slow movement of the waves crashing ashore in front of him, and the distant calling of seagulls. Everything seemed so calm, but Link just felt empty.

If Linkle were with him, the two of them would have been trying to find a way off of the island immediately, or perhaps working to find food or set up a shelter. Link did not feel like doing any of that. He didn't feel like doing anything.

Maybe I should just die, too.

Link's thoughts were interrupted by a new sound. From behind him, he heard a low growling. Rather than being startled, Link did not react at all. Surely some monster had come to eat him. Maybe that was what the gods wanted to happen. He remained kneeling, waiting to see what happened next.

But nothing happened. Instead, there was another low growl, as if the monster making the noise were being insistent. Not knowing what else to do, Link stood up and slowly turned around. Several yards away, there was a treeline made up of tropical trees. At the base of one tree, there was a wolf peeking out from behind the tree trunk. It stared at Link and let out another low growl.

Wait. Is that…

Link recognized the wolf. In fact, he was the wolf, or at least he had been in his dream. It was the same black and white wolf he'd been transformed into by Zant when he dreamed about being the Hero of Twilight. It even had that iron cuff around its ankle, dragging a short, broken chain along the ground.

Am I still dreaming? Or maybe I'm just hallucinating…

After making eye contact with the wolf, the creature stared at him for a moment. Link could see intelligence in those eyes. He wondered what it wanted. Then, it turned around and walked off into the forest of tropical trees.

Link walked forward. For some reason, he got the distinct impression that the wolf wanted him to follow it. At the very least, he wanted to know if he was crazy.

When he made it to the treeline, he saw the wolf in the distance, further into the woods. It was standing on all fours with its neck craned around to see him. When it spotted Link, it kept moving.

It really does want me to follow it.

Link tried his best to catch up. He thought the wolf would give him some clue as to what was going on if he could get close to it, but no matter how fast he moved, the wolf was always far beyond his reach. It wasn't easy for Link to move very fast anyway. He was sore all over, and he stumbled over the tree roots several times.

After a few minutes of following the wolf, Link slumped down against one of the trees, needing a moment to catch his breath. The wolf stopped as well, barking at him like it wanted him to continue.

"Shut up," Link muttered, breathing heavily. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the tree trunk. "What the fuck am I doing?" he asked quietly. With Linkle gone, he couldn't see the purpose in anything right then, let alone following some animal deeper into the interior of the island he was stranded on.

The wolf barked again, then trotted away. Link considered just letting it go. However, despite everything, he got the strong feeling he wasn't supposed to.

"Fine," he said aloud. "Wait up, you stupid mutt."

Link followed the wolf through the forest and eventually emerged at the top of a hill. He was panting when he reached the top, tired and hungry. As he ascended, he got a better look at his surroundings. He was indeed on an island, and he saw no ships or any signs of civilization.

However, at the top of the hill, the wolf led Link into a clearing. To Link's surprise, it looked like someone had set up a campsite. There was a lit campfire set up between two overturned logs, and there appeared to be a pot of something boiling suspended over the fire.

"Someone's here," Link said aloud. However, he was not exactly relieved. He half-heartedly held his hand beside the boomerang he kept at his waist. He was not sure if he would've been willing to fight, but he knew it was possible that another person stranded on the island could be hostile.

Just as Link was about to begin searching the area, the wolf stopped in front of one of the overturned logs. Link watched in bewilderment as the wolf changed shape before his eyes. It stood on its hind legs and its fur melted away. In mere seconds, the wolf had transformed into a Hylian man. He looked middle-aged, with blond hair and muscular arms, and he wore peasant clothing. There was a necklace around his neck bearing a charm that resembled a small, white, horseshoe-shaped instrument with holes in it, kind of like what the ocarina had. In addition to that, he wore an earring in the shape of a fishing hook.

The man smiled at Link and took a seat on the log. "Sorry to rush you like that," he said. "I didn't want to let the soup go to waste." The strange man picked up a ladle and placed it into the pot suspended over the campfire, scooping some soup into a bowl he held in his other hand. "Would you care for some? I'm sure you must be hungry."

Link blinked. He was still confused about the whole situation. However, he was hungry, realizing he didn't know how long it had been since he'd last eaten. So, he nodded and stepped forward, taking the bowl the stranger handed to him.

As Link took a seat on the other log, the man scooped up another bowl of soup for himself. "You like it?" the man asked. "It's made with Ordon goat cheese; a specialty of my village."

Link took another sip of the soup. He could definitely taste the cheese. "It's… good. Thank you," he said politely. He examined the man's face for a moment. "You're from Ordona, then?" Link asked. "You look Hylian."

"Oh, I am. Just like you," the man replied. "I think I'm a lot like you, actually, Link."

Link froze, then lowered his bowl. "You know my name?"

The Hylian man nodded.

Despite the oddness of the entire situation, Link's mind worked to put two and two together. The man was a Hylian from Ordona, and he could transform into a wolf - the same wolf Link had seen in his dreams.

"You…" It took Link a moment to form the words. "You're… him. The real him. You're the Hero of Twilight."

The man nodded his head somewhat reluctantly. "Well, I suppose that's what they call me nowadays."

Link was stunned. "But… you're dead. Wait, am I dead?" Link put the bowl of soup down and examined his hands, as if he expected them to be skeletal, or translucent like a spirit.

"No, no," the Hero replied. "Well, I'm dead, yes. But you're not. Don't worry."

Link still wasn't quite sure what was going on. He sat there staring at what must have been the ghost of one of the most famous Heroes who ever lived.

Linkle would be so jealous.

His heart sank at that thought.

"So, tell me," the Hero said in between mouthfuls of soup. "What do you plan to do once you get off of this island?"

"What?" It took Link a moment to comprehend the question. "I… don't know. Maybe I'll just… stay here."

"Stay here?" the Hero repeated. "What about your sister? Don't you have to get back to her?"

Link wasn't sure how the Hero knew so much about him, but he didn't ask. Instead, he hung his head, wishing he didn't have to have this conversation at all. "My sister is dead."

"What makes you so sure of that?" the Hero asked. "She was still alive when you last saw her, right?"

Link supposed that was true. "I… don't know."

The Hero nodded. "Look, I know what you're going through," he said. "Every hero goes through something like this; something that makes them want to give up completely. But they never do. That's part of what makes them heroes."

Link narrowed his eyes, even more confused now. "Hero?" he asked, then he shook his head. "No, it's not- it's not me. My sister is the Hero," he corrected.

The former Hero shrugged. "It could be her. But are you sure about that? Your hand was on the sword when it was pulled from the stone, too, wasn't it?"

Link opened his mouth to argue, but the Hero was correct. Some of the other adventurers who were present at the time had pointed that out as well, but he hadn't considered it to be a real possibility. "But, I- Linkle's the fearless one, alright? I'm not the least bit… courageous, or, or anything like that."

"Is that a fact?" the Hero asked. "Last I checked, you're the one who revealed himself to a dragon just to save a guy you didn't even like."

"Yeah, and I was fucking terrified."

"But you still did it."

"I- Yeah, but- I didn't even- No. No," Link denied it again, shaking his head. "It's Linkle. It's gotta be Linkle."

"Why?" the former Hero asked, taking another sip of his soup.

Link sighed. "Look. I'm not like you. Or Linkle. I don't have what you two have. This, this, that sort of drive to, like, save people. Save the world. I'm not like that." Link paused, feeling ashamed to admit it. "I just… I just wanted to live my life. With my sister. That's it."

The Hero nodded, placing his bowl on the ground beside him. He took a deep breath. "Let me ask you something. Do you know why I left my village when I was about your age?"

Link furrowed his brow. He'd heard the story enough to know almost every detail of this man's life. "Yeah. You left to stop the Twilight Invasion and save Princess Zelda."

The Hero chuckled. "Ah, figures that's what they'd say about me."

"What? Is that not what happened?"

"Well, I did fight against the Twili invaders, and I did help Princess Zelda, yes," the former Hero confirmed. "But that's not why I left my village. I didn't set out with some grand ambition to save the world. All that happened was two of my friends got kidnapped by Bulblins. When I went after them, a Twili pulled me into a forest that was engulfed in shadow, which turned me into a wolf for some reason. Before I knew what was happening, I woke up in the dungeons of Hyrule Castle. Then, a smug little imp showed up and offered to help me escape if I did something for her in return. Next thing I knew, I was being dragged all across Hyrule, collecting things to help fight against Zant. It was never my intention to challenge the Usurper King, or the Dark Lord. It all just sort of… happened."

Link wasn't sure how to respond to that. He supposed it made sense. The former Hero's own version of his story was closer to some of the other tellings he'd heard, but his sister always made him seem much… grander.

"Why are you telling me this?" Link asked.

"Well, my point is, you don't need to try to save the world to be a hero," he replied. "Sometimes, just trying to save one or two people is enough."

Link considered the former Hero's words for a long time, staring into the campfire without saying anything.

"My sister is still alive?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Maybe," the Hero answered. "But you're not gonna find out if you give up and die on this island, are you?"

"I guess not," Link admitted. He felt guilty for having even considered it.

If there's even a chance she's alive, I need to find her.

"Good." The former Hero smiled and climbed to his feet. "Then how about we get you out of here?"

Getting off of the island was not as easy of a task as Link had hoped. The ghost of the Hero apparently had no means to teleport him, nor did he have access to any other useful magic that may have aided his departure. Instead, the Hero's suggestion was to do things the old fashioned way – building a raft using fallen trees from the island.

It was tiresome work to drag the logs they found over to the beach and fashion them together, but it was nothing Link wasn't used to. During his time as a blacksmith's apprentice, he'd been required to move heavy objects and perform manual labor all the time. The Hero was no stranger to hard labor either, having been a farmer in life. Linkle had often touted that as a connection she had to him.

"You know, my sister's gonna be real jealous when I tell her I met you," Link told the Hero as they worked.

The Hero of Twilight chuckled. "Yes, I understand she's a big fan of mine." With a grunt, he finished sliding one of the logs into place, then stood up straight and wiped his brow. "Tell you what," he said, putting his hands to his ear. He removed his hook-shaped earring and held it out to Link. "Why don't you give her this? Think of it as a gift from me."

Link took the earring in his hand. He vaguely recalled the part of the Hero's story in which the piece of coral jewelry was mentioned, but it was one of the more obscure items the Hero had used in life. Nevertheless, he knew Linkle would appreciate it. "Thanks," Link said appreciatively. "You got this from King Ralis, right?"

"Well, he was Prince Ralis when he gave it to me," the Hero replied. "But, yes."

The two of them worked for a while after that. By the time they put the finishing touches on the raft, it was beginning to look seaworthy. The raft was rectangular in shape, and thick enough that a portion of it should stay above the water. They'd managed to fashion together a sail from some of the materials the Hero had in his camp, and Link had found a few decently-sized sticks to make into oars. The Hero also had some food for Link to load onto the raft, along with an assortment of tropical fruit from the island trees.

"You really think I'll be able to make it back to shore in this thing?" Link asked as they pushed the raft into the sea. He could faintly see the mainland in the distance, but it still seemed impossibly far away.

"Of course," the Hero replied confidently. "The wind is in your favor, and you have the gods on your side."

Once the raft was into deep enough water, Link could see that it could float, at least. He climbed on top of it and began readying the sail.

"Just keep heading west," the Hero said. He waded backwards through the water, heading back to shore. "And always remember what you're fighting for. It will keep you going, even in the toughest of times."

My sister.

"I will." Link turned to face him, standing aboard the raft. "You can't come with me?"

The former Hero shook his head. "It doesn't work that way."

"I figured." Link wasn't sure what else to say. The whole situation was so surreal. "Thank you. For everything."

"It was the least I could do," the Hero replied. "Now, get that sail ready. The god who made all this possible will do you one last favor."

Link furrowed his brow, wondering which god he was talking about. "Okay." Link finished unfurling the sail. Right away, the wind caught it.

The former Hero made it back to shore. He lifted the small horseshoe-shaped instrument he wore on his necklace, put it to his mouth, and began to whistle a gentle tune.

Before Link knew what was happening, a whale breached the surface of the water several yards away from him. Link stumbled, gripping the mast of the ship, worried the whale would capsize him. However, the whale did not crash back into the water. It flew up into the air, flying with a pair of feathery white wings extending from its back.

"What the…?" Link watched in amazement as the winged whale flew behind him, hovering above the island's shore. The former Hero stood beneath the floating creature and waved goodbye to Link. Then, the whale flapped its wings rapidly. It sent a gale force of wind directly into Link's raft. The sail caught the wind, and it propelled the raft forward.

"Good luck, Link!" the Hero called, quickly shrinking into the distance. The winged whale let out a call as well.

As Link sailed further from them, the island seemed to fade away, as if disappearing into a dense fog until it could no longer be seen at all.

As Link sailed the sea in his raft, a part of him wondered if the whole island and everything that happened on it had been a dream, or some sort of hallucination. He'd wondered the same thing throughout the entire encounter, but now that he was further removed from it, it seemed like a greater possibility. However, the raft was real, which meant at least the island had been real. Meeting the ghost of the Hero of Twilight and being helped by a winged whale, on the other hand, seemed more far-fetched. The only thing that made it seem real to him was the coral earring the Hero had given him. Every now and then, he would hold it in the palm of his hand to examine it, as if he were afraid it would fade from existence.

I guess it was probably real, then. And I got a nice present for Linkle out of it.

He smiled to himself as he thought of the look Linkle would have on her face when he gave it to her and told her the story.

She's alive. I'll find her.

While the winged whale had propelled him a decent distance at the start of his journey, Link still spent quite a long time sailing and rowing. Even though he could see the coastline approaching, progress was slow, and he began to wonder if he'd even survive long enough to make it back to land.

Luckily, he did not end up having to make it all the way back to shore on his own. A sailing vessel appeared on the horizon, coming straight for him.

"Hey! Hey! Over here! Help! Over here!" Link stood up and began waving his hands and shouting, even when the ship was still too far away to possibly hear him. He kept it up until the ship got closer. Someone onboard blew a signal horn, which Link hoped was meant to let him know they saw him.

They did. As the ship passed by Link's raft, a rope ladder was thrown down the side of the ship. Someone at the top of the ladder called for him to come aboard. Link dove into the water without a second thought, then swam the short distance to the ladder, grabbed on, and began climbing.

When he made it to the top, a pair of sailors pulled him over the bulwark.

"Here you go, mate. Nice and easy."

"You alright? You need food? Water?"

"Water," Link said, panting. He stood leaning against the bulwark, while one of the sailors kept his hands on Link's upper arm to help steady him.

"Fetch him some water," the sailor standing across from him called to another nearby member of the crew. "What happened?" he asked Link. "Ship go down?"

Link nodded. "We got attacked by pirates, then a giant Octorok sank the ship."

"By the gods." The two sailors exchanged sympathetic looks.

"Can you take me to shore?" Link asked. "Anywhere will do. I need to look for someone as soon as possible."

"We're headed for Hateno," one of the sailors told him. "We'll be there shortly."

Link panted for another few seconds. "That's my home."

"Ah. Good. We'll have you home in no time, then." The sailors helped him stand up straight and walked him away from the edge of the ship. "What's your name, kid?"

"Link."

"Alright, Link. Come along this way. You can rest below deck until we arrive."

"Link. Link."

Link heard his sister's voice calling to him. "...Elle."

"Link."

He opened his eyes. It wasn't the voice of his sister speaking this time. It was a sailor, standing in the threshold of the room he'd been given to rest in.

"Y-Yes?" Link lifted his head up.

"We've made it to port," the sailor told him. "Do you want us to contact the City Watch to come help you?"

Link shook his head, climbing out of bed. "I'll speak to them myself. I need to get going."

"Are you sure you're well? How long were you adrift?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine," Link insisted. He didn't have many belongings anymore, although he'd been given a fresh set of clothes by the sailors, but he grabbed his boomerang and the earring he'd been given by the Hero and prepared to leave. Rather than carry it in his pocket, he put on the earring and headed for the door. "Thank you so much for your help," he said quickly. He was genuinely quite grateful for the rescue and he did not wish to be rude, but he felt he had to hurry.

A few other members of the ship's crew tried to talk to him as he made his way above deck, but Link didn't give them much more than a quick thank you and an apology for leaving so abruptly. When he reached the deck, he hurried down the ramp leading down to the dock.

As he stood in Hateno Harbor, Link realized he was in familiar surroundings for the first time since he'd left home. He was actually back home. If Linkle was there, that could have been where their journey came to an end, and could've gone back to their old lives. Unfortunately, he was alone.

The first place Link went was the City Watch office in the harbor. Inside, he found a guard sitting at a till behind some iron bar fencing. "Excuse me," Link said as he leaned against the till, somewhat out of breath from running.

"Yes, citizen?" the guard behind the bars asked.

"A Hyrulean naval vessel was sunk in the Necluda Sea. Have any survivors come through the harbor here?" Link asked.

The guard looked at him curiously. "Yes, actually. A number of sailors were ransomed back to the city by pirates quite recently."

Yes!

Link felt a glimmer of hope. There were survivors. Linkle could still be alive. "Was there a girl with them? Blonde. Around my age. She's a Hateno native."

"I'm sorry, young man. I don't know any of the specifics of who was returned," the guard told him with a slight shake of his head.

Fuck.

"Where are they now?" Link asked, desperate to get to the bottom of this.

"Well, they were brought to the palace for medical care when they arrived, but I have no idea if any of them are still there."

"Thank you." With that, Link ran back out the door, heading straight for the palace.

The Governor of Necluda's palace was located at the top of the hill overlooking the bay from the highest point in Hateno. It was known as the Eastern Palace due to it having been the seat of power for the eastern half of the kingdom at some point in history. If it had been built more recently, it probably would have been named the Southeastern Palace, but it had been given its name back before Lanayru, Eldin, and Akkala had become a part of Hyrule, and the name had simply persisted throughout the centuries.

Despite having spent most of his life in Hateno, Link had never been to the palace before. He had seen the governor on a few occasions when she made public appearances, and some of her knights purchased weapons and armor from the blacksmith he'd worked for, but he'd never met her personally. He wasn't actually expecting to meet her this time, either. For all he knew, she was traveling to some other part of the kingdom at the moment. Nevertheless, he hoped to find his sister at the Eastern Palace, or at least someone who knew where she was.

The hike up the hill from the harbor to the city proper was quite tiring. Even after getting a decent night of sleep aboard the ship that had picked him up, Link was definitely not in the best shape for physical activity at the moment. Then, after making it up the hill, he had to climb another spiraling hill up to the governor's palace. By the time he made it to the front gate, he was panting with exhaustion.

The first thing Link noticed was that there was a lot more security than he'd expected. Rather than just a few guards standing at the entrance, there were at least a dozen sentries visible by the gate, on the walls, and along the road. He was glad the only weapon he had on him was his boomerang, which must not have looked very threatening.

"Halt, citizen." He was stopped at the gate by a knight bearing the Loftwing crest of House Kochi. "State your business here."

Link took a moment to catch his breath. "Please," he said. "I think my sister is in there."

"Your sister?" the knight repeated. "And who might your sister be?"

"Her name is Linkle. Our ship was attacked by pirates," Link explained. For a moment, he considered saying that she was the Hero, but he hesitated, not knowing if that would make him sound like he was spinning some story.

"She was one of the sailors ransomed back to us by the pirates?" the guard asked. He turned to one of his colleagues. "Are any of them still staying in the palace?"

The other knight shook his head. "Unless some of them stayed behind for some reason, I heard they were all gone."

Link sighed defeatedly. She might never have been there at all, and even if she had, she was gone by then.

Just my luck.

"Hey! It's Link!"

The voice of a young girl calling from the other side of the gate caught the attention of Link and the guards.

Someone recognized me?

Link didn't recall knowing anyone who worked at the palace, but he supposed he'd been gone long enough that someone he knew might have gotten a new job there. However, when he looked through the bars of the gate, he saw a young girl in a pretty dress rushing towards him.

"Princess! Wait! That's dangerous!" A red-haired knight chased after the young girl, catching up to her and grabbing her arm.

"No it isn't. That's Link! Remember?"

Link realized who the young girl was, remembering his encounter with her in Hyrule Field.

"You are acquainted with the princess?" the gate guard asked him.

"Um. Sort of. I mean, yes. Yes, I am," Link replied, hoping he'd be more likely to get the help he needed if he was seen as a friend of the Royal Family.

"Link! Link, it's me! Hi!" Princess Seraphina walked right up to the gate, with Dame Jeanne walking in front of her to partially obscure the princess from view.

"Hello, Princess." Link gave her a tired smile. "Good to see you are well."

"You too!" the princess said cheerily.

"Thank you again for healing my wounds, Princess," Link said gratefully.

"And thank you again for saving us from those scary monsters."

"Ah. So it is you," Dame Jeanne said, apparently recognizing Link. "I am happy to see one of the princess's rescuers again." She glanced around, as if expecting to see someone else as well. "Is your sister not with you?"

Link's heart sank. "Well. I'm sort of looking for her right now," he explained. "We were on a ship that got attacked by pirates. I was told some of the other survivors were here at one point."

"They were," Dame Jeanne confirmed. "But I do not recall your sister having been among them."

"Oh. I see," Link said dejectedly.

Princess Seraphina looked at him sympathetically. "We'll help you look for her!" she said, smiling brightly like she was trying to cheer him up. "Won't we, Jeanne?"

The princess's bodyguard hesitated. She seemed to want to say yes, but she likely saw this as a small matter that they did not have the time for.

"She's the Hero," Link blurted out.

Dame Jeanne, the princess, and the guards were all shocked to hear this.

"Wow, really?" Princess Seraphina said in amazement.

"Is this true?" her bodyguard asked.

"Yes," Link nodded. "She just pulled the Master Sword from the stone a few days before we set sail. Someone was after her. I don't know what's going on or where she is, but I know where she might go. Just, please… I'll take whatever help I can get."

Dame Jeanne took a minute to process what she'd been told.

"Come on, Jeanne," Seraphina pleaded. "They saved my life. Of course one of them is the Hero."

Jeanne nodded, apparently having made up her mind. "Open the gates," she told the guards. "Link, please come inside with us. The governor will want to hear everything."