Chapter 5
Link stirred groggily. His mind was made of fuzz, it seemed. He could feel it. An arm twitched, feeling for a missing rudder.
What? Rudder?
Where was Navi?
He tried to remember…
Memories were flitting in front of his mind’s eye. Sending Epona home… building a ship… Not very big, only big enough for himself and… Demon… yes.
Setting sail, visiting different islands, having hectic times and good times… just he couldn’t remember them yet…
Two years had passed since he had set out from Termina’s Great Bay, and he’d had many adventures… so how was it that he was in a comfortable bed that wasn’t rocking? The blankets were warm and soft…
Not like that storm… right. A hurricane had hit. “I’m going to reef!” Link had yelled to Demon, giving him the tiller and clambering to the mast, clinging like a monkey to anything he could. He grabbed a rope and wrapped it around his right arm for safety. The rest of his memory was a blank…
“Ah! Are you waking up, sir?”
“Uhn?” Who was the girl? Malon? His eyelids cracked open, showing him brownish red hair and a blue dress. “Uhn?” he mumbled again.
He flung himself upright into a sitting position, his pulse going about a hundred kilometres an hour. “Where’s Navi? Where am I? Who are you? Are you Malon? You look different. Where am I?”
The girl stepped back, laughing. “Whoa, traveller. I’m Marin, not Malon. I don’t know a Malon. You’re on Koholint Island. What was your other question?”
“Where’s Navi?”
“Who’s Navi?”
“She’s my… fairy… I guess she’s not here. Why am I here?”
“My little girl found you on the beach!” said a deeper, jolly voice. Link looked over to a little table where a man who looked an awful lot like Talon sat, fiddling with a pipe.
“Eh? What beach?”
The man chuckled. “Of course you were found on a beach; we’re an island!”
“Okay. I think I’m getting it… so I washed up here?”
“Were you in a shipwreck?” Marin asked excitedly. “We’ve never had anyone wash up before. What’s your name?”
“Link, and I’m not sure what happened. I was on my ship with my friends in a hurricane and I went to reef and then I’m not sure what happened. I need to go look for them…”
“I’ll show you the way,” Marin volunteered. “Here’s your shield. It was strapped to your back, and it looked uncomfortable and dirty. I cleaned it.” Link buckled both his belts on and checked his appearance. Since he had left Termina, he had donned a brown sweater under his green tunic and shorts, bought new boots out of necessity, and let his hair grow a bit longer, and he was definitely much taller. The shield on its cross-strap made him feel comfortable, even if the comforting weight of his sword was missing.
“I’m going to the forest,” Tarin called, as they left his house, sauntering in a different direction than the boy and the girl.
“This way,” Marin said, skipping ahead of Link.
Link looked around. The village reminded him somewhat of Kakariko – laid back, contented, cheerful… he could see an elderly woman sweeping her porch, and three identical boys playing ball while another identical boy egged them on…
“Whoa!” Link started back as an enormous black dog lunged at him.
“That’s Bow-Wow. He doesn’t hurt people, but he’s death on the little monsters we find around occasionally! Little blobby things and stuff.”
Fortunately, it was chained to a post, but Link edged carefully past the dog as he followed Marin.
Marin led him past a building with a sign: “Library” and to the top of a steep drop. Link stopped for a moment and looked out at the horizon. The sky was blue, and the sea was calm. It was a beautiful sight, but no ships broke the smooth sheet of water.
“What are you waiting for?” Marin asked, turning back from where she had slid down a short incline in her sandals. “We have to find your friends!”
“Sorry.” Link followed her, although he saw some wooden stairs nearby.
The beach was made of fine sand, with palm nuts everywhere. There was flotsam and jetsam everywhere. The two made their way slowly along. Link was looking for anything that gleamed – it could be a fairy. He was also looking for Demon, but if the spirit was unconscious or tired he would be in the shape of a mask, meditating, and be harder to find. Link checked under every pile of seaweed or driftwood he came across.
Something glittering caught his eye at the same time that Marin said: “What’s that?”
Link raced forward and found something long and sharp. “Well, it’s not as good as I’d like, but it’s good.” He picked up his sword and sheathed it. “Now I’m not defenceless.”
“Oh, it’s okay!” Marin assured him. “I hardly ever see monsters, and they never bother me. They only bothered people a long, long time ago…”
“Looks like there’s some right here,” Link said grimly, whipping out his sword and facing the small band of Moblins coming from around a corner in the cliff face. “Stay behind me!” Marin ducked back in a whirl of skirts.
Link charged at the monsters as they charged at him. He was taller, stronger, bigger, and faster than ever, and the fifteen year old was confident in his monster destroying abilities, although he hadn’t truly used them for some time. He dodged the spears and leapt high in the air, stabbing downwards. He got scratched on the arm, and wished he had a fairy friend with him to help him concentrate on his targets.
“Kill him! He’ll destroy the island!” came a shout from the top of the cliff. Link looked up and saw another, bigger Moblin. The Hylian had killed one of the four, but the other three were putting up a good fight. Link kicked one and stabbed another and slashed the third across the face, trying to finish faster than ever so he could go against the Moblin above.
A few minutes later, he had succeeded, and threw himself at the cliff, clawing his way up. “Marin! Go back home and stay there! I’ll be back! Be careful!”
Marin squealed anxiously, but Link caught a glimpse of her dashing towards the town as he pursued the Moblin fleeing through the trees.
They came to a cave, and they both dove in without stopping. Link chased his opponent through chambers, jumped over chasms, and fought off other enemies.
At the end of the cave, he finally brought the Moblin to bay and killed him. Only then did he look around.
The cave was lit with torches, and from the accessories lying around… Link had blundered into a dungeon! The dead end he had come into had a huge door in one wall, and a tiny little keyhole in the centre.
Link blew a sigh. “Only one thing for it.” He was going to have to go back and explore the dungeon all over again. He was partly excited – exploring dungeons on his first day in a new place suited him just fine. It made him feel welcome somehow.
Two hours later, he exited with a small cello in his hands. The instrument seemed to play if he only shook it, so he handled it carefully.
“Hoo!” something hooted behind him.
Link jumped, squawking in fright, and relaxed as he saw it was an owl. “Hey! What do you mean, scaring people like that?”
“I apologize. I want to talk to you, young hero.”
“Are you Kaepora Gaebora?” Kaepora Gaebora was a venerable owl who lived in the Kokiri Forest. He had offered Link advice on occasion, and hobnobbed greatly with the Wise Brothers. Link wondered what he could be doing here, but…
“No. I don’t know what you are talking about. That, what you hold there, is the Full Moon Cello. There are seven other instruments.”
“I have to gather them all?”
“Only if you wish to leave this island.”
“What!?”
“The Wind Fish sleeps, now, but if you play the eight collected Instruments of the Sirens before his egg, he will awaken and take you away to where you wish to be.”
“I don’t get it.”
The owl sighed. “You will find it impossible to leave the island without waking the Wind Fish.”
Link turned away, chanting: “Drat, drat, drat, drat…”
Marin was preparing supper in her house as he entered; something with chicken in it. She looked up and smiled, relieved greatly.
“I was so scared! I’ve never seen that happen before! It must be a weird fluke.”
“I don’t know,” Link answered. “Smells good.”
“I’m also worried about Daddy. He’s never been out this long!”
“Oh, I’ll go look for him. How long do I have?”
“Until supper is ready?” Marin giggled a bit. “Fifteen minutes. The forest is to the north of the town.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Link set the cello down on a side-table as he left the house again.
From there, he went to the forest, and did not find Tarin, but he found Moblins and and a fairy and a raccoon. He got lost several times, but was eventually saved by the lights of the town.
Marin was terrified when he told her this, and supper was a silent meal.
When Link finished, he went out again, even though it was dark. He stopped first at the shop to see if he could buy anything that could help him, since he had nothing in his pockets or his pouch. He bought bombs and something called ‘magic powder’, which he’d never seen before.
He went back to the forest, which was getting dark, and threw magic powder at the first monster he saw. It burst into flame.
“Cool,” Link said, having no dutiful little fairy around to reprimand him, and threw some at the raccoon.
The raccoon did not burst into flame, but it began to bounce. It bounced off trees and rocks, squeaking “ouch, ouch, ouch” all the time. It swelled, and the voice deepened, until Tarin sat down under a tree.
“What happened?” asked the big man. “I just picked a mushroom, and then my mind went blank… What? It’s dark already? Ohmigosh, my daughter’s going to kill me!” Tarin ran off flailing.
“This all seems very familiar,” Link said to himself, following. Talon had once run away from Malon in a similar fashion, and Malon had told him afterwards a very similar conversation to the one he had just heard…
When he got back, Marin and Tarin were staring at his cello. “What’s the matter?”
“Where did you find this?” Marin stammered. “It’s… the Full Moon Cello!”
“I found it in a dungeon, in a cave near the beach. Can you tell me what it is? An owl tried to explain, but I didn’t get it too well.”
“Well, the Full Moon Cello is one of the eight legendary Sirens’ Instruments. They were hidden all over the island by the god who made Koholint, and it’s said that the one who finds them all and plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish before the Wind Fish’s Egg will wake the Wind Fish. The Wind Fish is the god who made Koholint, but he went to sleep inside a giant egg at the peak of the mountain in the centre of the island.”
“So, what happens after that? The owl said I could only go home if I did that.”
“No one knows,” Tarin rumbled. “I don’t know if it’s true. You could ask Mr. Write; he lives up north past the forest. I think he tried to leave the island once to deliver a letter. He writes letters to all kinds of people; that’s why we call him Mr. Write. Nowadays, he just gets the seagulls to carry them.”
“Did he ever get any answers?” Link asked.
“No. We think it’s because we’re too far away from other lands, or even from sailing routes to other lands. But we don’t mind. We’re a good community, Mabe and Animal Villages, and monsters don’t bother us.”
“I think I cleaned them out of the forest, but I’ll check again tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere just yet. I’m sure my friends are still in the boat, wondering where I am, so I’ll wait a bit to get all those instruments. What’s that song you mentioned, by the way?”
“It’s called the Ballad of the Wind Fish,” Marin reminded him, blushing, and stood up and sang a beautiful song without words. Link gazed at her with his mouth hanging open. Marin was probably the equal of Lulu the Zora singer in voice power…
When she finished, Marin blushed again and said: “It sounds better outside in the sunshine. That’s my favourite place to sing it. Good night!” She hurried off to her room.
Link stared after her.
Tarin stood up and stretched. “Night, Link. I’m sleeping in this room, but you can sleep on the couch here. I’ve left some blankets and pillows for you. Night!”
“Good night!” Link called, loudly enough to be heard by Marin.
He flopped on the couch and fell asleep instantly.
The next day, he got up and went outside before breakfast. Everything was quiet.
He went back inside. Marin was cooking breakfast, and Tarin was chewing on his pipe.
“She doesn’t let me smoke indoors,” he explained to Link. “Says it smells bad.”
“Hm. After I check the forest, do you want to introduce me to your neighbours?”
“Sure!” Marin chirped, flipping a pancake and smiling – and blushing – at Link at the same time.
“Great.”
After breakfast, Link went to the forest and discovered that the monsters were not gone, but he couldn’t find their next base. When he got back, the four little boys with the ball rushed up to him.
“Hey, mister! Mister Link! You gotta help, really!”
“It’s an emergancy! It’s really bad!”
“The M-m-moblins came!”
“What?” Link knelt down to their level.
“And they went all around, and we all hid, and they went to that house, and that house!”
“But we don’t know what they did!”
“Yeah, we do! I think they stole Bow-Wow!”
“The dog?” Link asked, looking over at the house and noting the absence of large and ferocious black animals.
“Yeah!”
“Please, mister Link! You gotta save him!”
“How…”
“Please!”
Link stood up. There was nothing more he was going to get out of the kids, and he still was mystified as to how even the Moblins had carried off the fierce animal. He had heard no trace of them in the woods, either, but set off northwards.
He came across their trail right away. It curved around to the northeast, and past a noisome swamp full of Deku Babas and fish with large teeth.
“Not many monsters here?”
Link wondered again.
The trail grew more difficult as the ground grew harder again as he got closer to the central mountain. At last it led into a hole in the ground.
After being accused of being an assassin and, admittedly, killing all the Moblins in the cave, he left with the dog. It was muzzled, but the muzzle had Moblin blood on it, so his guess that the Moblins had not found it as easy as the children thought was proved. Bow-Wow frisked around and licked his face, almost knocking him over constantly. It was a long walk back.
Madam Meow-Meow, the dog’s owner, was estatic to see her “precious puppy” back, and gave Link a big hug and kiss before he could get away.
“And you come by and walk my poor doggie anytime you like!” she added, with a wink.
Link returned to Marin’s house. The girl was singing as she swept the path to the door. “Hi!” she called as she caught sight of him. “I guess you returned the dog. Do you want to meet everyone else, now?”
“Sure, but could we have lunch first?”
“Oh, right, yes. Come in.”
After lunch, she led him slightly to the north, past a small ornamental windmill. The house behind, on a little hill, was where the quadruplet boys lived. They ran out and swarmed around Link, clapping their hands.
“You saved Bow-wow, didn’t you?”
“You’re great, Mister Link!”
“You can just call me Link,” the Hylian replied cheerfully. “What are your names?”
“I’m Ben, he’s Mack, that’s Tim, and that’s Stu.”
“If you can’t tell us apart, you can call ‘us’ Stutimmackben and we’ll answer.”
“Don’t you try wearing different shirts?”
“No, because we switch to fool Mom and she got frustrated.”
“Now we wear whatever.”
“Yes,” Marin said, “they’re a handful, sure enough. They like running around a lot. Why don’t you show us what you can do with that sword?”
“Uh…” Link hesitated, looking around for something to attack that wouldn’t hurt anyone. “Is it all right if I attack that fence post? I might break it…”
“Don’t worry about that!” said a tall man, coming and sitting in the doorway. His wife stood behind him with a baby in her arms. “I’m Papahl, by the way, and this is Mahria. The baby’s Flo. She’s the only girl! But, I’m sure she’d love to see you, too.”
“I’ll fix it if I really smash it,” Link said, drawing his sword. He wished Navi were there to help him focus, but did his best to show some of his flashier moves.
There was a small burst of applause when he finished, panting, the fence post cut and sliced almost disreputably, and Link grinned apologetically at the quadruplets’ parents.
After a generous display of hospitality from Papahl and Mahria that included a welcome drink of milk for Link and a cookie for each of the boys, Marin took Link over to the two shops, introducing him to the shifty looking market owner and the nervous game store operator. Then, over to the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ulrira. Mrs. Ulrira was vigourously sweeping her whole yard, and reminded Marin loudly but cheerfully that Mr. Ulrira was very shy in person; would they please use the phone?
On the phone, Mr. Ulrira was gruff and loud. Marin laughed at the bemused expression on Link’s face.
Next was Madam Meow-Meow’s house, with its huge dog and two little puppies. One puppy was a boy, and the other was a girl. The girl kept snapping at a shiny bracelet Marin wore until she gave it to her, and then the puppy whined with happiness and tried to put the bracelet on its tail. Marin bent down and put the bracelet on the dog’s paw, tightening the clasp just enough that it wouldn’t fall off.
Meanwhile, Link was getting smothered by the woman.
As soon as they were able to leave, Marin took Link just to show him the library. Link grinned at the piles of books. He loved books, ever since he found out what they were. They told him all kinds of fascinating things, and sometimes less fascinating things as well. He found one: “Fun With Bombs”, that hardly told him anything interesting that he already knew. It was a pretty small book. Some of the others looked more promising, with fairy stories and legends in them.
At length, it was suppertime, and after that, Link and Marin and Tarin talked about the Cello until it was dark out.
The next day, Link went out with the big dog and ventured north again. He had an idea about the slimy-looking swamp he had passed.
His guess was correct, and he was rewarded with a horn made out of a spiralled seashell. He brought it back to Marin’s house, and was rewarded again when both father and daughter’s eyes lit up with wonder.
“That’s the Conch Horn!” Marin exclaimed.
“I kinda guessed that,” Link grinned as he set it on the table next to the Full Moon Cello.
“Well, that’s its name. I should have taken that book out… The one about the history of the island.”
“Well, there’s always tomorrow.”
“But tomorrow, I’m going to take you to meet someone else!”
“Oh? Who?”
“Well, you’ll meet him when you meet him. And then there’re other people, too.”
“Oh, all right.”
Tarin chuckled. “My girl’s a good talker, ain’t she?”
Link grinned again, ruefully. “Yes, she is.”
Marin rolled her eyes with an impatient sigh. “Just because I want you make your own first impressions?” And she stalked off to bed.
The day dawned bright and sunny, and Link was up early. Not as early as Marin, though. She had already gone out and brought back several books from the library, and had re-read them all half-way through the morning, while Link was still on the first one. Then she jumped up.
“C’mon, you can read those later. We have to go and see Richard now, otherwise there won’t be time to go to the other village.”
“Other village?”
Marin smiled and ran out the door.
“Wha-? Hey, wait!”
Link ran after her.
Outside of Mabe Village, there was a small rock fall, and after that were small land-Octoroks. Marin was confused and stuck close to Link, leading him along a grassy path south.
The path wound around to the east, and then north, leading eventually to a small, beautiful old castle. Marin rang the doorbell by the gate. Link looked up.
“Look out!” he shouted suddenly, grabbing Marin around the waist and pulling her back. A large rock thudded into the chipped paving stones where she had been standing. Marin looked up in fear, and gasped. A helmeted head was peering over the battlements.
“You again, wench?”
“Wh-where is Richard?” Marin cried.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. Go away and take that stupid hero with you.”
Marin’s eyes were wide with shock, and she turned around and began walking away slowly, skirts flapping in the breeze.
“Hey! Wait! One of my buddies says he’s moved into a little frog-filled house somewhere south of the pond. Okay?”
“O-okay.”
“What was that all about?” Link asked as they went out of bow-shot of the walls.
“I don’t know! They’ve never been like that before. I hope Richard’s all right. I mean, he’s… but he’s…”
“You’re confusing me,” Link cried, throwing his arms out wide. Marin giggled.
“Sorry. Is that the house?”
She ran forward, heedless of danger, and knocked on the door. A young man with styled black hair and a small elegant moustache answered it.
“Yes? Oh, hello, Marin. Who is this?”
“This is Link! He just arrived on the island, and I’m showing him around. What happened up at the castle?”
Richard invited them inside and served them tea. “I’m afraid I am just as confused as you are. Suddenly, yesterday, my servants revolted against me. They threw me out of the castle, and I didn’t even have time to pack. I don’t even have my Golden Leaves!” A frog croaked mournfully from inside an empty pitcher. Richard dumped it out impatiently.
“What are gold leaves?” Link asked.
“Golden Leaves,” Richard corrected the Hylian, still impatiently. “They are a symbol of my status as lord of the castle. I refuse to leave them in the hands of those ruffians. As such, I am most distressed.”
“Er, well…” Marin began.
“I might…” Link began at the same time. They looked at each other, blushed, and then Link started again. “I could go and get them for you. Where are they?”
“Oh, you would? I see you have a sword. You must be an excellent warrior, by the look of your physique. The Golden Leaves are on my dresser, although they may have been moved. There is also a back way into the castle. If you will, I could show you the entrance.”
“That would be very helpful,” Link said. “Marin, if I take an hour or maybe a little more, will we still have time to visit that other village you talked of?”
“Well, we will certainly have time to get there and back, but I don’t know if we will be able to have enough time to visit, you see…”
“Oh. Well, tell me the way, and I’ll catch up later.”
“It’s across the river, directly east of here.”
“All right.”
Link set out with Richard and Marin, and Richard showed him a tiny, grimy staircase into the back of the castle. Link went in and found a broken ladder to get out into the castle grounds. He jumped for it.
After at least an hour and a half, he had found all five of the Leaves, none of which were on the dresser in the master bedroom, and had managed to open the gate for a quick exit. The guards were not brilliant fighters, so he took them by surprise, knocked them out, and left them where they lay.
He jogged east to find the village, but instead…
Marin and Richard were standing by the river. Marin was surveying the wreckage of a wooden bridge, and Richard had drawn a rapier and was trying to fence with a small octorok. His success was minimal.
Link came up to them. “Were you waiting all this time?”
“Well,” Marin said, “if we didn’t, you might think we had gotten across somehow, and then you might drown trying to cross also.”
“Oh.”
“Fear not, friends!” cried Richard. “I have slain the foul beast! Did you get my Golden Leaves back?”
“Yes,” and Link handed them to him.
“Well, we’d better go home,” Marin said. “Thanks for your help, Richard.”
“Come back tomorrow!” Richard invited them. “I have something else to tell you.”
The next day, Marin was busy helping Mrs. Ulrira, so Link and Tarin went.
“The thing I have for you is a large, oddly decorated key. I found it when I took this house, and I am not sure where it goes. Perhaps you would know.”
“How would I know?” Link asked.
“There are strange keyholes scattered over the island, I am told. However, I have not personally gone to visit them all, certainly not with the recent kerfuffle. Would you take this and try some?”
Link shrugged and accepted it.
It fit into a keyhole in a rock very close to Richard’s house, and Link rolled his eyes. Tarin was stuck back at the house, still drinking tea.
The keyhole opened another dungeon, which Link defeated before suppertime. The instrument in that one was a bell, and he added it to the growing pile on the living room table.
“That’s the Sea Lily Bell,” Marin told him. “It’s in…”
“I still haven’t finished reading this book about the Wind Fish,” Link protested.
“All right, don’t worry about it, then.”
After a while, during supper, Marin glanced at her father and then at Link. “Um, I had an idea. Would you like to go out tomorrow? I want to go down to the beach again, and you could spend the day reading…”
“Like a picnic?” Tarin asked.
“Yes, exactly.”
The next day, Marin took a huge basket of food and other things, and Link filled his cleaned pack with books, and Tarin brought chairs and umbrellas, and they all went down to the beach. They set up a blanket on a grassy lawn so grit didn’t get in the food, but the chairs and umbrellas went down on the sand.
True to the size of her basket, Marin had prepared almost a feast, and Link was nearly over-full when they finished. He flopped on the blanket, grinning ruefully, and reached for a book about Kanelet Castle.
Marin waited until she was sure he was fully absorbed, and went to her private spot and sang for the seagulls.
Link finished that book and felt like taking a break, and lay staring up at the changing clouds. Tarin was smoking under his umbrella with his feet in the water.
Marin came back and Link sat up.
“Hey, Marin, did I tell you where I came from yet?”
“Oh, no. Would you? You’re an amazing fighter, and you’re so strange, and yet everyone here likes you and you fit in perfectly…”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. I’m kinda glad that you haven’t had trouble with monsters before I came, though. I wonder why they’re acting up. Anyway…”
In a hesitating, round-about fashion, he managed to explain what Hyrule was, and who he was there. Tarin came over to listen. Link was just in the middle of a rousing rendition of how he had fought Ganondorf when he stopped suddenly, and Marin saw his face change colour.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, sorry. Just, after I killed him, my best friend died, so I don’t like talking about that part.”
“I’m sorry about that. I understand.”
“Daddy, what’s that you have?”
“It’s a flute of some sort…”
“Can I see?” Link held out his hand, and Tarin placed the Ocarina of Time into it. Link’s eyes went very wide. “How did this get here?”
“It was in a wooden bowl thing. Is it yours?”
“Yes… This is the Ocarina that was so important during that quest. I hope the others are all right…”
“How many others are there?”
“Oh, right.” And Link told them about his adventures in Termina and how he met Tatl and Demon and Tael.
“Well, this Demon person sounds competent, and if he has three fairies with him, he should be all right,” Tarin said.
“Yes… but if he fell in the ocean… if he’s stuck in a place where he can’t change… I don’t know… he might be stuck underwater forever… The fairies will be all right, but what if they get lost? What if I never find them again?”
“Please don’t despair yet,” Marin pleaded. “It’s not good for you, and I don’t think it’s true. Perhaps they can’t find the island. When you are able to leave, you will probably find them quickly.”
Link shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, having the Ocarina makes me feel better, although I don’t know why.”
“You know it’s safe,” Tarin said. “I’m never sure if things are safe unless I’ve got my eye on them.”
“I suppose, yeah.”
Link lay awake that night, wondering.