Battle For Crystaldon (A Rhett and Link Fanfic)

Chapter 19 The Crumbling Island

Link's POV

I grabbed Puriel's hand and we all began to follow Daz as he led us to his home. We walked to the edge, it didn't look like it would be easy to climb down, but Daz moved slightly to the right and he disappeared amongst the rocks.

"Daz, where did you go?" I called out.

His head appeared out of no where.

"We must take the hidden staircase, Leak. Did you forget that too?" he asked.

I nodded my head and walked towards him. To my surprise, a stairway appeared. I hadn't even seen it at all before. I began to walk down, Rhett and Puriel following behind me.

"I never knew this was here! When Volitha and I were young, we would play in these mountains all the time. Never once did we see this. This is incredible!" Puriel said in awe.

I smiled. She was so adorable. I saw Daz stop by a hole in the side of the stairway. He looked at me, his eyes filling with tears. I felt my heart break, he truly liked me and I couldn't even remember him past this morning. He walked up to me and wrapped his small arms around my legs. I leaned down and picked him up, holding him in a tight hug.

"Goodbye Leak, I'll miss you," he said sadly.

"I'll miss you too Daz. Please come visit sometime. I would visit you, but I don't think I'd be able to find your home again. Just come to the castle whenever," I said and set him down.

He smiled sadly and hopped into the hole, disappearing into the inky blackness. I wiped away the single tear that had fallen. I started to remember him now. My memories were slowly coming back as the day went on, but some things were still very hazy. Puriel walked over to me and placed her hand on my back.

"He'll be fine, Link. Don't worry about him. He's a tough little guy," she said and gently kissed my cheek.

I smiled and took a deep breath. "Well, should we start heading back?"

"That's fine with me," Rhett said. "And Link, I know it's hard to say goodbye. It always is, but you never know, you may see him again. Have you remembered him at all?"

"Yeah, the memories started coming back when he left. Thanks, Rhett," I said and gave him a hug.

"Of course, Link. You're my best friend, I'll always be there for you," Rhett said.

Puriel was smiling, "We can go back if you like, but there's somewhere I want to take you, if you don't mind."

"Sure," Rhett and I replied at the same time.

Her smile widened. "Follow me."

She began to run down the stairs.

"I didn't go down this way usually, but I'm certain I can still find the way when we get down," Puriel called over her shoulder.

After running down the stone stairway, Puriel began to walk towards another forest. Rhett and I followed closely behind her. We walked through the forest and immerged by a creek. The creek was surrounding a large island with ruins on it. She began to swim across the creek and walked on the shore of the island. She beckoned to us and we began to cross it as well. The water was chilly, but not too cold. We reached the other side within a few minutes. The current was pretty strong, making me swallow a lot water. I crawled on shore and coughed up the water. Rhett patted my back as I had a coughing fit.

"You alright, Link?" Rhett asked, concerned.

I finished coughing before weakly replying, "Yeah."

We stood up and I rung out my shirt. I was kind of cold, but I ignored it and ran up to Puriel who was standing at the top of the ruins. She was on some sort of stone floor. She turned and smiled at Rhett and me.

"Welcome to the Crumbling Island. Volitha and I would always come here. It's been so long since I've come," she said and smiled as she reminisced about her childhood.

We began to look around. I could tell whatever building his was, it used to be beautiful. Puriel found some berries growing and we began to eat. We spent several hours exploring the woods and the other nearby ruins. I felt like I was back home. Rhett and I would explore the woods and abandoned houses. As the sun began to sink, we knew we had to go. We didn't want to run into anymore Krax. We set off towards the mountain again. I hoped we'd find the hidden staircase, otherwise, we'd have to climb the mountain in the dark and I knew, that wouldn't turn out so well.