A Dream Come True: A Link's Awakening Novelization
('The Legend of Zelda' is property of Nintendo. I am not affiliated in any way.)
The storm raged on.
Mountainous waves were assaulting the wooden ship from all sides, causing it to roll and heave. The roar of the wind and the sea made for a frightening duet, while thunder was the only source of light in the pitch black night.
Link, the young hero of Hyrule, hung onto the rope that was tied to the mast and made a silent prayer to the Goddesses. This couldn't be the end of him. Not after every hardship he'd endured and every accomplishment he had achieved.
Each raindrop pelted him, like a thrown rock. A particularly harsh gust of wind made the mast creak loudly. Link gritted his teeth as his hands began to slip from the rope. He wrapped it around his arms so as to not get blown overboard.
Just when he thought he had secured his position, his eyes widened in horror, as lightning struck the top of the mast, breaking it with an ear-splitting crack. Having sustained such extended damage, the boat could no longer hold itself together, and the young hero was embraced by the cold, wet abyss.
A young woman was taking a stroll by the beach. It was morning, and the sky was clear, with only a few clouds drifting by, here and there. She let the serene sound of the sea's ebb and flow wash over her. The breeze played with her hair, causing it to sway to and fro. Her feet sunk into the soft brown sand, the sensation causing a smile to tug at her lips.
This was her daily ritual. Whenever the weather was fair, she'd go on a walk along the coast. She always felt connected to the sea, ever since she was little. Something about it mesmerized her. It made her imagination run rampant, and she always wondered what lied beyond it. It was only fitting that her name was Marin.
Today seemed like any other day, but that changed once she got a better look farther ahead. Stray wooden planks and beams were scattered among the sand. It looked like a wreckage. Marin was curious, for she had never seen a shipwreck before. Or a ship, for that matter. She quickened her pace, not knowing what to expect.
There, amidst the rubble, she spotted a peculiar outline. It stood out like a sore thumb. As she stepped closer, Marin realized that to her shock and horror, it was a person. A man. She hurried over, hoping that whoever it was, was still alive.
She knelt next to him, and rolled him over by grabbing him by his tunic. She checked for vital signs. There was both a breath and a pulse. Marin sighed in relief, and let her racing heart calm down.
She started thinking to herself. A foreigner? In Koholint? It was unheard of. This had never happened before, as far as she knew. Who was this man? What was his story? Could he possibly be a messenger?
There was no time for musing. She had to get this man to safety. Wasting no further time, Marin grabbed him and, with quite some struggle, managed to lift him on her back. He was heavy, but she was confident that she'd manage to bring him to her home without too much trouble.
As she began retracing her steps, Marin saw the list of oddities expand before her eyes. Strange monster-like creatures that resembled red octopuses were crawling about on the sandy hills just north of the beach. They definitely weren't there earlier, so Marin couldn't understand how they had gotten there so suddenly.
The worst part was that she had to get past them in order to reach her village. How could she do that without putting herself, or the castaway in danger?
Marin drew closer to a palm tree, and settled the man down against the trunk. As she watched them move around idly, she believed there was a way to safety, but she'd have to walk between a few of them without getting spotted. How was she to do that?
…
After some hesitation, she took a decently sized rock that was lying around the sand, and chucked it at one of them. She immediately took cover, praying that none of them saw her. She hoped that they'd go away, yet to her surprise, the one-track minded creatures instead began fighting each other by shooting rock out of their long, tube-like mouths.
These monsters weren't very smart, Marin thought.
In any case, the outskirts of the village were within reach. The castaway was going to be safe. With some stealth, the two made it to salvation.
Tarin was a simple man, living a simple life. In his spare time, whenever he wasn't cooking or sleeping, he'd go out for a walk in the forest. It was quite a laid-back lifestyle, but that's just the way things were in their little village, on their little island. He quite liked it that way, yes, very much so.
"Father!"
His eyes opened wide. With a start, he leapt out the doorway of his house. He darted his gaze in an attempt to track where the shout came from. There, down the hill, he spotted his daughter, as well as all the monsters that were treading at the shore.
With a couple long strides, Tarin closed the distance between them. In the process, it occurred to him that his daughter was carrying luggage.
"Now what'n tarnation is this?"
"He needs help!" she said urgently. "We have to take him inside!"
A whirlwind of question marks was brewing inside Tarin's head, but none of them got the chance to escape into the outside world. They both laid the stranger on one of the available beds. They had to detach the shield that was strapped on his back to ensure he'd be comfortable.
As Marin was filling him in on the details, Tarin took a long hard look at the man's curious style. It was plain to see he was an outsider; practically everything about him screamed 'foreigner'. His green tunic and matching long cap looked like something straight out of a fairytale. He even had pointy ears to boot, sticking out from under his messy brown hair.
"Don't you think so, too?" Marin asked.
"Huh? Don't I think so what?" he innocently replied, completely unaware that he had paid no attention to whatever it was she'd been going on about.
"That he's a good omen!" she repeated, frowning slightly.
Tarin looked over the shield, deep in thought. A strange triangle made up of three smaller golden triangles was the coat of arms. There were other ornamental shapes, but they were too scratched to make out. A word was etched on the back side. 'LINK'.
It was clear that this shield had seen a lot of use, which was strange, because the man himself didn't look any older than his daughter, around seventeen. Where had he gotten the time to use it to such an extent?
"I don't know…"