Chapter 2

Link was coming through her window...

Zelda stared as she sat upright in bed, trying to figure out what he was doing. She had told him not to ever talk to her again. Tonight was one thing, but climbing into her room? She stared again, and then again as he drew his sword and bought it down over her as if to cut her in two...

Zelda woke from her dream hot and sweating. And then gradually she got cool and then cold and realised that she was outside on a plank of wood floating through a fierce ocean in a deafening storm. And most strangely of all, she was no longer dreaming.

It was raining hard, and already she was drenched through and shivering because of the cold. It was a stormy night and she could see nothing but clouds and darkness all around her.

Where was her bedroom? Where was the castle? Where was Hyrule?

Zelda had no idea.

She felt so alone that she felt that surely she must die, for all around her there were nothing but huge waves rising and falling, and the sound of lightning hitting the water nearby. If she had been like her cousin she would have screamed, but there was no point, and she might as well just stay hanging on the plank in the middle of the great stormy ocean, and wait for death.

Then, in the distance she heard the faintest of noises, a sound not unlike a whale, but different somehow, almost more musical. The Princess stared into the distance, and far away she could see spotted a small black dot in the sky, like a faraway bird which was growing bigger and bigger, and soon she heard another of the whale-like noises. Then she could see it, a whale who flew through the sky on two strong wings. And then she could hear his magical voice charge through the night, so loud that she could no longer hear the storm or the waves.

And the whale came closer, and dived into the sea with such a splash that she was drenched again but this time the water was almost warm. She could feel the power charging through the water as the whale swam through it, and she stared down in awe, trying to tell where the whale was.

And just like when she first saw it, she saw only a dot in the water, becoming bigger and faster (quicker this time), and soon she was staring into th whales huge face.

It was a terrifying moment.

Then, worst of all, the whale's mouth opened, and before she could realise what had happened, she had been swallowed and was rolling through the whale's mouth and down through its throat into the stomach.

And once she was there, she was surprised to find that it was incredibly stable and dry, and that she was not afraid at all.

A few years ago, she had gone to visit Princess Ruto and Lord Jabu-Jabu, and then she had gone inside his stomach, and the princess had showed her around. But this whale-like creature was strangely different. It looked stronger and had more muscle to it. Zelda wasn't quite sure how she knew, but she liked it better like this way.

The only other thing in the stomach was a small chest, and taking out the small hidden knife that she always kept on her, she broke the lock with it, and prized it open. The chest had protective layers to make it waterproof but inside all she could find was a knife, some butter, a few rolls, and a two coins. She was hungry, so she eat quickly until there was nothing left.

Then she found that she was incredibly tired, and with nothing else to do, she lay down and quickly fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, and was surprised to find another chest inside with another meal for her to eat when she woke up. It was a good meal, and she could not finish it all, but she was not tired so she sat down and tried to see if she could feel if the whale was moving around. As hard as she tried, she couldn't tell if they what direction they were moving in or even if they were moving at all, although she noticed that the entrance she had come through was now the ceiling, although she had not felt the move.

She was sitting there wondering if the whale meant to keep her there indefinitely when the floor moved again and became a wall, and she could see the entrance she had come through was open and light coming through it. Not knowing what to do, she finally decided to walk out, and to her surprise the whale's mouth was open and she could step through onto the floor of a cave.

She turned around and stared at the whale that had bought her here, and said, "Who are you?"

The whale had a deep voice as it replied, and it reminded Zelda of the sound it had make when she first met it.

"I AM THE WINDFISH AND YOU ARE THE PRINCESS OF DESTINY."

Said the voice, but it was so loud (and the fact that the Windfish didn't move its mouth didn't help) that Zelda thought that it was coming from nowhere.

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"GANNONDORF, KING OF THIEVES WAS FREED."

"Who by?" she exclaimed.

"TAI, THE CHILD OF WISDOM AND NURA THE GOD OF THIS LAND WHICH IS NAMED AFTER HER."

"What? How?" Zelda asked trying to understand.

"NURA GAVE HER POWER TO TAI, WHO USED THE POWER WITH THE POWER OF DIN TO SHATTER THE SEAL ON THE SACRED REALM. GANNONDORF ONCE FREED, ASORBED TAI'S POWER INTO A POWERFUL SCEPTRE WHICH HE USED TO DESTROY HYRULE. ONLY THE SAGES WERE SAVED."

"The Sages? Where are they?" asked Zelda, shocked by what had happened.

"THE SAGES ARE NOT FOR YOU TO WORRY ABOUT. THEY WILL COME TO YOU, NOT YOU TO THEM. YOU MUST NOT APPROACH THEM."

"Is Hyrule really destroyed?"

"IT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN THE POWER OF NURA AND A THIRD OF DIN'S POWER TO DESTROY HYRULE, THE MASTERWORK OF THREE GODS."

"A third? I always thought that it was half of Din's power in the triforce."

"MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT DIN GAVE HER LIFE CREATING HYRULE. BUT SHE, FARORE AND NAYRU ARE STILL ALIVE. A THIRD OF THEIR POWER WENT TO HYRULE, A THIRD TO THE TRIFORCE, AND A THIRD THEY KEPT."

"Then how can I set Hyrule free?"

"YOU MUST FIND NURA AND USE HER POWER TO DEFEAT GANNONDORF AND WITH THE SAGES ONCE AGAIN RETURN HIM TO THE SACRED REALM."

"But you said that she is trapped in the Sceptre."

"THEN YOU MUST RELEASE HER. COME, I WILL TAKE YOU TO YOUR NEW MASTERS. BECOME ONE OF THEM AND THEY WILL TAKE YOU TO THE SCEPTRE."

"Then where will you be?"

"I GROW WEARY. I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR AN ANSWER TO MY QUEST FOR MANY YEARS. I WILL GO AND SLEEP. ... I will never forget you Zelda."

For an instant, the Windfish's voice changed and softened, but then:

"NOW STEP INSIDE ME."

Zelda stepped inside, walked into the stomach and waited while the mouth closed. She was off to a new life.

Zelda stepped out onto the beach, waved goodbye, and then quickly stepped back as the Windfish closed its mouth and shot into the sky. He went so fast that she couldn't see him in a few seconds.

She remembered his last words to her, that she had to find Lain Tarn, and follow her where ever she went. She looked around her and then walked up the beach into a small nearby harbour.

Although it was small, the harbour had three or four ships in, and was fairly busy. Zelda listened for the loudest noise and then set out to a little pub facing the harbour. It's plain front made it look quite unimportant, but as soon as you stepped inside it stretched out into a huge chamber, and you realised how well the door had been keeping the noise in.

A bit taken aback, but still determined, Zelda walked into the smog created by the smoke around her and looked for a likely source of information. In the Imprisoning War Zelda had learnt who to look for when she wanted information, and she quickly spotted a likely candidate sitting by a window.

She bought a drink and went and sat by the small man who she had recognised as the type she wanted.

"You seen Lain recently?" she asked casually.

"Who hasn't?" he said bitterly.

Zelda was annoyed. If had a grudge then he was likely not to good give information. On the other hand...

"Where is she now?" Zelda queried.

The man shrugged.

Zelda sighed, flicked him a coin, and then looked hard at him again.

"Behind you," he said slowly.

Zelda turned around quickly, and saw the laughing face of a woman around 8 years older than her.

"What is it?" she smiled.

Zelda was surprised. It was not a mocking voice, more friendly, as if she was encouraging her.

"I...I wanted to join you," she stuttered.

Lain raised her eyebrows.

"Thomas - what have you done," she muttered, but then louder, "first, who are you?"

"I'm...I'm Zelda," she said, embarrassed to be stuttering again.

"Well, first you'd need a new name," Lain said, strangely not quite, but still serious.

"What's wrong with my name?" Zelda said defensively.

"Well its not exactly very good for a pirate is it?" said Lain laughing, "No seriously, what about..."

"Hail," suggested someone on the right, which caused a great laugh from the crowd which had gathered around, and even Thomas chuckled.

"Fine, Hail it is," said Zelda, which only made the crowd laugh even more.

"What is this?" said a cruel, sinister voice from behind.

Zelda turned around and saw a tall, dark man who was now being watched by everybody.

"I will prove you are no Hail," said the man, drawing a sword quickly.

"Leave her alone, Oliver," Lain said defensively.

Oliver laughed, and pushed forward his sword, but Zelda was not defenceless. When she had been young, she had been taught self protection, and her reactions were better than most. She quickly kicked his hand and the sword flew up into the air where she caught it, and quickly pushed it right against his chest.

There was silence in the pub.

Oliver growled, accepted his sword back, and marched off angrily with his followers.

"All right, Hail," said Lain softly, "you can join."

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