Chapter 4

He was falling again, tumbling through wispy clouds and cerulean oblivion to the bottomless pit of fear that nightly came to devour him. This time something was different though.

He could still see her, clear as if he were awake, the Princess Zelda, chained in a deep dungeon somewhere, bleak and cold and alone. He screamed at the rushing sky, kicking and swinging his arms in hateful desperation. How could he have left her like that? Exhausting his fury to the uncaring wind, he screamed till he could scream no more, but did not awaken.

After a few moments, he began to realize just how strange his nightmare had become.

For one thing, the usual confusion of dreamscapes did not have any hold over him, and he could rotate freely in the open sky as he plummeted on towards nothing. Slowly, the fear was leaving him, and he began to wonder how he could be so lucid whilst so obviously asleep.

There was another curious occurrence: He knew that he was in a dream. This had not been the case the countless other times he had fallen through the sky. What could it mean?

"Are you quite done screaming, boy?"

A voice was in his ear. The warm and wisdom-filled voice of an elderly woman by the sound of it. He looked all around, but he was alone in the empty sky.

"Who's there?!" cried Link.

"No need to shout, kid," replied the voice, quite calmly, and Link noticed that the whistle of the wind did nothing to stifle it, "I can hear you just fine even if you whisper, so don't go screaming your head off again!"

"Who are you?"

"I," said the voice, "Am a friend, and someone who wants to help you and your pretty little princess too. Now how's that for a good deal?"

"Great! You can start by getting me out of here!"

"Oh, please," laughed the voice, "You don't need my help for that. What sort of boy are you? This is a dream, kid. All you have to do if you don't want to fall anymore is think about it."

"What do you mean?"

"Simple," said the voice, "You're in the sky, right? So why don't you think about something with wings."

"Ok…"

Link closed his eyes and concentrated on anything he could think of with wings: paper gliders, faeries, cuccoos…

All at once there was the violent sound of flapping and squawking. Links eyes snapped open. He was no longer plummeting alone. A whole brood of cuccoos were plummeting alongside him, their wings flapping desperately, and their startled crowing invading his ears. Some of them flapped towards him as fast as they could, clawing and pecking for a footing to brace them from the terrifying fall.

"Woah there!" said the motherly voice, "Okay now, you're not thinking with your whole brain! Try something bigger."

"Oh!" said Link, beating a cuccoo away from his face. "Ok, got it!"

He closed his eyes once more, and thought of the old clockmaker in Hyrule castle town. In the window of his shop was one prize far too large for Link to carry home in his pockets, but he had always wanted it since he was a small boy: a great clockwork dragon, the size of a pony! It had a huge windup key on its back, and when you twisted it sparks would come flickering out the mouth. Sometimes, he imagined riding it up into the sky, its sleek canvas wings carrying him up to the high peaks of the castle's loftiest towers, till he could crown the very smokestacks of the factories, and break through the mushrooming soot clouds to the glorious sky above. All at once, Link felt something underneath him, and the falling sensation gently went away. He opened his eyes, and there he sat upon the massive clockwork dragon, but it was not a toy anymore. Its canvas wings beat steadfast against the boundless sky, and up, up he soared!

"Woah!" cheered Link, "This is fantastic! Woo-hoo!"

He gripped the shoulders of the dragon's wings and found that, by leaning left or right, he could steer the thing. He dipped left and right, rolled over and dove up and down through the sky. The terror he had once felt in the empty blue void had gone entirely, and his heart filled with joy as he rode the clockwork dragon at breakneck speed.

"Ok, sonny, ok! You seem to have the hang of it now. I would have tried an airship, myself, but to each his own," chortled the motherly voice, quite pleasantly, "Now that you're done falling from the sky, you and I have some business to attend to. I'll need you to meet up with me as fast as you can. There's not a moment to lose if I'm to tell you everything before those idiots take Zelda to the Temple of Life."

"The Temple of Life?"

"Aye, it's one of the Seven Temples of the Sages, but we'll cover all that in just a minute. First thing's first, you fly that little windup dragon over here and we'll suss out how to break the curse you're under."

"Curse?!"

"Oh, aye," said the voice, "Forgot to mention it, did I? Well, I suppose you didn't think it was normal, acting like you're awake when you're asleep, did you? No, that Nyarlath put a curse on you something fierce. That's okay though, between you and me I'm fifty times the magician that snot nosed little so and so will ever be. Just get your butt over here, and we'll fix you right up!"

"But," said Link, glancing around at the empty sky, "Where are you?"

"Skyloft, o'course! Just keep flying, you can't miss it!"

The clockwork dragon beat its wings and Link rode it on into the cerulean horizon, unsure what else to do. The mysterious voice seemed friendly enough, and she had been right about imagining the dragon, so he supposed he should go ahead and do what she said. After a moment Link began to think she must have been crazy, because he flew on and on but there was nothing that looked like it would be called "Skyloft" anywhere in sight. Just as he was about to complain, something in the distance caught his eye. He gasped in wonder. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, a huge mound of earth, crowned with grass and forest trees was hovering, like an island in the sky.

The dragon carried him to it, its canvas wings drawing him high up over the mass of land, and circling the island so that he could survey it better. The ruins of ancient buildings poked out from the foliage and little birds were playing among the leaves. There was no sign of any people at all, and from what Link could see it looked as though Skyloft had not had visitors in a very long time.

"Go on then, just bring her down any old place. I'm in the little round building near the center of the island. Should be simple enough to find."

Link brought the dragon in low, and found that all he had to do was think about it and the thing set down like a living creature, its powerful wings slowing its decent, and it landed as lightly as a feather. Link jumped off its back, happy to once again have solid ground beneath his feet. The clockwork dragon reared its head, and joyfully shot sparks up at the sky. Link laughed a bit, patting the thing on the nose lovingly. It almost seemed to smile dumbly at him with its square-ish copper jaw before curling up like a sleeping dog with its tail wrapped around its snout.

"Good boy!" said Link.

Then, he turned around to regard the lonely, floating island with renewed interest. There were streets of cobbled stone like those of the Castle Town, although the vegetation had overgrown them. In many places the cobbles were turned over or missing entirely. Tree roots grew indiscriminately over the path, and brightly colored flowers lined the walkway, growing wildly without boundaries or the symmetry of Hylian gardening.

Cautiously, the boy began along the trail, hesitant to leave behind the safety the clockwork dragon brought him. It was hard to be afraid though, seeing the cheerful little birds with their rainbow plumes hopping here and there across the cobbles. They did not seem afraid of him at all, quite unlike the birds of the faery woods that were wise to hunters and avoided all Hylians whenever they could.

The pathway went around a bend and led down a little street which looked to Link like it had once been lined with houses, but the buildings were in a very advanced state of decay. Nature had taken back its real estate in the absence of civilization, and in some places trees grew right up through the roofs of abandoned buildings.

Link went on, regarding the strange place with cheerful fascination. Something about the way the plants grew over the empty houses made him smile, as though it were an omen that even the most poisonous of Hylian achievements of technology and industry were destined to one day be swept away by the timeless force of nature, a mere momentary blemish on the face of a serene and absolute beauty which was inherent in the very soul of the living world.

Farther down the path, a round building rose up from the overgrowth, and it looked as though it may have been two stories tall once, although the upper had apparently collapsed quite some time ago. Thinking that this must be the building the voice had told him to go to, he headed that direction at a leisurely trot.

The doorway was crumbling so much that one might have mistaken it for an unintentional hole in the wall. Link peered into the shadowy opening. The chirping of birds somewhere nearby and rustle of leaves in the wind were the only sounds. Inside the structure, he could see shafts of dim sunlight finding their way through the cracks in the ceiling overhead.

"Hello?"

"Come in, boy," replied the motherly voice.

Link obeyed, stepping carefully over the piles of fallen debris. There were no signs of the people who had once lived in this place. The paint on the walls and the wood of the doors and cabinets that might have once stood there had long since crumbled away to dust with the wear of centuries. The floor inside the building was a carpet of moss and clover, and little puddles of water pooled in the lower spots. Link's boots squished wetly as he stepped across them.

Ahead of him, in the gentle light filtering through the roof, a woman was sitting cross-legged on a big straw nest, like a giant roosting bird. Her hands were held out, palms flat, elbows resting on her knees, and her eyes shut in stoic meditation.

"Hello, young one," said she, and her voice was the same motherly one which had guided Link to that place, "It is truly an honor to finally meet you."

"An honor?" said Link, taking a few steps closer, "I'm nothing special. I'm just a beggar from the forest."

"You sell yourself short," replied the woman, "You do not realize your own potential. You are destined for great things, Link. There's much resting on your shoulders, and in time you will realize what power you possess, and learn to wield it with wisdom and courage."

The woman was very old. Her wrinkled and leathery skin was dark and red-brown like cinnamon. Her hair was white and braided and so long it had to be wrapped around her forehead and rolled into a little dangling yarn-sized ball. It swung at her side, with the hypnotic quality of a pendulum. She wore a tall hat, crimson, and rising to a high point some feet over her head and so long on the bottom that it draped around her shoulders like a cape. Her eyes, which Link had at first supposed closed, were actually hidden somewhere underneath that wrap of braided hair.

"Who are you?" asked Link.

"I am Impa," replied the woman, "I was not always Impa, but I am now. For every matriarch of the Shiekah carries that name. We Shiekah were the protectors of Hyrule's royal family long ago, but a great shame fell upon our line, and we were forced into exile. Never have we stopped watching from the distance, though. Never did we abandon the pact we swore so many ages ago to guard that which is sacred in the realm of Hyrule."

"Protect the royal family…" suddenly, Link remembered Zelda, all alone in the deep dungeon below Hyrule castle, or maybe already killed by evil Nyarlath. "Oh no! The Princess! Please, Impa, you must do something to help her!"

"Fear not, boy," said the old woman, "Your Zelda is safe. The Shiekah clan of the Waking World has saved her, and yourself, from Nyarlath's grasp for now."

"She's safe? That's great! But what do you mean they saved us? I don't remember anything."

"It was after you were cursed. The last of my people saved you and Zelda and brought you aboard their airship, and now they mean to take Zelda to the Temple of Life and fulfill the prophecy of the Seven Sages. A good plan, but they are missing a vital piece of the puzzle. That's where you come in, Link."

"What can I do?"

"This world you see around you is the Dreamworld, another plane of existence which lies close by to the Waking World which you know. Every living creature has two lives, lives which are lived separately and unaware of one another, one awake and one here in the land of sleep. You, Link, have been chosen by fate to be the bridge between the Dreamworld and the Waking World. Appropriately enough, a literal 'link' between the two realms."

"What has that got to do with saving Zelda?"

"There is a sacred treasure, something very secret and dear to the Royal Family, and only it contains the power to stop Nyarlath's plans. Long ago it was prophesized that this treasure would be taken, and corrupted by the force of evil if nothing was done to protect it. It was then that the Sages decided that the treasure should be broken apart into seven pieces, and each piece placed in one of the Temples of the Sages for safekeeping. The Shiekah of the Waking World are taking you and Zelda to the Temple of Life as we speak, in hopes of finding the first piece of the treasure there, but there is a part of the legend that they do not know: The Sages did not only hide the treasure in the Temples, they also hid the treasure in another world entirely. That world is none other than this realm, the Dreamworld of Hyrule."

"I don't understand," said Link, scratching his head, "How can the treasure be in both the Waking World and the Dreamworld at the same time?"

"Good question. You are a clever boy, when you apply yourself," said the old woman, with a pleasant smile, "Many places in the Waking World have their approximation here in the Dreamworld, although, as you have seen, the Dreamworld is not connected in so straightforward a manner to itself as the Waking World is. One cannot simply walk from temple to temple in one's dreams. This is why the Sages chose to hide the treasure in the Dreamworld counterparts of their sacred temples, for only one who wields mighty magic can safely tread between the two realms and go where they choose. One such as yourself, who is trapped in the Dreamworld by a curse, can go where they whither in dreams, but cannot return to the Waking World. However, with the proper magic item, it is possible to control when and where you enter this land of sleep."

"What item is this? Where can it be found?"

"There are two Sleepstones known to exist in the land of Hyrule. One is owned by Nyarlath, the treacherous High Wizard who seeks to destroy all goodness in our world and the Dreamworld alike. Perhaps you have seen it? A glowing blue orb, clutched in the silver claw of a giant bird?"

Link's mind raced back to the time he had seen Nyarlath in the Castle Market, and the glowing eldritch pendant of his largest silver necklace.

"I have seen it! He wears it around his neck," said Link, "But if Nyarlath has one of the Sleepstones can't he go to the temples himself and steal the treasure? What if he gets there first?"

"Ah, now I see that you are catching on to the urgency of the situation, and why it must be you who stops the evil wizard," said Impa. Then the lines in her face grew quite grim and serious, and she leaned in closer to Link, "You must take the other Sleepstone, and you must retrieve the treasure from the Temple of Life before Nyarlath can beat you to it. It will be very dangerous and I cannot guarantee that you will survive. Do you accept this burden, young one?"

"Of course! Anything if it'll save Zelda," replied Link, without hesitation, "Where can I find the Sleepstone? How can I get back to the Waking World?"

The old woman smiled wryly, chuckling softly, and causing her pointed hat to shake merrily about.

"A hero through and through. Truly the Goddess does not bestow her faith upon the unworthy," said Impa, "I have the Sleepstone here."

She reached one withered hand into her sleeve and produced a glowing blue orb, exactly the replica of the one on Nyarlath's necklace, minus the clutching silver talons. Carefully, she passed the thing to Link, who took it in his palms and held it up in front of his face, examining the interior of the orb with interest. Inside the crystal ball, magic lightning danced like a living storm, shooting across the diameter of the sphere in brilliant arcs of electric blue.

"Simply speak the word 'awaken' and you will wake up in the Waking World. If you wish to come back to the Dreamworld, simply hold the orb in your hands and speak the word 'slumber'. Only those with the blood of the chosen can make the orb work, so to anyone else it will be useless. You must be the one to undertake this task, so no cheating and passing it off to one of those Shiekah pirates, ok?"

"I understand," said Link, "But there is one thing: If the Sleepstone is here in the Dreamworld, then how can I use it when I'm awake?"

"The Sleepstones are different than normal objects. Their duality between the Dream and Waking Worlds is more blurred, and they exist almost completely simultaneously in either realm. When you wake up, you will find the Sleepstone quite comfortably stowed away in your own pocket, I expect."

"Thank you, Impa," Said Link, and he threw his arms around the old woman and hugged her tight, "If this helps me save Zelda then I can never thank you enough!"

"Uh… yes, well…" she gave him a pat on the back, "You are welcome, of course. Tell me something before you go though, Link. You only just met Princess Zelda. Why is it so important to you that you should risk your own life to save her?"

"Well," said Link, taking a moment to mull over the question, "Who else will? I can't just let her be killed by Nyarlath. It isn't right."

"You are a good boy, Link," said Impa, smiling widely so that her wrinkled face looked even more scrunched together than before, "Now go, child. Go back to Zelda! Retrieve the pieces, reunite the treasure, and save our land of Hyrule!"

Link nodded, a smile upon his face and a gleam in his shining blue eyes. He lifted the stone and prepared to say the word and bring himself back to the Waking World.

"Oh, and Link," said Impa, causing the boy to pause, "Let's keep all of this between you and me for the time being. The Shiekah of the waking world may not understand, and we can't afford to jeopardize our success by giving them the opportunity to second guess. Follow their lead for now. When the time is right to use the stone you will know it."

"Alright," said Link, "Awaken!"