The Beginning of Futaki
By: Empathy94@aol.com

Link suddenly sat up with a jolt in bed. His eyes scaled the room viciously, although he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. The dark, hazy room was barely visible, seeing as it was some time in the middle of the night, except for a small amount of light creeping through the half-curtained windows in the front of the room, coming from the North-East corner of the Hyrule Town Marketplace. He scanned every inch of the room, straining his eyes for lack of light. His sword and shield were leaning lazily against the side of a chair that looked as if someone sat in it, it would crumble away beneath them, in the center of the rather small kitchen area. His boots were at the end of the tiny bed, one of them lying on its side. His long, cherry wood bow was dangling from the chandelier with no candles on it, hanging from the center of the room.

Link quickly jumped up from the bed and sprinted to the window, drawing back the curtain that was halfway covering it. He was still wearing his emerald green tunic, which he was too tired to change from the night before.

Link squinted his eyes to better see the lit torch in the far corner of the marketplace. The entire market was covered in a deep gray fog, except for the small-lit area. The only sound that could be heard was the creaking made from the swinging sign next to the window that read, The Tallest Room Inn. The gentle night breeze was creeping slowly in through the small portion of the window that was open, causing the dark curtains to billow back, rippling like threads of water.

As Link stared at the torched area, a man wrapped in a dark cloak suddenly appeared through the fog. He casually walked over to the flame, pulling his hands out from inside the long sleeves and held them over the open flame, turning them every few moments to warm them. His face was hidden behind the long black hood, and he kept his head tilted toward the cobblestone ground, turning it every once in a while, as if looking and waiting anxiously for someone to arrive.

Link was staring so intently at the dark man, that he failed to notice someone watching him as well. Across from the Tallest Room Inn was a small, two-story house. There was a large window on the side of the second story of the house, which faced the Inn. There was a young girl of about 17, Link’s age as well, staring at Link through deep, purple eyes. She was leaning on the pane-less window sile with shadows strewn across her face and body. Because of the positioning of the lit torch, the light barely hit the window. The walls cast dark shadows across the girl. The only visible parts of her were her dark eyes, the tip of her nose, and her tight, stern mouth. Her deep maroon hair was slightly hanging across her face and neck, almost completely covering the mysterious necklace dangling from her neck. It appeared that she had not seen the dark man in the cloak, or she just decided to take no notice of him.

The flame on the torch flickered high, illuminating the market and causing the girls eyes to gleam for just a moment. Link saw the flash from her eyes out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see what it was. For a mere second he saw deep purple eyes glaring at him. Unaware of what he was seeing, he blinked, then opened his eyes again to check his vision. The eyes were gone. All that was left was a dark, empty room. Link just thought of it as an illusion he was seeing from being so tired. He looked back to the cloaked man, whom was still warming his hands over the flame.

After Link had stared intently for about five minutes, he heard a noise of stone clinking against the cobblestone ground, coming from the entrance to the marketplace. Link pushed his face against the window, trying in vain to get a look at what was coming. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had heard the noise, as the strange cloaked man turned sharply, facing the entrance.

The noise was growing faintly louder by the minute, until a large figure appeared from around the corner of the bowling alley. The fog kept it concealed until it neared the lit torch. Link’s mouth dropped when he realized what it was. A black horse with no saddle, though a rider was on it. The rider was wearing a black cape, and black, pointed boots. When the horse got close enough to completely make out what it was, the man who was warming his hands swiftly dropped to the ground in an over-the-top bow.

"Enough. Rise to your feet. I have no time for games."

"Yes, Master Senji." The cloaked man on the ground rose to his feet, still standing in a slight bow.

"Now, do you have what I need?" The strange man, called Senji, spoke quickly and viciously.

"Ah, yes master, I have exactly what you sent me for. I had to cut off a few heads to get it, but it was no trouble, no trouble at all." The cloaked man spoke very surely of himself, but made sure to remember who was in front of him.

"Then hand it over quickly and you will receive your pay." Senji reached out his cloaked, muscular arm. The hand protruding from the end of the sleeve was large and wrapped in what appeared to be torn pieces of black leather.

The man reached his hand into his cloak and retrieved the item Senji was after. It was a small, crystal pendant in the form of a water drop, half filled with water. It was hung from a black leather string, intertwined with a strand of gold. Just as the man reached his hand out to drop it into Senji’s palm, something interrupted them.

A bright red boomerang with a gold stripe across it horizontally went flying over to the two cloaked men. It caught the pendant by the leather string, and went sailing back to the one who threw it.

Link gasped at the sight of this, then turned to where the boomerang was headed.

A young girl was standing outside the small two-story house in front of The Tallest Room. She stretched out her arm and caught the boomerang in her left hand. She was dressed in a torn blue tunic with black fishnet stockings wrapping up her legs. Her large, oversized black boots seemed big enough to fit another foot in. She had royal blue colored gloves, which were torn at the fingers and stretched half way up her forearm. She turned to look up at Link, as though she knew he was there all along. She opened her large eyelids to reveal a deep purple whirl of color.

Link quickly recognized her as the eyes he had seen in the window of the small house. His mouth dropped even lower and he let out a strange sound, somewhere between a gasp and a sigh.

"Stop her," cried Senji. "Go catch her!" He bellowed in his deep, menacing voice at the cloaked man.

"Right away, master." He let an evil grin slip across his face as he bounded at the girl.

The girl jumped just before the man reached her, grabbing a hold of the awing that hung lifelessly above the door to the house. She pulled herself up, bouncing from that to the roof. She shot another look at Link, who was dumb-founded and was unable to speak or move. The cloaked man came crawling up after her. When he was hanging onto the edge of the roof, his grip slipped, and he went falling back to the ground. He let out a yelp of pain and eagerly grabbed at his back, massaging it through the cloak.

"Oh you fool! I shall have to do it myself then!" Senji kicked his horse in the sides and whipped the reins. The horse let out a loud cry, reared up on its hind legs, then went darting towards the girl.

Link assumed he would need to be ready for battle, though he wasn’t quite sure which side he would need to battle for yet. He pulled himself away from the window and went swiftly to his bed. He ripped back the covers that were slightly covering his hat. He grabbed it and then ran to his boots and slipped them on. He could hear the horse come to an abrupt halt just outside the Inn, and someone leapt onto the awning. Link sprinted to his sword and shield, threw them across his back, then leapt onto the chandelier, retching off his bow. He darted back to the window, searching for Senji and the girl. But they were no where to be seen. Link then averted his eyes to the man on the ground. He wasn’t moving, nor breathing. His limp, lifeless body lay there in the middle of the marketplace. A tear came to his eye, though he did not know this man, nor would he have likes to. Just before he let out a whimper of sadness, a loud thud hit the top of his room. He ran to the door, unbolted it, and ran to porch in front of it. He whipped his head around, searching the roof for any sign of the girl or Senji. Suddenly, the girl went flying from the roof backwards and landed upon the roof the other house.

Link ran at the balcony railing, jumped on top of it, then leapt across the gap to the roof of the other house. The girl was lying there in pain. Link noticed a deep cut in her side, which was spilling blood all over her tattered tunic. It turned a deep shade of purple to match her eyes from the mixture of blue and blood.

"Mua ha ha ha ha!" Link slowly turned his head, looking up at the roof on the inn. Senji was standing there regally, with his arms resting upon his hips and his black cape billowing back in the breeze, which had become intently stronger.

"...L....Link...," gasped the girl, coughing up little spurts of blood as she spoke. She stretched out her beaten arm, which appeared to have been broken, with the pendant in her palm. The water was now glowing a shade of red. "Link.....take...this. Take it.....take it away....." She was now completely drenched in her own blood. "Hurry!..." She grabbed Links hand and thrust the pendant into it, holding on for a moment. Her hand then fell from Link’s grasp and her head dropped back onto the roof. She was breathing deep and attempting to cover her wound with her right arm, which was unbroken.

"Well, well, well.....What do we have here? Two dying children....tisk, tisk, tisk." Senji drew his bloodstained sword from its sheath. Its black blade shimmered and its golden handle glowed. He held the dark sword pointing straight at the girl lying on the roof. He then leapt from one roof, to the other, keeping his sword directed at the girl.

"I think I shall put her out of her misery first. Good-bye, Merrill..." He lifted his sword up high, then struck it down like lightening. Just before it reached the girl’s stomach, a flash of metal stuck straight out above her. The black sword clashed into the bright silver one under it.

"What’s this?" Senji looked up the sword and then at the wielder of it. Link stared at him through menacing eyes.

"Oh.....so you wish to go first, don’t want to see your little girlfriend die right before you, huh? I see.....I’ll make it quick." Senji slashed his sword straight for Links throat, but Link ducked just in time.

"Ah......it’s a battle you want.....Don’t want to give up that easy.....Then it is a battle you shall get!" Senji let out a small laugh, followed by an evil grin.

Link drew back his sword, just about to strike, when the girl sat up. There was a light purple glow around her body. Her eyes were closed as she directed her head straight for Senji.

Senji and Link were staring at her through wide-eyes and open jaws. Suddenly, the girl’s eyes flashed open, sending Senji flying back and hitting into the porch behind him. She then turned her head toward Link, who was still gasping for air at the sight of this. She reached out her arm, which had been broken earlier, but appeared to have healed instantly.

Without being aware of what he was doing, Link in turn stretched out his right arm, grabbing a hold of the girl’s.

"No! Stop! Come back here!" Senji was yelling as he rose to his feet, staring at the two of them. Link was suddenly aware of what was happening, as he looked down upon Senji. They were floating in the air, slowly but steadily. Link turned his head toward the girl, who was reaching out a dagger that was glowing, yellow straight at Links heart. He gasped and tried to free himself from her grasp, but it was useless. The dagger struck him in the heart. Links eyes closed and his body grew limp and cold. He could feel the cold steel of the dagger in his breast. Just as he was making his final wish before death, the steel in him grew warm. He began to return to normal body heat and his muscles started riveting involuntarily. A whirl of color and heat was spinning in his mind. The cold night air had vanished and left in its place warm sunlight. He flexed his hand, feeling life return to him. And slowly, he blinked open his light blue eyes, taking the world in. He looked all about him, blinking feverishly, looking for the girl, or Senji, or anybody. But he was all alone, lying in the middle of Hyrule field.

He reached his hand into his tunic and felt for his heart. The skin was completely healed, as though it had never been touched. But he did feel something cold, yet mysteriously warm, hanging from his neck. He pulled it off, holding in his hand the crystal pendant that the girl had given him. Tied to it was a note dangling from a silver thread. He opened it, and read it to himself;

Dearest Link,

I would like to thank you for saving me. If you had not jumped out onto that roof and stopped Senji’s blade, I fear neither one of us would be alive today. I also would like to deeply apologize for putting you into this mess. I am afraid that you are now intertwined with it, and you can never go back to your life as how it was.

I have left you this pendant, the pendant of Honour. It has the ability to show you where your next task is, it glows gold when you are near the Triforce or anything related to it, it glows red when danger is near, and it glows blue when true friends or allies are near you. I hope that this item will help you on your quest. It is my parting gift for you, as you will not meet me again for a long time. I am Merrill, keeper of the Truth. It is my duty to make certain that items of special importance do not end up in the wrong hands.

Well, Link, that is all I can say. Trust in the pendant and follow your heart. Fight for the truth, Link. Even if you have to die trying.

Respectfully,
Merrill Futaki

Link gazed at the pendant in his hand. It was glowing blue as he held the letter. He smirked, then stood up to face another day. He turned to the sun, swearing he saw those deep purple eyes one more time. He then walked off in the direction the pendant was showing him, toward the deep valley of the Gerudos.