Forsaken - Legend of Zelda | Wind Waker

An Ally in Green

Link picked himself off the dusty floor, dazed and disoriented. His head spun as he looked around. He was in a damp cell, furnished with a table, and a shelf adorned by a vase. He stumbled to the wooden door, feebly jiggling the handle.

"Yeah, they put you in there just to leave the door unlocked. The fatheads aren't that stupid." The blonde jumped away from the door, startled at the voice. He hadn't even heard them come in. a woman stepped into the lamplight on the other side of the bars. She looked older, with short raven hair and piercing emerald eyes. She was pale-skinned and slender, with a long staff grasped in her hand.

"What're you doing in my fortress, boy?" she asked, her voice cold. The blonde shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Your fortress?" he said. The woman kneeled next to the bars, bringing her face to his level.

"Yes. MY fortress," she said sternly, looking him in the eye. Link held her challenging gaze evenly. A smile spread over her face as she stood.

"I don't know why, but I like you, kid. That door might be locked, but that vase isn't." Before he could respond, the mysterious woman turned and disappeared. Puzzled, Link took a glance at the vase decorating the shelf. He looked back to where the woman had been, then climbed the table. The boy hopped on the shelf to inspect the decorative vase. It did seem odd, an item such as this in a damp prison cell. Link pushed it aside to reveal a crawl space in the wall. He beamed as he crawled into it. A way out! He made a few right turns, and emerged o the other side of his cell. He jumped to the ground and gave a smirk. Piece of cake. He'd have his sister out in no time. The boy ran down the hall. Something snatched him by the collar of his shirt, and he gagged as he got yanked backward. He was spun around to face the same woman from before.

"You're reckless, you know that?" she whispered sharply. She placed a pale hand on the top of his head, and turned it toward a circular room. A fat-lipped moblin was snuffling around, lantern held aloft.

"Recklessness will cost you," she informed him. Link watched her silently as she observed the monster. Her emerald eyes turned back to him.

"I'll help you outta here, but you have to answer some of my questions later. Deal?" Link nodded. "Good. Follow my lead and don't say anything." Link was about to question her, but was abruptly stopped as the woman wrenched his arms behind his back and roughly dragged him forward. The moblin grunted as they approached, holding his lamp high to inspect them. Upon sighting the girl, he scrambled to attention and saluted as they passed. Link was stunned. These monsters yielded to a girl like her? But she couldn't REALLY be the master of the fortress, could she?

They continued their charade through the next few rooms. The woman finally released him outside, under a canopied walkway.

"So," she started, turning to the boy, "What's your name?"

"Link," he replied.

"All right, Link, why are you I this fortress?" Link hesitated. If she was the mistress of the fortress, should he tell her? But she had already helped him out of the prison…

"I'm… here to rescue my sister," he stated, finding his determination.

"Oh. You're the kid that girl was talking about…" Link's eyes widened.

"Aryll? You saw her? Is she okay?" he asked wildly.

"Whoa, hold your horses, kid," the woman said, holding her hands up for silence.

"Yeah, she's fine. For now. Tucked in a nice cozy cell." Link looked up at the tower of the fortress, staring at the window with seagulls flocked around it. The woman looked, too.