Chapter 32

Link, Brad, Navi and Izzy followed Ralph to the infirmary. Link carried Charlie inside. He was still unconscious, but his wounds stopped bleeding for the moment. Link was immediately greeted by a red haired girl in a white coat. He recognized her immediately.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

Link nodded and looked down at Charlie's limp form.

"My friend needs medical attention right away. He was attacked in the back by a monstrous plant."

She had him set Charlie onto a nearby bed. Anju turned him over and saw the deep gashes into his back and gasped in horror.

"Oh my! Those are very serious wounds. I will have to prep him for immediate surgery. I don't have a lot to work with, but I will try my best to patch those wounds up."

Link smiled and nodded.

"Thank you very much. Do you remember me by chance? I'm Link."

Anju scratched her chin.

"Link? Where have I heard that name before...Oh yes! You were the young kid who helped me gather my chickens! I remember that day like it was yesterday. A lot has happened since then, but I'm afraid I don't have time to chat right now."

Brad looked at Charlie's still form. He then looked up at Anju.

"Is my friend going to be okay?"

Anju shrugged.

"I'm not sure yet. I need to work on those wounds and see if I can find something to put on them that will speed up the healing. But I need you and Link to clear the infirmary. I have a lot of work to do. It's good to see you again, Link."

Ralph grabbed Link and Brad lightly by their arms.

"Come. Let's go outside where we won't be a bother to her."

He led them outside and the fairies followed them out. Link covered his eyes.

"What next? Every time I turn around, me or my friends are getting injured."

Ralph tried to calm him down.

"I wouldn't worry. Anju should be able to fix him up. She's come a long way. When everyone evacuated the Castle down and came here, Doctor Frederick set up that infirmary. He then sought out a pupil that he pass all of his medical knowledge down to. At the time, Anju was looking for a change of pace. So one day, she walked into the infirmary and offered to be Frederick's assistant. He was overjoyed. He finally had someone to teach medicine to before he died. For two years, Frederick taught her everything he knew and over that time, they grew close. Anju once told me that he felt like a grandfather to her. When he died, Anju took the sad news very hard. Nobody saw her for a few days. Then one day, she was spotted working in the infirmary and since that day, she has been the doctor here in Kakariko."

Link smiled.

"That was a nice story. Thanks for sharing. I think I will stay in town until Charlie is better. I owe him that much after he stayed with me when I got hit seven years ago."

Ralph smiled in admiration. He really cared about his friend's well being.

"Well whatever you decide is fine by me, but follow me. You should report in to Impa and tell her the news about the kokiri."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go, everyone."

Link and Brad walked in the Hyrule Resistance building, with Navi and Izzy following closely behind. Ralph led them to where Impa was. She was upstairs sitting at a desk with paper and an inkwell beside it. She was about to dip her quill pen when she heard footsteps. She looked behind her and smiled.

"Hello, Link. How is your mission coming along? Do we have the support of the Kokiri?"

"Yes, we will. As soon as I help my friend here."

He pointed to Brad beside him. Impa got up from her chair and walked over to him.

"Hi there, little fella. Are you a Kokiri?"

Brad glared at Impa. He didn't like being teased about his size.

"I may be small, but I am thirty years old! I was the leader of the Kokiri, but I decided to travel with Link and Charlie."

Impa gasped with surprise.

"Wow! You're that old? Forgive me. I shouldn't have thought you were a child. So are your people willing to join the resistance?"

Brad nodded.

"They will listen to me even though I'm not the leader. I never told Fado it was a permanent promotion. I just want Link to help me find our friend Saria. Then I will gladly convince the others to join your cause."

Impa took Brad's hand and shook it.

"It sounds like a plan, sir. Link will help you find Saria. By the way, where is your friend Charlie?"

Link looked down to the floor sadly.

"He got hit very badly in the Forest Temple. He's now being treated at the infirmary. I'm not going to leave here until he's better."

Impa scoffed.

"Nonsense! I know you care a great deal about your friend, but you have a job to do as well! I want you to go and find your friend Saria. I will get Viscen and Ralis to look after Charlie as soon as they are awake. They are asleep in the other room."

Link was hesitant.

"But I want to stay with my friend in case his condition worsens! I'm sure Argus would agree with me. Where is he now?"

Impa sighed.

"You just missed him. He went back to see how his people were faring without him. Now, I hate to pull rank on you, but I'm ordering you to go and help Brad to find Saria. You don't have to worry about Charlie. He will be fine! Now please finish your mission."

Link sighed. He didn't think Impa would order him to go like that.

"Fine. I'm going. Let's go, Brad, Navi, Izzy."

They walked towards Ralph, and he confronted them.

"Wait, guys. I can teleport you back. It will save you all that walking. How does that sound?"

Link scratched his chin reflectively.

"That sounds much easier. Thank you for the help. Is there any chance you can teach me how to teleport?"

Ralph shook his head.

"Not right now, Link. Viscen will have to teach you. It's a little complicated to teach that skill. Anyway, hold on. I'm taking you back to the Forest Temple and to the same room where I teleported you out before."

Link, Brad and the two fairies braced themselves. Ralph held his arms out wide, and his hands started to glow bright white. Suddenly, Kakariko Village started to disappear around them. Within seconds, they were back in the Forest Temple again. Ralph turned to them.

"There you go. Wasn't that a lot quicker than walking back? Now, I got to get back to Kakariko. I'll let you know how Charlie is making out. Good luck!"

He waved his hands quickly and disappeared. Brad turned to Link.

"Listen. We got to try to be very careful in here. I don't want either of us to get hurt like poor Charlie. We will need Navi and Izzy's help to scout for enemies and to make sure we don't get ambushed again. Now, which way do we go?"

Link looked the large room. It had the look of a small courtyard. In one corner, there was a well and a wall with vines growing up it. He walked up to the well and looked down. It was filled up to the top with water. He then turned his attention to the vines on the wall. He gave them a pull. They seemed to be solid enough to climb. Link looked upwards and he could see a ledge very high up. Link turned to Brad, Navi and Izzy.

"I think we got to go this way. We can't get into that well, so I think that we must proceed this way."

Brad nodded in admiration.

"Good eye, buddy. Let's start climbing. I wish we had wings so we could fly up like our fairies."

Navi grinned.

"Well, you don't. So quit whining and start climbing, lazybones!"

Brad gasped in surprise.

"What did you just call me?! I'll show you I'm not lazybones! Let's climb this thing, Link!"

Link started the ascent to the top, with Brad climbing up right beside him with the glow of determination in his eyes. He started to get tired, and he looked at Link. He was climbing up with ease. Brad had to know why he wasn't having any trouble climbing.

"Have you done this before, Link? You aren't having any troubles climbing and I'm almost exhausted."

He simply nodded and gasped out a reply as he climbed.

"Yeah. I've done this a couple times already. First, I climbed up some vines in the Great Deku Tree seven years ago. Then me and Charlie climbed Death Mountain. So, you could say that I have had experience. Don't quit now, Brad. We are almost there!"

Brad was exhausted, but he kept on climbing and soon enough, he and Link were at the ledge. Link was first up, and he reached down and pulled Brad the rest of the way up. Izzy and Navi were beside Link and congratulated Brad.

"Way to go, Brad! I knew you could do it. Well done!"

"Thanks, Izzy."

"I'm sorry I teased you, Brad. Way to go!"

Brad glared at Navi.

"It's a good thing that you are Link's friend. If you weren't, I might've taken you and shot you out of my slingshot!"

Navi gasped in shock. She had never seen Brad get angry before.

"I said I was sorry, Brad."

He held up his hand.

"Enough apologies. Don't talk to me right now."

He turned to Link.

"Let's get a move on. I think I see a door ahead."

They walked ahead and sure enough, there was a door. They opened the door and entered the small room. There was a big treasure chest in the middle of the room and a door on the other side of the room. Link walked up to the treasure chest and opened it. There was a map of the temple inside. Link smiled happily.

"No more getting lost for us. This map is going to prove very useful. I just know it."

Link studied the map carefully.

"Okay this is weird. I think I found the room we are in, but the room ahead looks very similar to the room we left. Oh well let's press on."

They went through the door ahead and they were standing on a balcony. There was a switch ahead of them on the floor. Link walked over and stepped on it. Suddenly, they heard a swirling noise below. Link looked down and the room was almost identical to the other one. There was even a well in one corner. Link scratched his head.

"Okay this is a problem. How do we get down there? We may have to turn around. I wish I had that teleporting ability right now."

Brad groaned.

"You got to be kidding me. Now we got to climb back down those vines?"

Link nodded and sighed.

"It seems that way. If we try to jump off, we would likely be killed. Let's go back to those vines."

They walked into the small room again and back out where the vines were. Link carefully descended from the vines. Brad followed him down closely behind. Navi and Izzy were patiently awaiting their descent to the bottom. Navi turned to Izzy.

"What am I going to do about Brad? He hates me ever since I called him lazybones. I was only joking, but he took it quite seriously don't you think?"

Izzy nodded slowly.

"Yeah he did, Navi. That was a mean thing to say though. Brad isn't a lazy Kokiri. In fact, he is one of the most active Kokiri there is. Back at the village, he was constantly practicing with his sword. He would wake up early every morning just to get some training in. When you called him lazybones, he must have felt insulted. If I were you, I would just give him some time and leave him alone."

Navi sighed.

"I guess you're right. I feel bad about the whole thing. I will do as you say and leave him alone if you think it is for the best."

As soon as they both climbed down, Link walked past the well a few steps and then he stopped. Was it just his imagination or was something different? He turned around and investigated the well. He laughed aloud. The water was drained! That switch he stepped on must have drained the well of water. Now they could explore it. Link called everyone over.

"Guys. Over here! Our next destination is this well. The water is gone so we can now explore it."

Brad scratched his chin.

"Alright that sounds good. But how do we get down to the bottom without hurting ourselves?"

Link turned to Navi.

"Can you take a look down there to see if there is a way to climb down?"

Navi nodded silently and flew down into the well. She wasn't gone long. She flew back out and told Link what she had found.

"There is a lot of vines growing all the way down the well. You should be able to easily climb down."

Link patted Navi gently on the head.

"Thanks, Navi. You're a true pal."

He turned to Brad.

"Are you ready to go?"

Brad nodded.

"Let's do this! Race you to the bottom!"

They started climbing down in earnest. Brad was slightly ahead of Link. He kept climbing until suddenly, he heard a snapping noise. He looked at the vine he was climbing and it was almost broke off the wall! He turned to Link in alarm.

"Link! This vine I'm climbing down is about to snap!"

Link quickly got a free hand ready, and he reached out with one hand while holding onto the vine on the wall with the other.

"Grab my hand, Brad. Quickly!"

Brad reached out to grab Link's hand, but he couldn't quite reach it. Suddenly, Brad's vine snapped, and Brad fell off the wall with a cry of dismay. Link watched as he disappeared down below. He tried to call out his name.

"Brad! Are you okay? Please say something if you are!"

There was no reply from the depths of the well. Link turned to Navi and Izzy.

"You guys go ahead and see if you can find Brad! I hope he's okay. Hang on, buddy! I'm coming to help you!"