Doomed Future

          The day seemed to lag on forever. Shouldn't today be just a little
more fun? Sure, Navi was slaving away, but he was bored doing nothing. He
poked aimlessly around his tree house, and occasionally, Navi told him to
get lost so she could make his birthday cake a surprise, but he, naturally,
came back within five minutes to poke around the house some more. It was the
closest experience to fun that he had had all that day.
             Finally, the cake was done. Sure, Navi was sweating and ready
to die, but she had finished the cake. Link was surprised by how every
detail of it was so perfected--it seemed too perfect to be true. A few
times, he had to touch it, to remind himself that it wasn't one of those
plastic renderings at the cake shop. Also, when Navi wasn't looking, he
managed to swipe some frosting without her noticing.
             Navi was busy getting out some small plates and forks. Well, at
least three of the forks and plates were normal-sized, and the last plate
and fork were very small to fit her tiny hands. "They'll be coming at any
moment, Link, why don't you get ready?" She suggested, but then realized
that he was already ready. "How long have you been waiting for me to
finish?"
Link looked for a clock, and then found the sundial outside. "I've been
waiting for you for exactly four hours, 23 minutes, and 45 seconds." Navi
groaned.

            Zelda arrived in no time, and took her seat. Link was a little
older than she was, but not even by an entire month. Next, Saria came, which
was surprising, because she was always on top of events. Anyway, they all
enjoyed an afternoon of eating cake and singing happy Birthday to Link. Now,
to him, at least, the day was getting better. Zelda actually cared about
him.
         The party could have been better, he thought finally; he had only
two guests. Navi didn't really count because she had thrown it and she also
lived with him. There was a sadness swelling inside of him. He opened the
locket around his neck.
          It had only been recent when he had found a locket at his
doorstep, and when he opened it, the words written inside said, "Link." Had
this been some sick plot of a neighbor in Hyrule? Maybe it had all been
Mido. Although he was sorry about the things he had done when he was a very
young child, he was still angry sometimes and did things that weren't very
nice. Besides that, this little locket still puzzled Link, and when he
touched it, he sensed calmness and a sense of belonging. Belonging, like in
a family. That made him wonder if somewhere out there, in Hyrule, or some
other land, if he really did have siblings that were out there, looking for
him. Surely, they would be able to find him. He had been dumped off in
Kokiri Forest, and he was really a Hylian. People all over the world had to
know that. Then, why wouldn't his family come to find him?
          Celebrating his sixteenth birthday was fun. Although, he knew it
would have been so much better to have a mother standing over his shoulder,
wishing him a happy birthday, or a father giving him a family prize. Whoever
they were, he would be happy to know that somewhere in the world, dwelled a
living member of his family.
          It was late. Zelda had already gone home, to the Castle, and Saria
was next-door, sound asleep in her bed. Navi was on the desktop, snoring
noisily. He stumbled over to his little bed, and fell limply onto it. In
moments, he was asleep.

          Link woke to a scratching and scuffling noise. He sat up and
rubbed his eyes to see Navi up and at it. It was weird to see her up this
early, but she seemed puzzled by something. Link stood and walked over to
her. "What is it?" He asked.
"A letter for you," she replied, pushing it over to him. "I don't know about
this; it's pretty weird..."
          Link glanced up at her, and then down again. He unfolded it and
started reading...
          To my dear Grandson, Link,
               Our family was always restless, and at times, I thought their
energy was so high that they must have been crazy. Your mother was always a
sweet little girl. She wasn't my child, but your other grandparent's. I knew
her since she was a little girl. Your father was a nice young man as well.
You look just like him. I hope that things work out well for you.
              Yours truly,
               Grandpa
         Link looked at it in disbelief. He thought about storming to Mido's
house to complain and yell about this disturbing little prank, but knew that
if this was a prank, then he was bound to show Mido that this was bothering
him. He shook it off and decided to have some fun.
          Horseback riding with Zelda was fun, and he absolutely LOVED it
when she smiled back at him, and he couldn't resist thinking of them
marrying. He knew that if she knew what he was thinking, she would go crazy
and beat him endlessly.
          As they were riding, however, Zelda pointed out that Link had
dropped a letter. He didn't want her to slave over it and worry about it, so
he quickly slid it into his pocket and got off the subject of the letter.
         Finally, they both said good-bye and Link headed home. He slammed
the letter onto the table. It was starting to annoy him. That was when he
found a date. It had been marked seventeen years ago....that was when Link
gasped.
           Seventeen years ago, he hadn't been alive.  Exactly
seventeen years ago, his mother hadn't even been pregnant. How did the old
man know his name? How much he looked like his father? His own 
gender? These facts were really starting to scare Link. It was raining,
lightning, and thundering outside. Navi was gone.
         Link back away from the note, beginning to think that this could be
the works of Ganondorf or some other foe. His mind was racing. The lights in
the room dimmed, and he could hear himself gasp again as he looked up. Then
it was all black...
          When Link finally woke from the abyss of Darkness, he could hear
his name being chanted again and again. This time, the letter was
accompanied with some other note or something. He stood up and stumbled over
to the table. He wasn't about to sprint off or gasp or scream. He had seen
it all. For some reason, he wasn't that afraid anymore--only brainless.
          There was a map before him, obviously quite new. He was now
convinced that this wasn't the work of Mido. The boy wasn't a wizard or
magician at all. This was the work of some other force. Link moved over to
the map and picked it up.
           However, he didn't know that he could be risking his own life
when he decided to look for the place on the map........
         

     Link shivered from the cold. He thought about going back but knew he
had gone too far to do so. You're the Hero of Time, he told himself.
  Nothing scares you. Then why do you turn back?
     Maybe Navi was worrying about him right now. Then again, she probably
wasn't even awake. He hadn't been gone very long. Maybe ten minutes or so.
However, he missed her dearly, although they hadn't even been separated for
twenty four hours.
     Link came upon a grotto and peered inside. It was dark. He glanced down
at the map and realized that this was the area. He stepped into the grotto,
and then groaned when he hit the ground. It was a little hard and sharp down
here... and now he needed Navi.
      The Hero of Time numbly searched himself for a match or another source
of light. Finally, he produced a candle and lit it.
       The walls were limed with gems. Rubies, sapphires, topazes,
amyethests, emeralds...every gem one could imagine. Link thought about
taking one of each to give to Zelda, but decided against it. Right now, he
had more important things to worry about. He was still shivering, and then
he dropped his candle when he tripped. The light dimmed and then went out.
He was truly on his own.
      Stumbling in the darkness, he finally heard a voice. "I see
righteousness and love in your heart," it said. "You may pass." Link nearly
fell back onto his bottom when two torches magically lit up, one on either
side, and then the owner of the voice. Link was horrified. The owner's eyes
were sewn shut with black thread, and he was a very old man. "I said, you
may pass." Link kept his eyes on the man as he ran down the passage way.
         Although he had dropped his candle, the rest of the way was
pretty-well lighted. He didn't know how, but it was. He came to a hall where
there was a dead end, but back where he had come from, there was a passage
to the left. He went back, and sensed a dark presence in this area. He
would've turned back, running for his life, out of here, and to the Castle
for warmth and protection. Maybe Zelda could help him with this...at that
instant, he slapped himself. He didn't want her to worry about him.
       He stepped once more, and screamed as the floor beneath him
collapsed. For those few seconds, he was terrified. He never seemed to hit
the floor, and thought that this fall would be his last. Finally, he hit,
and was dazed. When he looked up, the fall looked barely five feet. This was
starting to become creepy.
       Continuing on his way, he noticed an ancient language written on the
wall. He could kick himself for not learning Ancient Hylian when Zelda had
offered to teach him. It sure would have come in handy right about now. He
didn't know if he was passing up directions or a warning. He could take care
of himself, and that meant fighting, defending himself, and eventually
finding the right path.
       There was a shelf up ahead. Most of the books in it were either old
or rotting, and the text that marked them was hard to read. One book,
however, stuck out. Link moved over to it and pried it out from between the
other books. He put it onto a small, wooden table in the room and started
opening it. A number stuck to his head. 17. He opened the book to that page
and started reading.
                        Beginning, The:
             This is only the beginning, small child. Welcome to the tomb
of Samurais; the first King of Hyrule. This tomb is strongly protected by
the magic of wizards from early days.
                A great many evil beings will cover the land of Hyrule and
devastate it for many years. They will go for their first target, the Hero
of Time, (see prophechies, the Hero of Time) and try to kill him. They will
not succeed. However, they will gain time to destroy the land. There will be
great floods, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
               A curse has been placed upon this tomb, and he who knows of
the coming events will not be able to utter a word, not even to himself.
These events are meant to be a surprise. If one does find a way to tell
somebody, he will DIE.
              This was starting to get even creepier. The people of Hyrule
were going to die. There was nothing he could do, either. There was no way
of contacting anyone. Even if he did, he would soon die. He sat and started
crying, knowing that there was nothing he could do.
                    Hyrule was doomed.

            Zelda was beginning to panic now. Navi had shown up at the
Castle a little while ago, explaining that Link hadn't been in the house
when she woke. Where could he have gone?
            It wasn't like Link to wake up so early to go off on an
adventure, without leaving just a little notice of some kind. So, where
could he be?
            Brushing a tear from her eye, Zelda went over to the window and
peered out.  Where are you, Link?

         There was a loud banging on the door. It was rhythmic and noisy as
well. Finally, there was one, last, loud thump, and then there was nothing
more. Zelda quickly ran over to the door and opened it. There was Link, very
dirty, tired, and looked as if someone had beaten him to a bloody pulp.
There were some scratches, some big and small, all over his body. Zelda
gasped and quickly urged him inside. She wrapped her arms around his waist
to give him support. He obviously needed it, because a few times, he almost
slipped to the ground.
         Others in the Castle were startled as well. Impa teamed up with
Zelda and helped to gather the Hero of Time up. His eyes were twitching
nervously, back and forth. Zelda noticed that he tried to murmur something,
but it seemed he was too in shock to speak.
         "Well?" Zelda asked of the doctor. "How is he?" The doctor himself
turned pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.
"Well, I detected something quite unusual," said the doctor, leading both
Zelda and Impa into the room. "I found these weird markings on his body, as
if something had planned for us to see it." He lifted Link's tunic up
slightly to show his stomach. "See this? It says, 'Kum de or tar see laf.'"
He said. "In ancient Hylian, it means, 'All are going to die. There is no
escape.' And do you see this?" He pointed to another mark on Link's body,
and the Hero winced. He was somewhat unconscious at the moment. "This here
says 'Le far kree jolesest,' Meaning, 'No voice for you; Good luck fighting
them. No one can hear you scream.'" He swallowed hard. "And the 'no voice
for you' part was actually correct. This young man here...well, when we took
an X-ray of his throat, we found no voice box at all." There was a deafening
silence as Zelda and Impa stared at each other in disbelief.
    TO BE CONTINUED...