Chapter 2

Link could hear Zelda’s scream, shrill and full of terror. Ganon towered over her, ready to deliver a fatal blow with his trident. Link could only watch, helpless, as Ganon lowered the trident toward her. A vision of Anna, locked in chains, her clothes in rags, in a prision cell, flashed in front of him. She looked up at him, eyes weary and full of tears. “Link, save us......” she whispered. Then, both Zelda and Anna were gone. Words flashed in front of him, coming out of the blackness and engraving themselves in his head....The ones born with the Esscence three,A fourth one there shall be.With the addition of this last one,The work of good shall be done. Link awoke moments later. His heart pounded, and the images of his dream were still fresh in his mind. He glanced over at Anna. Was she still having strange dreams? he wondered. He could still remember Princess Zelda’s scream, Anna’s whispered words.....Suddenly, Zelda’s scream echoed in his head. It sounded as it had in the dream, but now, he knew it was the Hylian ability to use telepathy that allowed him to hear it. Jumping out of bed, he dressed quickly. Anna, hearing him moving around, stirred sleepily. Her eyes opened, and she regarded him groggily, “Link.....? What’s going on?” Link, who was taking the family sword and shield down from above the fireplace, said, “Zelda’s in trouble. I’m going to the castle. Stay here.” With this, he left the cottage and ran off in the direction of the castle.**************** Link’s heart pounded in his ears as he ran as quickly as he could in the direction of the castle. The darkness of night made it difficult to see, making Link wish he’d lit a lantern. Straining his eyes, he could make out the light in the castle windows. Tightening his grip on his sword, Link prepared to meet whatever lay within the castle walls. To his surprise, everything at the castle seemed normal. The guard beside the gate let him in right away, saying Zelda wished to talk to him. Rushing inside the castle, he nearly ran into Impa, who was standing near the stairs that led to the throne room. “Link....Zelda wishes to talk to you. She says it’s urgent. Come with me.” With this, Impa led Link to Zelda’s room. Impa called, “Zelda, Link is here.” “Come in, Link,” was Zelda’s reply from within. Link pushed open the doors to Zelda’s room. She sat before the fireplace, her features half shadowed as she turned toward him. A fire warmed the room, and despite the mild day’s weather, the night still brought the cold. Link walked toward her.. She rose in her chair, her long nightgown sweeping the floor. “What’s wrong, Zelda?” Link asked. He could see that fear still shone bright in her eyes. Her breath was rapid, and she looked into his eyes as she told him to sit down. “Oh, Link, it was....so horrible......I-I saw Ganon, in a dream, but I’m still frightened. I have such a dreadful feeling, Link. I saw Ganon torturing you. He kept saying something about ‘the fourth one.’ I don’t know what that means, Link....but I know that it has something to do with that Tetraforce. I don’t know what to think. Ganon wants the power of the Tetraforce for some evil reason, Link. If he gets his hands on it, Hyrule is doomed. We’re doomed. Not even you can save us, Link.....” A tear rolled down Zelda’s pale cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. Link took her hand in his. “ Don’t worry, Zelda. I won’t let Ganon do anything to us...or to Hyrule.” Even as Link said this, he wasn’t so sure he could keep this vow to her.****************** A short time later, Link had managed to talk to Zelda enough to calm her down. Just as he was about to leave, the doors to Zelda’s room opened again. Impa came in. At her heels was Anna. “Anna,” Link said, although he wasn’t at all surprised at her arrival. He knew that she’d defy him and come to the castle, anyway. She possessed the same curiosity and bravery than he did. Briefly, he remembered the night he’d left the castle to follow his uncle..... “Link, I’m still worried,” Zelda said, her voice full of concern. “That dream I had....it had to mean something.” Link suddenly remembered the poem he’d seen in his dream. “ Zelda,” he began carefully, not wanting to upset her further, “I had this dream where I saw a poem...” Link recited the poem. Zelda gasped. “Link....let me see the Book of Mudora. I heard of a verse that sounded something like that.” Link handed her the Book of Mudora, flipping to the back of the book. “ Okay....here’s the chapter that talks about the Tetraforce legend.” For a moment, the three of them sat in silence while Zelda skimmed the passages. Finally, her finger stopped moving across the pages. Her eyes widened. “Link,” she started, “it’s incredible...” “What?” Link asked, leaning foward eagerly. “ It says here that the following verse will help us find the Chosen One of the Tetraforce....and it’s the same poem in your dream!” Link took the Book of Mudora from Zelda, looking down at the poem. “Incredible....” he muttered. It was the poem he’d seen in his dream...but he’d never read that far into the book before. “Here, let me see,” Anna said. Link handed the book to her. Anna read along for a moment, then said, “The Chosen One of the Tetraforce? I wonder what it means by that....?” Zelda said, “Well, long ago, it was said the three goddesses chose three people to carry the Esscence of the Triforce. The goddesses chose these three because out of everyone they created, these three would change the history of Hyrule forever. Now that there may be a fourth part to the Sacred Triangle, it is said that there must be another person to hold the Essence of that triangle as well. First, however, we have to reunite the Tetraforce to see who that person is.” “And,” Link added grimly, “do it before Ganon does.” Everyone stood in silence for a moment. Then, Link said, his voice determined, full of fiemness, “We have to get started looking for the Tetraforce pieces tomorrow. Ganon may be looking for them even as we speak. And if he finds them before we do.....” Link left the sentence unfinished. They all knew what would happen if Ganon got the pieces before they did. Later, Link and Anna spent the remainder of the night in two of the castle’s guest rooms. As soon as Anna fell asleep, she knew she’d dream again.. Soon, the two worlds of reality and fantasy met as she started to dream again. This time, she didn’t see the upside down triangle in the misty room, did not hear the evil laughter. Instead, she could see herself walking alone, over fields, climbing rocks, walking into dark caves. She was alone as she walked and climbed and searched. Then, she could see herself holding pieces of a golden triangle. The Tetraforce! she thought. Suddenly, Anna awoke. I wonder what that was all about, she thought. Suddenly, the meaning of the dream occured to her. She knew that in the search for the Tetraforce, she would have to be alone. Link and Zelda couldn’t help her. Despite what Link had said, Anna knew she had to defy him again. Pulling back her sheets, Anna retrieved her dress from the foot of the bed. The nightgown Zelda had let her borrow felt strange, as it was made of the finest silk, something she wasn’t at all used to wearing. She got changed, then lay the nightgown out on the foot of the bed. This was her first quest, and the realization of it filled her with excitement. However, she had to be prepared. Digging her hand into her pocket, she counted the rupees she had. She had just enough to get provisions if she needed any in the future. For now, she would get what she needed from her cottage. Slipping quietly down the stairs and through the darkened castle, Anna could feel her heart pound. She hadn’t left a note for Link and Zelda, but she knew this was something she had to do alone. Finally, Anna pushed the castle’s front doors open. She ran down the cobblestone path all the way to the cottage. Once inside, she noted that their uncle still wasn’t back. He probably wouldn’t return until dawn. Going to the corner by the fireplace, Anna managed to find her bow. The quiver, full of wooden arrows, lay just beside it. Gathering the quiver up and gripping the bow, Anna made her way outside. She noticed that there was just the faintest hint of dawn showing in the sky. She took off running, having no destination in mind. She simply knew that, come what may, she had to reunite the Tetraforce. And so began Anna’s first adventure. ********************* When the sun finally rose, spreading its light across the land, activity began in Hyrule once again. The sunlight poured through one of the castle windows, spilling out across Link’s bed and awakening him. He dressed quickly, noting that Anna hadn’t come into his room yet. Probably still asleep, he thought. Then, he remembered it was the day they were all supposed to go and try to find the pieces of the Tetraforce. He decided to go to Anna’s room to wake her up. However, before he could go to the room adjacent to his, there was a knock at his door. “Link,” Zelda asked, “may I come in?” “Yeah,” Link answered. When Zelda came in, Link could see she was worried about something.“What is it, Zelda?” he asked her. “I was just passing Anna’s room. She’s not there, Link.” “Really?” Link asked, surprised. He thought she was still asleep. Apparently not. “She probably got up early and is in the parlor with Impa,” Link replied. “What is wrong, princess?” Impa asked, stepping into the room from the hallway. “Have you seen Anna, Impa? She’s not around here,” Zelda said. “Why no, I haven’t seen her....” the older woman replied thoughtfully. “Where could she be, then?” Zelda asked. Link replied, “ I’ll go out to look for her. She has to be close by.” With this, Link seized his sword and shield and started out. He looked around for her, calling for her. He tried the cottage, the swamp, the village. Finally, he began to go through the Lost Woods in hopes of finding her there. Suddenly, three moblins, the dog-like minions of Ganon’s, sprang from a cluster of bushes in front of him. He fought them off, and after the last one was destroyed, he wiped his sword clean and began to search again. He continued to call Anna, keeping his eyes open for any signs of her. Finally, sighing, Link settled on a rock, trying to think of what could have possibly happened to Anna. Suddenly, a telepathic scream burst into his thoughts. Link! Help me! It was Princess Zelda! Link jumped up, taking off in the direction of the castle. When he got there, everything was in a state of confusion. Guards and soldiers rushed about, shouting and calling out orders. Link managed to get past them, and among the turmoil, spotted Impa. She was quite upset, rushing up to Link. “Oh, Link....you’re too late. All the soldiers are too late. Th-They’ve taken the princess. Ganon’s soldiers abducted Zelda as she sat in the garden. I could see them from the window. I tried to stop them, but couldn’t. I’m sorry, Link....” “It’s not your fault, Impa. Ganon will pay for this....” Link replied.Turning away from Impa, Link gripped his sword with an angry fist. He had told Zelda he would protect her and Hyrule....and now, she had been abducted. He felt angry with himself for not being there to protect her. Now, he had three quests: To find where and why Anna had dissapeared, rescue Zelda, and reunite the Tetraforce. ******************* Anna, in the meantime, was climbing up the rocky face of Death Mountain. Many stories circulated about what lay in the many caves. Perhaps one of them held a clue to the Tetraforce. Struggling to climb up the rock, she stepped into the cool darkness of one of the caves. Suddenly, she could sense something evil moving toward her. Readying her bow with an arrow, she fired into the darkness. The squeal of a struck moblin filled the silence and stillness of the cave. The flutter of the multitude of Keese wings reached her ears. As she started to walk further into the cave, she heard the footsteps of an approaching soldier. She fired another arrow into the dark. It managed to wound the oncoming soldier, but not enough to destroy him. Raising his sword high, the soldier charged at Anna. She managed to dodge, but not before recieving a shallow wound in the side from the sharp sword. The soldier charged to the ledge outside, then spun around and charged at her again. Anna dodged again, then ran outside the cave, hoping to elude her persuer. However, the soldier came back out, ramming into Anna before she could deliver a final shot. She was shoved off the cliff edge. Desperately, she tried to stay up on the ledge, but in vain. She plummeted downward. In a matter of moments, she violently struck some rock below. Pain shot into her head and back. Then, all was blackness........