Chapter Six: Sneaking In

Link ran out of the forest. He had planned to run until his legs were sore, but when he reached the field, he stopped short. The sheer size of Hyrule Field was completely overwhelming. Never in his life had he seen a place so huge. He stood there so long staring at it that Navi finally caught up with him.

“Hey,” she said, “Link, are you okay?”

Link just shook his head, continuing to stare at the great plain before him, but in his mind, all he saw was Saria crying, Mido yelling, the Deku Tree, as the leaves shriveled up and died....

Then he sighed, turned back towards his home. For the first time, tears started to well in his eyes. He found it difficult to swallow. He didn’t trust his voice. Wordlessly, he brushed his arm across his eyes, and began walking. He didn’t know where he was going, and he didn’t care. Navi followed him, recognizing the path eh was taking. She knew this route well, even though it had been ten years....

Link walked for a long time, and after about an hour, he found himself in front of a huge stone wall, a drawbridge the only opening. He could hear music and talking coming from inside. It sounded like a lot of people, probably more than he had ever seen. Slowly, he made his way in, wondering if he even allowed to be here.

If Link had bothered to look up, he would have seen the majestic Hyrule Castle rising out of the hills and touching the sky. But he didn’t. All he could see was the ground, a blurry vision of green, then brown, as he walked on the bridge, and gray, and he stepped onto the stone.

His footsteps echoed across the deserted ally as he walked. Navi had hidden under his hat, not wanting to be seen. Link saw no one in the ally but a man dressed in an official looking suit. He was taken aback by how tall he was. So this is what an adult is, he thought to himself. Link heard Navi laughing from his cap, but he ignored her and walked up to the man.

Awkwardly, he said, “Excuse me sir, but, could you...uh, could you tell me where I am?”

The man looked up at the sound of Link’s voice. His eyes raked over Link once, taking in the green clothing and the small weapons, then he chuckled lightly. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” he asked.

Link shook his head.

“Well,” said the man, “This is Hyrule Castle Town, or the Market for short. If you look up there,” the man continued, indicating the castle, “I think you’ll notice Hyrule Castle, where the Royal Family lives. And where you just came from is Hyrule Field.”

Link nodded, not even glancing up from his gaze on the ground. “I just have one other question,” he asked.

The man cocked his head. “What’s that?”

Link shifted awkwardly. “Well, is everyone here so...tall?”

The man laughed again. “What’s your name, kid?”

Link had looked up, and was now staring at the huge castle. He knew he was being rude, but it was so...big.

He felt Navi jerk at his hair from under the hat, and realized the man had asked his name.

“I’m Link,” Link said, finally taking his eyes off the castle.

The man looked very startled at this for a moment, but shook his head wistfully.

Navi peeked out from Link’s hat to see the man better. She couldn’t see him too well because of the helmet...but...something about him was very familiar...what was it? Why did she feel as if she knew him? Navi tried racking her memory, but some part of her mind seemed to yell at her, Don’t go there! You can’t think about that.

She instantly put the thought out of her mind, but that didn’t work for long, because it happened again when the man told Link his name.

He smiled at Link in a friendly way. “I’m Johan,” he said.

Navi drew her breath in sharply. There it was again. That was familiar. Too familiar. But, there could have been a hundred people in the world named Johan...right?

Of course, Navi answered herself. I’m being silly. Stupid, really.

“I work here as a guard for the royal family,” Johan continued, unaware of Navi’s thoughts, or, indeed, Navi herself. “Listen, Link, you seem a little lost. Do you have a place to stay?”

Link shook his head.

“Well, you can stay at the inn I run, if you want to. It’s right over there, dirt cheap and clean, for travelers like you.”

Link shook his head again. His eyes dropped back to the ground. He didn’t have any money.

Johan, seeing what the problem was, offered, “You can stay for free if you need to. I’d really hate to see a kid as young as you out on the streets at night, they’re really cracking down on vagrancy.”

Link looked up and smiled. “I can stay for free?”

Johan nodded. There was something about this boy. But maybe he was imagining things. Of course, the eyes looked the same...the bright blue eyes looked exactly the same.

“Great!” Link said, a smile breaking over his face again. “Thanks a lot, sir.”

Johan laughed. “Don’t call me sir, it makes me feel my age. Just Johan is fine.”

Maybe I’m in my thirties, but I’m not old yet, Johan thought wryly.

Link nodded. “Thanks, Johan. By the way, do you know how I can get into the castle? You said a princess lives there, and, well, I sorta have orders to find her.”

Johan shook his head. “That place is so guarded they inspect the birds that fly by. Why do you need to see her? Who do you have orders from?” Who could a child his age be working for?

Link looked around. No one was listening, but it made him uneasy all the same. Timidly he said, “Can I tell you later? It’s not supposed to be going around, you know? I mean...well, it’s just not anything I can say in the middle of the street. I’ll tell you when I get back, okay?”

There was something funny about this man. Link knew without a doubt he could trust him...yet they had never met. All his life had been spent in the forest. All of it.

Johan nodded. “Sure. Good luck.”

Link grinned at him, thanked him again, and walked off. He was not aware that Johan watched him out of sight, wondering.Link had to hold back a gasp when he got to the Market. The noise was incredible. People moved around and talked, each louder than the next, trying to be heard. They bickered over prices and squabbled over items for sale, and they carried crying children and pets. There were even a few cuccos roaming around. The smells were unthinkable. People baked all kinds of exotic food. At least, it was exotic to Link, who had lived on nuts and berries and occasional fish or other small animals. And all the people...the crowd was huge. Surely, with so many people, so many tall people, it had a mind of its own. They all bustled around so fast it made Link’s head spin; it looked like a multicolored river of people.

Everything was so colorful, it all looked like a big blur. Not to mention Link was so used to seeing the earthy colors in the forest that the square seemed to give off its own light simply because of the new colors that had been so rare until then. There were no trees hiding the sun here as they did in the forest, and Link could see actual sky; the light filtering down through the clouds above made him squint. Everything was so big, so new.

Link, however, continued to make his way toward Hyrule Castle, deciding he could see all of this later. It took a lot of self control, but he managed to pull himself away. He conversed with Navi quietly, trying not to move his lips, and she told him which path lead to the castle.

Funny, she seemed to know her way around. Had she been here before?

When Link got up so far along the path to the castle, the ground started to take over the stone streets, and the terrain grew a little rocky. The ground steeped on either side of him, as if someone had dug out this path with a giant shovel.

It took awhile, but finally, Navi came out from under his hat. “Well,” she said, “I think we’re going to have to sneak past the guards.”

Link nodded, determined to carry out the Deku Tree’s request. He’d find this princess, just like he’d been told to, if it was the last thing he did.

Link walked up to the gate, and, not paying attention to where he was going because he was so busy staring at the massive castle, bumped into a girl.

“Oof—oh, sorry—” Link said, as he ran into her.

“Ouch—” The girl fell down, but she got up again quickly. She seemed used to cuts and scrapes. “Oh!” she gasped. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been watching where I was going.” She smiled at him.

Upon closer inspection, Link could see that the girl was probably a little younger than he was, but not by much. She had flaming red hair, and bright blue eyes, almost like his. They were so much like his that he started when she looked at him.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Malon, from the ranch in Hyrule Field. Is that a fairy?” she added interestedly.

Navi had tried to duck behind Link, but it was too late. Link was surprised at her bluntness, but he nodded.

“Yeah, she is,” he said.

Malon studied him, thinking. “Hey, would you do me a favor? My dad’s in the castle, delivering milk. He probably...well, fell asleep. You look like you’re headed that way, since there’s no where else to go from here.” She grinned. “I’m pretty sure you plan on sneaking by the guards.” Seeing the look on his face, she added, “People do it all the time, it’s a running dare. No one’s ever gotten too far in, though, because security tightens every time someone gets caught. You won’t make it past the moat unless you’re a really good sneak. Anyway, if you find my dad, Talon, would you tell him I said to come home, fairy boy?”

Link’s immediate reaction was to think, I’m fairy boy?

It was a nice change from his old name.

But thinking about the past made his heart ache, so he nodded at Malon, and said, “Sure I will,” and set off on his way, Navi trailing behind. He could hear Malon singing to herself as he went. She had a very nice voice.Eventually, after scanning the walls around the path, he found some vines to climb. Link was an expert at this, since he had years of experience, what with going in and out of the Lost Woods day and night, and scaled the wall silently and quickly. He then crossed over a large stone gate, and went back down on the path. He cut behind trees until he reached what looked like the moat. He was a much better sneak than he thought.

“Either that, or those guards are the biggest idiots I’ve ever seen....” he thought out loud.

Navi laughed. Link looked down into the water of the moat, and, deciding there was no other way, dived in. The current was stronger than he thought. In almost no time flat he was being pushed up against a metal grate.

He was running out of air fast, and for a second he was sure he was going to die, but then a strong arm lifted him out of the water. Link coughed and sputtered. The man attached to the arm was big and burly and a little chubby, too. He was balding, with the only hair on his face being his stubbly brown beard and bushy moustache. Link gratefully thanked the man for saving him. The man laughed.

“This here ball of light woke me up. And I couldn’t just let you drown. My name’s Talon, owner of Lon Lon Ranch.”

He shook Link’s hand.

“Hey, your daughter’s Malon, right?” Link asked, and Talon nodded. “She’s looking for you. She’s in the Market.”

Talon’s eyes grew wide. “Uh oh...I left her by herself. Thanks for wakin’ me up.” He walked away quickly, muttering distractedly to himself.

Link shrugged. He had barely gotten a good look at the man. He sat down and gazed at the sky. His gaze wandered from the sky to the trees to the castle and back to the sky again. Then he spied a small hole in the castle wall. He wondered if he could squeeze through it.

“Sure,” Navi told him, picking up on his thoughts again.

Link glared, but he hopped across to the other side of the moat and landed near the hole. Wriggling through, he found himself in a garden unlike one he had ever seen.

***

Princess Zelda sat in her courtyard, looking through the window at Gannondorf. She wondered what he was up to now. Lately—it had been almost six months, hadn’t it?—lately, she just wasn’t herself anymore. She was inconsiderate and rude. She no longer terrorized the cooks, she ordered them around like a complete brat. She hated it, what this was doing to her. She couldn’t blame anyone but herself, but really...it had to do with Ganondorf too. Why wouldn’t he just go away? What did he want so much?

She sighed, and continued to stare out the window.

***

Link made his way past the first guards patrolling around the hedges, and quickly passed through several more flower beds. He wondered how long it would take to find this girl, and what she would be like. He knocked out the guards as he went by.

***

Zelda got up, went over to the edge of the courtyard where there was a tiny moat, and stuck her feet in, after pulling off her shoes. The water felt cool and soothing. Maybe all she needed was to relax. She was only ten, after all...maybe she just needed to kill the pressure. If she didn’t, she might start being mean to Impa, too. Then she would really be alone. She didn’t want that.

She already felt alone enough.

***

Link finally came to a stone archway. Silently he creeped his way in, hoping this princess was in there. If she wasn’t, and he found more guards, he was going to find someone else for this job.

They had all been right, he decided. The security around here was unreasonable. That may have been due to the guards; they failed to notice Link sneaking by, even at a few paces away. No wonder people did this as a prank.

***

Zelda stared up into the sky, letting her mind wander. She wished Impa would get back soon. She’d had to leave for some legal business, but it didn’t make being without her any more pleasant. Zelda was growing to depend on Impa more and more.

Without her, Zelda thought, I’d be lost.

Zelda looked back at the window and saw Ganondorf staring at her from the window, in that awful way he did, as if she were some annoying insect he longed to stomp on and destroy. As far as Zelda and Impa could determine, Ganondorf knew that Zelda had long ago caught onto him, and for that reason, he hated her.

She stood up and backed out of the courtyard. She kept backing up long after he smirked at her and left. He scared her so much...and even after he left, the mere memory of him left that terrible, awful cold, that crept up and down her arms, chilled her to the bone....

***

Link backed into the stone archway, looking for anyone following him. He didn’t realize what a dumb move this was until he ran into someone behind him.