Teaser: About three years after "Sages' Swords", Link and Zelda end up on an island trapped in the ancient past. When things seem bad enough, it gets worse when they realize that they are being hunted by Scarface. A brush with him is a brush with death. Link and Zelda must get off the island or die.

Chapter 1: Stowaway

"WHAT?!" A fifteen-year-old Link asked.

 

"I'm going to Calatia by ship, but I can't bring you. I wish I could, but I can't." Zelda explained.

 

"But I’ve never seen Calatia. And who's going to protect you while you're gone?" Link asked, hoping for no answer. He was wrong.

 

"Don’t worry, Link, I have plenty of guards with me. I think I'm well protected now." Zelda told him.

As she turned to leave, she stopped and went back for a while. "I just remembered. Here…" She said as she handed him something. Link looked at it and saw that it was a necklace with a small Triforce symbol on it. Link and Zelda hugged one last time before the princess headed off for the castle. She would be going tomorrow and she had to prepare.

 

 

Link, wanting some time alone, went to the village for a bite to eat. He went to the bar and there were a few women who looked like they had a bit too much to drink. However, there were two guys that looked like sailors he had seen once before. However, he had no time to recollect his memories and decided that a bit of soup was all he needed. The bartender, only knowing Link by reputation, noticed the glum look on his face and tried to cheer him up.

 

“What’s the matter, Link?” He asked in a voice that didn’t exactly suit him.

 

“Ah, Zelda’s going on a business trip and I wasn’t invited.” Link said, as though the bartender was a psychiatrist.

 

“Oh, the princess? Where’s she going that’s so important?” The bartender asked while cleaning a shot glass.

 

“Some place called Calatia. I never heard of the place and I want to see what it’s like.” Link explained.

 

“Y’know,” A gruff voice said from behind Link, “We’ve been to Calatia and we can tell stories about it from experience.”

 

Link turned to see the sailors he saw upon entry. However, their attempt to cheer him up failed miserably.

 

“I’m just a little worried that Zelda could end up shipwrecked on some desolate wasteland.” Link admitted.

“Aye, that would be true. I’ve heard this from a guy who was shipwrecked.” The sailor on the right said.

 

This sailor had a bandana on his head and a very muscular build. Link would’ve mistaken him for a pirate if the guy had a skull and crossbones anywhere on his body from a tattoo to a hat. However, his buddy looked more sailor-like. He was wearing white clothes and a hat worthy for a captain. The story, this time, peaked Link’s interest.

 

“What?” Link asked, somewhat mystified by this.

 

“Several years ago,” The sailor on Link’s left said, “my shipmate and I came across a castaway. His ship ran aground of an island way east of Calatia: an island lost in time.”

 

“Lost in time?” Link asked.

 

“Well, this castaway…he spoke of a creature that was neither crocodile nor dragon. Something monstrous living on that island. He said like he was trapped in the ancient past. He gave this spot a name: Ancient Island.” The sailor on the right filled him in.

 

Link was astounded by this tale. He just wanted to find out more on this tale, but he wouldn’t exactly get his answer.

 

“What else did he say?” Link asked, suspense in his voice.

 

“Nothing. The day after we found him, he left a note saying that he jumped off Death Mountain.” The sailor on the right said, shaking his head, “After that, we didn’t exactly go to Calatia again.”

 

That afternoon, thoughts of Zelda being trapped on that island rang through his head. And the creature…he couldn’t stop thinking about what it would look like. ‘Neither crocodile nor dragon’ didn’t exactly give him details, but he knew it probably wasn’t good.

 

However, Link was a determined one. He wanted to go, because he wanted to make sure that Zelda was okay if she did get trapped on that island. He made up his mind that he would go and leave at sunset when visibility would be low.

That night, he snuck out of his house and packed a few things-only his sword and his shield. After that, he slunk off into the darkness. No one saw him and he stealthily got onboard the ship. He made sure he was in a place where no one would really go and would stay there the entire trip.

 

Just outside Link’s treehouse, a person was waiting in the shadows. He went up the treehouse and searched the place. This shady person searched through Link’s many trophies, mainly picking through the masks. He picked up the Zora mask and the Goron Mask, but threw them over his shoulder.

 

“Useless junk…” The person said.

 

The voice was that of a man, but it was unusually crafty and sounded like something a snake would say if it had a voice. The man continued to dig through until he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out as though it were a priceless treasure or a living creature.

 

“Here it is…” The man said, a smile of triumph apparent in his voice, “Now to make sure they stay out of my plans. I have just the idea for them…”

 

Zelda had gotten onto the ship with her things and plopped them on her cot that she would sleep on for the next few days. She wasn't quite used to very long trips, but for now, she would have to learn patience.

 

There were some strange times though, she walked by a certain door that, when she tried to open it, was locked tight. Later that night, she found it wide open and empty. Her best guess was that someone was stowing away, but who? She wouldn't have long to wait.

 

Chapter 2: Shipwrecked

Zelda couldn't sleep at all that night and she kept thinking about who was on this boat with her. She decided to take a little stroll around the ship to take her mind off things. When she was out of her room, she heard something move and saw a shadowy figure dash away. She quickly gave chase and soon found that this shadow was in that door that was open or closed. Unfortunately, the shadow didn't have time to lock it and Zelda happened to open it. She flung the door open and saw the thing she was expecting.

Link knew he had been caught and sheepishly smiled while he waved with his fingers. He would have given anything to change Zelda’s expression, which was one a mother gave a scolded child.

 

"Link! What are you doing here?" She asked.

 

Link searched for an answer, but Zelda just sighed and said, "Well. It's too late to turn around and go home. You might as well enjoy your stay, you little stowaway."

 

She then pinched Link on the cheek and Link turned the deepest shade of red he had ever done. Link hadn’t felt like this since his first date-about two years ago.

 

He chuckled nervously and made to stand up, but Zelda simply said, "Uh, Link, no one else knows you're here. I think it's better that way. For now, stay put until we reach Calatia."

 

Link stood there for a minute or two, but then he sighed and rolled his eyes. He was hoping he would get out of his cramped quarters.

 

"Very well, Zelda. I'll stay here." He then sat back in the room and Zelda shut the door.

 

Little did she know that there was an obstacle ahead. One that would take them to a whole new world and back.

A few weeks after Zelda found out Link stowed away, the sky started getting darker and darker until it was almost black as night. The clouds were so gray, they seemed to be made of stone and a wind began blowing so hard, the sails were beginning to tear. Then, the rain started pouring down. Finally, the lightning began to light up the dark sky and waves began to rock the ship back and forth. It was worse than a mere thunderstorm, it was a hurricane.

Zelda heard the storm and woke with a start. She had never seen a storm like this and quickly ran to the first person she could think of: Link. Link had the same thing on his mind and he was planning to get off this ship before it went down. They found each other just when a bolt of lightning struck the mast. The mast burst into flames and looked very similar to a giant torch. Passengers aboard the galleon began to panic, but it would soon come to nothing.

Suddenly, a massive wave erupted from the sea and brought itself crashing down onto the ship. The ship turned upside down and took the lives of many as well as smashing parts of the ship into splinters. No one survived it, except for two.

Link swam like crazy until he found a piece of wood and got a hold of it. He was utterly exhausted and felt like he was going to die. He then heard the sound of the one thing that soothed his heart.

 

"Link?" A quiet voice said from his left.

 

He turned and saw that Zelda was on the same piece of wood he was on. Like him, she looked very tired, cold, and drowsy.

 

They were side-by-side and they thought the same thing, "If I do die at sea, at least I'll be happy."

 

Link and Zelda took each other's hand and they continued drifting through the sea. Although there wouldn’t be land for thousands of miles, a small voice told them that hope was just waiting for them.

Link woke in bright daylight and saw that he was on sand. He looked up into the sky to find that he was looking into the eyes of a seagull. The gull gave a shrill cry and flew off.

 

“THAT was a nice wakeup call.” Link mumbled sarcastically.

 

He got up, but it was like his arms and legs had two-ton weights strapped to them. Luckily, the ground wasn't shaking like the ship. That was just his legs.

 

He looked around wildly for Zelda and even called her name. Was she still around or alive for that? His question was answered when he saw Zelda on another part of the seashore. He rushed over and shook her.

 

"Zelda! Zelda! Wake up!" He said in a half-shout.

 

Zelda's eyes opened at the same time and she shot into Link's arms. Before Link had time to respond, they were in an embrace that seemed to stop time.

After a few minutes, Link and Zelda looked far out to sea and just stared outward. The great ocean was sparkling like a sea of blue rupees, but it was the only way home. Finally, Zelda broke the silence.

 

"Looks like none of us will see Calatia now." Zelda moaned to herself, putting a hand on her forehead.

 

After a minute or two, Link stood up and stretched. He then turned and helped Zelda to her feet.

 

"I'm actually glad I stowed away. I had a feeling you’d end up shipwrecked. Think of it this way, now you have me as your personal bodyguard." Link joked with a grin.

 

Zelda chuckled at this, but then came back to reality. She really wanted to get off this island and back to her people. But as long as Link was here, she felt a lot safer.

 

Link sat back down on the sand and said, "Well, I guess we're stuck here. That is until we find a way off here."

 

Zelda turned to him and said in a sarcastic tone, "I feel much better, Link." as she sat down here.

Link instantly began looking for something to eat, he hadn't eaten in days since Zelda snuck him some food. He then saw a small reptile that looked a little like a chameleon.

 

Link turned to Zelda and said, "I hope you like lizard."

 

He then got up and ran off after the lizard. The lizard saw Link coming and something like a pair of wings came from between its legs and arms. After that, it fluttered away like a butterfly and landed on a tree trunk. Link just stared at it and Zelda had noticed what was going on.

 

"Did that lizard just fly?" Link asked.

 

Zelda shot over to where Link was, wanting to see the lizard. She arrived just in time to see it flutter away.

 

"That just doesn't seem right." Zelda said amazed.

 

Link ran after the lizard and still attempted to chase it down. Zelda followed him into the denser part of the jungle. As Link was running, he felt his foot drop lower than his other one. He looked down and saw a massive, three-toed footprint. Zelda caught up to him and her mouth hung open when she saw what Link was staring at. The track was huge. Three of Link's feet could fit into the track's toe.

 

"What is this thing?" Link asked out loud, "What could have made this?"

 

Zelda stood there for a moment, but then spoke up for a suggestion.

 

"Dodongos?" She asked.

 

Link's pulse quickened and realized this was NOT a dodongo's footprint. This creature, judging by the number of footprints, was bipedal whereas Dodongos were four-legged creatures.

 

"No." Link answered, "It's something bigger…"
 

Chapter 3: The predator

Link and Zelda decided that they had to be VERY careful around this place and explore it to find out if anyone else was on this island. They decided to check the shoreline and make sure there weren’t any creatures there.

 

They had patrolled the shores for what seemed like hours until Link came across a strange object. It was a ship, but not theirs. Zelda went to check out the ship’s other side and soon wished she hadn’t.

 

A high-pitched scream caught Link’s attention and he ran over to the other side of the ship. There were no monsters, but there was a human skeleton. However, its bottom half looked like it had been torn off. In the skeleton’s arms was a book. Link, his curiosity overcoming him, took the book from the bony fingers of the skeleton and flipped it to the last page. The page was torn and looked like it was written in a hurry. There were strange blots all over the page that could only be blood.

 

 

Possibly my last entry. The predator is stalking me. It has killed all my men…only survivor. I’m now doomed to be the meal of the creature that survived a thousand battles. It has hunted me down to the shore…cannot escape. It knows the island well…anyone finds this entry, do what I failed to do and escape. IT WILL FIND YOU.

 

For almost a minute, Link was quiet and didn’t even notice Zelda peeking over his shoulder and reading it too. Only when Link put the book down, did he hear Zelda’s fearful breathing.

 

“What kind of creature is this person talking about?” Zelda asked, still frightened at this.

 

It hit Link like a fire arrow. Especially the sailors’ words.

 

“The creature-neither crocodile nor dragon.” Link said, not even knowing that Zelda heard him.

 

 

After the incident on the seashore, Link and Zelda had to find out if there was any hylian civilization. They wandered through the undergrowth when they heard a noise that sounded like an elephant. Strangely, there were other noises rather than that one. There were strange grunts, low groans, and even something like a birdcall from the sky. They followed it and saw a very amazing sight.

They had come to a clearing where there were creatures of immense size. In this clearing was a bunch of elephant-like creatures, but they were a lot more hairy and had longer tusks (mammoths). There were also giant reptiles that had long necks and thick tails. They looked similar to giraffes, but had the build of an elephant (Apatosaurs). There was also a strange, bearlike creature with a tail similar to a dinosaur's and long claws that it was using to pull branches down toward its mouth (Ground sloth). Zelda gaped at the sight of this thing. She thought they had just stepped into a mythology book and these were creatures in dreams.

“If anyone heard about these, they’d definitely think we were making it up. Now we know that they’re not.” Link thought out loud.

 

“Now I wish I knew how to paint.” Zelda said, not expecting anyone to listen.

Suddenly, another noise sounded, but this was not a trumpet, grunt, or moan. It was a loud roar that sounded like nothing Link had heard because it was loud, bloodcurdling, and dreadful at the same time. The very sound of the roar caused the apatosaurs and every other creature in the clearing to stir and when the roar sounded again, they began to lumber away as fast as their legs would carry. The sloths moved, but slower than the mammoths and Apatosaurs. Link noticed a small puddle in the ground vibrate. A few seconds' pause and the vibration came again.

"Zelda, something bad's going to happen. Let's get outta here!" Link then grabbed Zelda' hand and ran as fast as he could with Zelda close behind.

They were running through the jungle and had to brush away all kinds of branches and vines. All of a sudden, they came to a river and began swimming across it. However, when they reached the other side, something massive sprung out of the water after them. Link glimpsed the creature and saw it was an ENORMOUS crocodile. It must have been thirty feet long, bigger than any croc Link had ever seen.

"Come on! This way!" Link shouted.

 

Zelda wasted no further hesitation and followed as quick as her dress would allow her. The crocodile was virtually snapping at their heels and hissing madly. They then came to a cave and slid into it. However, it only came to a dead end and the cave entrance wasn't small enough to keep the croc out. They were caught between a rock and jaws that could slam shut with more than eight thousand pounds of force. They were going to die here and now.

The croc was only two feet away from them when all of a sudden it stopped moving. It hissed in pain and something began to drag it out of the cave by the tail. Link and Zelda couldn't see what it was, but the noises were enough for them. The croc was hissing, there was a crunch, and finally a thud. After that, all was silent save for a few thundering footsteps. Link's eyes narrowed in suspicion and slowly took his first tentative steps out of the cave.

Link was gone for at least a minute before Zelda heard him.

 

"Zelda, you may want to see this." Link called.

 

Zelda stepped out and saw Link pointing at a huge body. It was the same crocodile, but its head was torn right off. Apparently there were things far worse than crocodiles here.

However, the smell of the croc's blood attracted another thing. It was heavily built, had only its forelimbs, and a helmeted head.

"Oh no. Not a dodongo." Link said in disbelief.

 

Unfortunately, he said it out loud and the dodongo heard him. It let out a curious grunt and then a low hiss as it took a steady step toward him.

 

"Don't make any sudden moves…" Link advised.

 

In a strange twist of fate, Zelda was suddenly running away at top speed. The Dodongo took another step forward and another, more predatorial step.

 

Link rolled his eyes and said, "She doesn't listen to a word I say." before he took off after her.

 

 

Link and Zelda were running through the jungle, the massive lizard chasing after them. They were in the deeper part of the jungle when a rumbling noise came and the dodongo’s snarling stopped. Link slowly turned around and saw a bigger problem.

It was a dodongo, but it was MASSIVE. It was similar to King Dodongo, but there was something with its teeth. A few teeth slid in front of another and the spines on its back were gone. It had a longer neck, its legs held it more upright like a mammal, and its head was smaller in proportion to its body. It had the smaller Dodongo in its mouth and only ate the midsection before moving on to other prey. Link and Zelda thought the same thing and continued sprinting through the rainforest, the giant dodongo in hot pursuit. Each of the dodongo's steps was over twenty feet long and seven tons of angry dinosaur coming at you with sharp teeth isn't good.

The sunlight finally reached the hylians and the dinosaur and about thirty seconds of the chase had gone by before there was a great roar: the exact same roar that Link and Zelda heard previously. They had entered the same clearing where the mammoths were. The dodongo countered with his own roar and the thundering footsteps were heard again. Another roar and the owner of this patch of land appeared…
 

Chapter 4: Scarface

The dodongo roared again, the roar they heard at the clearing also sounded, but it was much closer this time. As they watched, the thundering footsteps heralded the approach of the biggest flesh-eating dinosaur Link had ever seen.

It was a massive thing, standing on its hindlimbs since its forelimbs diminished to no bigger than Link's own arm. It had a massive head full of razor-sharp teeth. Like the dodongo, some of its teeth slid over another while a few others were empty with nothing but bloody sockets. Some of the sockets even had small bits of teeth growing out of them. Link guessed that it had a few teeth knocked out. He needed to see an orthodontist and bad. The mouth was bloodstained, and Link guessed that this thing killed the giant crocodile.

 

The interesting thing about it wasn't its teeth, but its face. The face was battle scarred. It had a very large scar that went from the top of its head and went all the way down to his upper lip. There was a U-shaped set of puncture wounds on its nose that could only be caused by teeth. Another scar ran from the far left of its eyebrow and nearly crossed with the huge scar. The worst injury this thing got was on its right eye. It had a huge gash that went right down the eye and rendered it useless. There were even injuries on places other than his face. The rex had a small array of bite wounds on the back of its neck. There were three large gashes on its diminutive shoulder and a large claw mark on its right thigh. The tip of the dinosaur’s tail was bent downward and slightly to the left. Link guessed that this creature’s tail was broken in some places. These were signs that he had seen countless battles. This thing was a massive T-rex and this dodongo had obviously invaded HIS turf. During those few seconds when the two rivals were roaring at each other, it hit Link.

“The creature that survived a thousand battles. THIS is him.” Link thought out loud, but in a mere whisper.

Zelda saw the t-rex and screamed at the top of her lungs. However, these two titans weren’t interested in them. They were too busy trying to intimidate each other. After a few good roars at each other, the titans realized that threats weren't enough and they charged. Link and Zelda sprinted out of the way just seconds before they collided. The dodongo seized the t-rex by the leg and caught him off guard, but the t-rex clamped its jaws onto the dodongo's shoulder area, forcing it to let go. The two circled each other, snarling angrily. The dodongo charged again in an attempt to gore the rex with its horn, but the t-rex dodged it. He obviously fought these guys before. The Dodongo was going to turn around again, but the t-rex grabbed it by the tail and broke the vertebrae that made it up with a sickening crunch. The dodongo whirled around, furious that it had been tricked that easily, and inhaled deeply. The rex had definitely fought these, because he knew what was coming. The mighty t-rex got out of the way just when a jet of fire erupted from the dodongo's mouth like lava from a volcano. THIS was the dodongo's fatal error; it had to stop moving in order to breathe fire. In a swift movement, the rex brought his hard skull against the dodongo's shoulder and the quadruped fell with a loud CRASH. In another movement, the jaws of the t-rex found the dodongo's abdomen and sunk in eighty, six-inch teeth. The dodongo screamed as eighty knives punctured his organs and crushed his ribs, thrashing its legs madly and increasing the agony. Despite the thrashing, the T-rex dug its teeth into the Dodongo’s side again, causing the beast’s struggling to slow. Then, in one last movement, the t-rex pinned the dodongo under its foot and clamped its jaws on the dodongo's face. The dodongo gave a final moan before the jaws slammed shut down the sides of his face. Warm blood oozed out of the dodongo's head and so did brains. The t-rex dropped the lifeless head of the dodongo onto the ground and let out a roar that two hylians heard a mile away.

Link and Zelda ran until they were away from the struggle and both predators and were now leaning against a tree, catching their breath.

"That was way too close." Link said to himself. He turned to Zelda and asked, "You okay?"

 

Zelda could only nod since she was still catching her breath from the scream. Link then remembered the footprint that he found earlier. He figured that the creature “neither crocodile nor dragon” was that thing that killed the Dodongo.

 

"What was that thing?" Zelda asked.

 

Link looked over at her and asked, "Remember that 'Something bigger' I told you about?"

 

Zelda nodded slowly. Link turned to where the fight took place some distance away and his eyes seemed to be fully capable to see the battle a long ways away.

 

"I think Scarface was the something." Link explained.

 

Zelda began to look away, but then turned to Link, a look of confusion on her face. She guessed that’s what he called the T-rex.

 

"You named that thing?" She asked in disbelief.

 

Link just shrugged and said, "Hey, Malon named a horse Epona and you don't care."

 

Zelda just walked away with Link tagging along. The two were still starving. Well, Link, anyway. Zelda lost her appetite when she saw the headless croc's corpse.

They did not know that Scarface had caught their scent and found them GOOD to eat. However, after the crocodile, he wasn't hungry. But it would be likely that they would run into him again.
 

Chapter 5: Day two

Link and Zelda had decided to sleep in the jungle that night to stay clear of the giant dinosaurs, since their size would restrict them in the undergrowth. However, one thing was still needed.

Link woke the next morning with his innards squirming in hunger. He noticed that Zelda was still in dreamland and decided to go foraging without her. He wandered through the jungle with his sword, hacking any vegetation in his way.

 

The journey through the jungle wasn’t a pleasant one. Flies the size of hummingbirds buzzed around his head and Link was tempted to slice them with his sword. However, he stopped trying when he thought if one of them landed on his face. He then resumed using his hands to swat them away.

 

Then it came to food again. Link was thinking of that lizard he found on the shore as a bit of a tasty treat, but the chances of him finding it again were very low and some of the plants here didn’t look edible to him anyway.

After wandering for at least five minutes, he came across branches built into a kind of bowl with six or seven rocklike things in it. A bewildered second later, Link realized this was a nest and the “rocks” were really giant eggs. Link had never seen an egg this big. The egg was as big as his head and would probably hold as much liquid as a milk jug. Link heaved an egg under his arm and had just heaved another one when he heard leaves rustle behind him.

Link turned around to see the largest bird he ever saw. It was over three meters tall and the best estimate of its weight was well in excess of half a ton. Although, it hardly looked like any bird he ever saw. It stood on two, powerful back legs similar to Scarface, but its fourth toe pointed backwards and the forearms were no more than tiny wings. This thing was too big and its wings were too small to fly, so Link didn't have to worry about an aerial attack. It had a long, slightly curved neck, and a beak similar to a parrot. However, the distinct feature was that the beak was covered in dried blood rather than fruit juice. This beak wasn't made for cracking nuts, but for snapping spines. And he happened to be stealing from its nest.

The minute this large bird screeched in anger, Link dropped the eggs and ran for his life with the killer bird close behind. The eggs exploded like grenades as they hit the ground and covered it with yellow goo. The bird was FURIOUS that her nest was threatened and chased after Link, its beak snapping like bolt cutters. Link happened to run into the place where he and Zelda spent the night. The princess was awake and saw Link race by. A second later, she saw the bird stomp past her at Link. She noted the bird's speed and watched it and Link zoom right past her for a second time. The bird was only two feet from Link when it lashed out with its beak. It ended up taking Link's hat and the beak's point scraped Link's scalp. The bird dropped the hat and continued after Link, squawking madly. Link ran off again and the bird struck again, this time with its talons. The talons didn’t hurt Link too much, but the sheer force of the bird’s kick caused Link to trip. Link fell on his back and he saw the bird towering over him, its amber eyes looking down at Link. The killer bird tried to snap again, but Link rolled away and the bird's beak only got a mouthful of dirt and foliage. Link decided that the time to run had gone and this was the time to fight. He drew his sword and approached the giant bird, which screeched and aimed its hatchet-like beak at Link's neck. However, in one movement of Link’s arm, the headless corpse of the bird fell to the ground. Strangely, the head continued to open and close its jaws as though biting something invisible.

Link looked at Zelda and noticed that staying on the island was having an immediate change on her. There were green stains on her dress, she was getting very dirty, and her hair was tousled. Despite these changes, Link knew that the Zelda he knew was still under it. This moment of silence was shattered when Zelda asked a question.

 

"Alright, I'll bite. What was that?" Zelda asked.

 

Link looked at the headless bird, turned back to Zelda, and said, "It's a cucco on a bad day."

 

Link then decided to go back to the nest and get a few more eggs. They would provide a temporary food source, but it wouldn't last forever. Then, it hit him.

Zelda was starving and she took a big bite out of the large drumstick Link gave her. The thing was at least three times bigger than a drumstick from the largest turkey she saw in the market.

 

"Mmm. This is good stuff. What is it?" She asked in wonder.

 

Link smirked and said, "It's that deranged bird I met in the jungle."

 

Zelda then figured out why this thing was so huge. She decided that wasn't important and continued to dig in. The two were warm and safe around the fire that night. When they had their fill, there was still some meat left on the drumstick since it was so huge. They just looked at the stars and fell asleep before they knew it.

Miles away, a familiar tyrannosaurus rex saw a burning light coming from the jungle. However, he knew better than to go there. He would have to wait for his next dinner in the morning-Hylian flesh.
 

Chapter 6: High grass: Bad

The next morning, Link woke up with Zelda snuggling next to him. She was obviously cold. He slowly and carefully lifted her arm without disturbing her. He grinned and walked away.

Miles away, Scarface had just finished off a small dodongo for breakfast and continued to patrol the island. He SO wanted to taste those tiny things' flesh and he KNEW they were DELICIOUS. However, he was satisfied with his little lizard. Suddenly, he caught whiff of an unfamiliar scent in his territory and charged off to confront the problem: Another giant Dodongo. As usual, he tore his combatant to pieces and even bit its tail off. He let loose another roar to say, "I am the KING!"

Link came back to the campsite with a very strange object in his hand. It had a tough, fibrous coating and Link already knew what this might be. He took the peel off and took a bite. It was as he thought. The object was a mango and Link found a whole bunch of them. Zelda had woken up and was waiting for him. She heard him approaching and greeted him with a smile.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

 

Link held out the mango bunch and said, "Collecting food."

 

After stuffing themselves with mangos and killer bird eggs, they had to see what else there was around here. As usual, there was only one place left to go: the forest.

 

As they wandered through the rainforest, Link heard leaves rustle. At first, he thought it was the wind, but he soon saw something staring down at him and it looked RAGING MAD. It was a monkey, but none like Link had ever seen. Its tail was nothing more than a short stump and its large canines could be seen even without opening its mouth. It was almost as big as Zelda and its fur was green from algae and moss. Link drew his sword and got Zelda behind him so he could protect her.

 

"Don't worry, Zel. I'll take care of this." He assured.

 

The primate gave a series of screeches and a whole fleet of monkeys appeared. There must have been ten or twelve of them and Link knew he was outnumbered. He may have taken out at least these many keese, but they were small and went down easily. Normally, Link would continue, but the only weapon he had was his blade. So he could do only one thing.

 

"Run as fast as you can." was all he could say to the princess.

The pair took off through the undergrowth with the monkeys close behind. They might have been herbivores, but every creature on this island seemed to be aggressive. The monkeys were a pretty good example of that. As the chase scene continued, they entered a clearing with VERY tall grass. The primates were running on all fours while Link and Zelda were upright. More crucially, they couldn't see the dangers the hylians could.

Link looked to his side to see that they passed a group of two-meter tall creatures. They were dark green with black stripes down their backs. Behind each stripe was a spine-like structure that seemed to trace right down its back and ended right at the tail. Each spine was as long as an eagle feather, but wasn’t exactly a sharp quill. On their arms were three-fingered hands ending in claws the size of a tiger's and like the dinosaur before, they stood on two legs and had long tails. At first, Link thought they were smaller versions of Scarface. However, he noticed their teeth were much smaller and their toes had a large claw like a razor. These dinosaurs were raptors: the wolves of the prehistoric world. As he looked to the right, he saw two more of them closing in on the sides. But Link realized that he and Zelda were not their targets and as a small trail of fallen grass came into contact with the chase, everything changed.

 

With a loud snarl and a screech in surprise, a monkey went down onto the ground with a raptor disemboweling it with its teeth and claws. A second later, another one went down. On and on it went, until the primates realized they were in danger and retreated. There was a loud screech and a cross between a hiss and growl. Link didn't turn back to see what was going on, but he knew something gruesome was going on back there.

An angry screech told them that they hadn't lost all the monkeys, but the sound told Link there was only one left. The raptors must have gotten the others, but this one wanted to kill them. The monkey was catching up and things were soon made worse. Link saw a large shadow loom over the morning sun and Link turned to see something he REALLY didn’t want to see. There was a giant eagle flying so close to the ground, it could have looked him in the eye if it was right in front of him. Every flap of its massive wings seemed to make the wind blow and its massive talons were the size of one of Scarface’s teeth. Link’s best estimate on the wingspan was over twenty feet and this giant bird was definitely stalking one of three.

Link didn't know what to do. Either way, one of them was going to die. All Link could hope was that the eagle was in the mood for monkey. The eagle started closing in on the trio as they spread out. The monkey was no longer trying to catch Link or Zelda, but trying to escape with its life. The eagle honed in on all three of them. First, it was twenty meters away, then twelve, then nine. At five meters, Link knew that only two were going to get out of this alive and awaited for who would get taken to a nest far away. A screaming and flapping of wings and the feathered predator was flying away with the giant monkey in its talons.

 

Link and Zelda ran until they reached the jungle and rested on a tree trunk. Both of them were tuckered out and having two encounters with death was definitely not good for either of them. Zelda hadn’t really sprinted since she didn’t get out much. Link, even though he had run several times, was also gasping for breath. Never before had he run like that.

 

"That was way too close." Zelda said between breaths.

 

Link looked back, panting, and said, "You gotta take risks when you're on an island packed with predators. You and I are going to have a lot more of these if we're not careful."

 

Zelda had a look that seemed to say "Oh no" and she put her hand on her forehead as Link smiled and said, "Okay. I win."
 

Chapter 7: Leader of the pack

Link and Zelda had a very uneasy sleep that night. After all, being pursued by giant monkeys, hearing them be killed by raptors, and narrowly avoiding being an eagle's dinner wasn't good for them. In fact, Zelda didn't sleep at all. She just stared at the starlit sky and wondered what else was out there. She wondered how they were going to get off this island and how Link had virtually calmed down after the primate incident. It was then she realized that THIS was much like something Link would do if he was on an adventure. She had barely gone to sleep when the sun rose three hours later.

“Zelda…” A voice said.

 

Zelda’s eyes fluttered open. But they didn’t stay that way for long and they closed shortly afterward.

 

“Come on!” The voice said again.

 

Zelda was being shaken and her eyes shot open immediately. She fumbled around with Link’s arms and finally managed to make him stop shaking her.

 

“I’m up! I’m up!” Zelda said impatiently.

 

“That’s a relief.” Link said as he stood back up, “If you didn’t wake up, it’s likely that those monkeys or those other predators would have gotten you before you woke up.”

 

“Please don’t say that.” Zelda said as she got up and followed Link into the great unknown.

 

Link and Zelda had just begun exploring again when they heard a noise that was a bit of a low moan mixed with a growl. At first, they thought it was one of the predators like Scarface, the raptors, or the dodongos. However, it sounded a little similar to the Apatosaurs at the clearing rather than a predator’s snarl.

 

"What was that?" Zelda asked.

 

Link shrugged and said, "Only one way to find out."

 

They began to follow the noise and soon came upon another clearing. Then they saw a great herd of dinosaurs. They were elephant-sized and would almost be them if they had a trunk. Instead, they had a large head crest that almost touched their back. The most amazing feature was that they had three horns. Two large ones were above their eyebrows and one was on the nose like a rhino. Their tail was much more different than a rhino or an elephant. Instead of a long, rope-like thing that had bristles, it was similar to Scarface's: long and thick. This was a herd of (you guessed it) Triceratops. Zelda thought they would have been carnivores if she didn't see them grazing on the ferns.

 

“Wow.” Link said, at a loss for words.

 

“This island sometimes amazes me with these weird and wonderful creatures.” Zelda added.

 

“I wish I brought my Picto Box so I could snap these and show them to the world.” Link said, not realizing it.

 

“If you did, people wouldn’t think they were fake.” Zelda said.

 

Suddenly, one of the members of the herd let loose a low roar. The other members looked around to see what caused the member to do that and Link began to back away slowly.

 

“Don’t make any sudden movements.” Link told Zelda.

 

“I’m not moving…” Zelda said through the corner of her mouth.

 

Suddenly, Link saw what caught the herd’s attention. There, in the shadows were the raptors. They quickly sprinted away to a shadier place, but they didn’t avoid detection. There was the sound of rustling leaves and snapping twigs and the very sound of it was enough to send these five-ton herbivores packing…right at Link and Zelda. They saw the stampede of dinosaurs heading towards them, bucking their heads and showing off their horns. THIS was not good; more like a stampeding herd of elephants.

 

"Time to go…" Link said urgently.

 

Without turning back, they ran as though Scarface was behind them.

Link and Zelda had never run so fast as they could, but soon found themselves in the middle of the stampede. They had to jump to the side to avoid getting impaled by the horns as these behemoths trampled anything in their way. They had run for a few minutes when they heard an all-too-familiar screech.

 

"Oh no! It’s these things again!" Link cursed.

 

They looked behind them long enough to see the raptors chasing the triceratopses on the sidelines. Even more amazing, one leapt on top of a female and thrust its sickle-claw into the herbivore's side. The attacked gave a moan in pain and even more amazingly, bucked the raptor off. A sickening crunch came from within the stampede and it became obvious that the raptor was crushed. Zelda suddenly screamed as one triceratops was so close to her that its horn almost touched her. Unfortunately, a raptor tried leaping at her and ended up gored on the big male's horn. The big male bucked his head, trying to get the carnivore off and getting blood in his eyes.

 

Link and Zelda ducked away to a trench of rocks that the herd couldn’t reach. Just then, a bit of dust moved and a small drip of drool fell onto Zelda’s shoulder. They looked up to see a battle scarred raptor looking down at them, drool dripping from its teeth. It gave a snarl and Link and Zelda found themselves back in the herd again, being chased by triceratopses and this raptor. In the herd, the raptor was proving able to avoid these behemoths. The raptor ran around and opened its mouth to try and snap off Zelda’s arm, but missed because a particularly large member of the herd got in between them.

 

After running for what seemed like an eternity, Link and Zelda found a spot to escape and moved to the side. Zelda was gasping for breath at the experience, but then she heard the sound of metal and saw that Link had his sword pointing at the same raptor that chased them into the herd.

There wasn't just one raptor, there was a pair of them. Each one could look Link straight in the eye. One in particular had several bite wounds on the top and bottom of its muzzle and several slash marks across its face. This raptor had two scars on its neck, one of which was U-shaped and went to the other side of its face. But unlike Scarface, these wounds had healed and were nothing more than dark lines now. Zelda was scared half to death at the sight and Link was starting to sweat. Then, all of a sudden, one leapt right into Link and collided with his shield, causing him to tumble backwards and into a tree trunk. Zelda had seen this happen and quickly scrambled away as fast as her legs would carry her. However, the second raptor was there to meet her and it seemed to leap in front of her seemingly out of nowhere. This creature’s jumping ability amazed her. That small dinosaur had jumped a good fifteen feet forward. These guys were astonishing athletes, she had to give them that.

 

Meanwhile, Link was dealing with the other raptor and had barely gotten up when the scarred raptor had leapt forward, its clawed legs aimed for the kill. He leapt over a log, but it hadn't been three seconds when the raptor was there to meet him. Link backed away and swung at the raptor, but the agile reptile simply lowered its head just in time. This thing was SMART if it avoided this. Link jumped over the log again, but the next second, the raptor was in his face. Link swung his sword and managed to put a gash in its chest. The raptor screamed in pain and Link managed to get out between its legs. The raptor saw Link trying to get away and managed to rake him with the 3-inch claws on its hands. Link grunted, but held a cry of pain behind his teeth. Whatever these were, they were NOTHING like Ganondorf’s minions, who were mindless monsters. These things were INTELLIGENT and Link would have to use his head to fight these creatures.

 

The raptor with Zelda leapt at her, but she quickly ran to the side with the predator hot on her heels. Without further hesitation, she clambered up a tree like a squirrel, the raptor snapping at her heels. The raptor tried jumping at her, but Zelda was too high and all it could do was claw at the tree's middle and snarl. These dinosaurs seemed to be superb athletes. That raptor, only six feet high, had jumped a good ten feet in the air. Zelda was lucky that she was twelve feet high.

 

She then took notice that this tree had coconuts in it and took one. A smug grin crossed her face and she tossed the coconut at the raptor below. The fruit hit the raptor on the head with a "clunk", causing the raptor to grunt in surprise and shake its head in pain. Zelda then noticed that the raptor was digging at the base of the tree. A bewildered second later, she figured that it was going to sever the roots and cause the tree to topple. Now all she could do was wait for Link to handle his problem.

Link continued his fight with the big raptor and tried swinging his sword again. Again, the raptor dodged and leapt at Link, but the hylian warrior quickly jumped and saw that the sickle-claw had left a HUGE gash in the log's bark. Link heard a scream behind him and saw the raptor that treed Zelda. He began to run to her aid, but the scarred raptor got in the way, snarling like a wolf. Link then got an idea. He pretended he was going to swing his sword at the raptor's legs. When the raptor jumped, Link ran forward and shoved it aside. The raptor fell to the ground, its legs thrashing to try and get up. Zelda’s tree was beginning to lean forward and her raptor was obviously taking notice of this. It was about to jump again when Link reached it and raised his sword. With a single swing of his arm, the raptor's head rolled to the ground. The body's knees buckled and the headless body crumpled to the ground, dead as a doornail. Zelda slowly climbed back down and was amazed at what Link did.

 

"Thank you." was all she could say.

 

They were about to share a passionate kiss when the snarl of the scarred male sounded. They whirled around to see him back on his feet and there was nowhere else to run. Just when the raptor began stalking toward them, there was another roar that sounded like a lion's. The raptor screeched back and the roar sounded again. There was another predator in this jungle…
 

Chapter 8: Rumble in the jungle

The roar sounded again and the raptor gave an earsplitting screech to counter. Soon, the attacker appeared. It looked like a lion or a tiger, but its upper canine teeth were completely different. They were as long as one of Scarface's teeth (Saber-toothed cat). It opened its mouth and let out a roar like a lion and the raptor screeched again. Then, the raptor spread his arms out like a bird with its wings and clacked its claws on a tree trunk. Link guessed that the raptor was trying to avoid a fight, but the sabertooth wouldn't scare. The minute they began circling each other, Link and Zelda made their escape.

The raptor made the first move by suddenly leaping at the cat. The dinosaur was virtually flying. But just when it was about to land, the sabertooth came up to meet it and caught the dinosaur across the face with a fistful of knives. Each claw left a deep gash in the raptor's face. The raptor landed on the ground and rolled to face his attacker. The cat took this time to pin his opponent to the ground. Quite a tussle was taking place on the ground. The tiger was digging its claws into the raptor's sides while the raptor was clutching the tiger's neck and clawing the underside of the mammal with its sickle claws on its feet. The raptor then rolled onto its side and its claws were digging into the cat's neck. They were rolling around like Link and Zelda on a sunny day, but the results were FAR from friendly and the results would be ANYTHING but compassionate.

 

The sabertooth wormed its way out of the tussle, swatted the raptor across the face, and tackled the dinosaur from behind. The raptor rolled on contact with the ground and clamped its jaws into the sabertooth's nose. The cat grunted in surprise and backed off quickly. They were on their feet again and face-to face again. The cat quickly dashed forward and made a swipe at the raptor, who quickly avoided it. The raptor snapped at the tiger, who also avoided the attack. The raptor leapt right into the air as if it were flying and landed on the tiger's back. Unfortunately, his sickle claw didn't get a good grip and he had to jump off when the tiger moved. The tiger opened its mouth and prepared to clamp its saber teeth into the raptor's windpipe, but the raptor quickly moved and the tiger had to quickly change tactics or it would end up with a mouthful of dirt.

Then the turning point: The raptor got away, leapt onto a log, and leapt onto the tiger's side. This time, the sickle claws made a direct hit and ripped through the mammal’s thin skin like a steak knife through butter. The tiger moaned in pain as the raptor released him and moved. The cat tried to limp away, but he felt something land on his back and collapsed under the weight. The raptor put a food right on the center of mammal's back and dug its six-inch sickle claw into his back. A sickening crunch indicated that the claw pierced the backbone and the tiger fell lifeless to the forest floor. The king of this jungle was just dethroned.

The raptor was about to get a good meal, but he hadn't taken two bites when he heard a roar. He turned and saw four more sabertooths coming right at him. The raptor tried his scare tactics, but like the one he killed, they wouldn't scare. Suddenly, he saw one coming for him and tried to strike it. However, he missed and another tiger was coming for him, so the dinosaur had to spring away in order to prevent getting pulverized. The dinosaur's intelligence sprung into action and he knew he was outnumbered. When there was a right gap, he made his escape. He won the battle, but lost the war…for now.

 

Chapter 9: Fearsome foes

Link and Zelda had barely survived that raptor incident and had gone into the trees. Zelda was panting like a dog and Link didn't seem too surprised. The raptor they had run into, which Link dubbed Morgrym, had proven smarter than any Lizalfo or Dinolfo and he made them look like pussycats in aggression. They had just reached a very high branch when there was a bunch of branches that looked like they could support their weight. They rested down and Link spoke up after wiping sweat from his forehead.

 

"Whew! I haven't fought this hard to survive since I was in Termina." He said, breathing heavily.

 

Zelda leaned backwards and propped herself up with her arms. Although she knew what Link had to do to survive, she still wasn’t exactly used to it.

 

"If I ever get back to Hyrule, I'm not leaving." She said, trying to imagine life in Hyrule again.

 

Link nodded and said, "After everything that happened, I can't blame you."

 

A thunderclap broke their conversation and it began to rain. Zelda moaned and put her face into her hands. Link however, thought of something. He saw that this particular tree had VERY big leaves and pulled a few down. They were so big, they made his shield look like a badge and was so long that he could probably use it as a blanket.

 

He then offered one to Zelda and said, "Hey, you need it more than I do."

 

Zelda smiled and took the leaf. She then put it over her head and it kept her dry like an umbrella. After the rain passed, they bunched many leaves together and they made VERY handy blankets. That insured a warm night.

That morning, Zelda stretched and felt the entire area of branches shaking. It apparently woke Link up, seeing as he looked very cautious. In a few short seconds, Link was looking at Zelda, a look of pure shock on his face.

 

"What?" Was all she said before Link pointed right behind her.

 

Zelda felt hot air slither down her neck, slowly turned around, and almost screamed at what Link had just seen. Behind her was a gorilla, but unlike any ape she had ever seen. It was MASSIVE, over fifteen feet tall, and it was obviously disturbed. It was then that she realized it wasn't just a bunch of branches. It was a nest.

 

The gorilla let out a mighty roar and Zelda's scream was easily blocked out by the noise. There was only one place to go: down. Link grabbed Zelda's hand and pulled her away just when a large fist came crashing down right where she was. It missed her by inches and they were soon scrambling through the treetops like squirrels with the ape close behind.

 

Link then saw a tangle of vines and nowhere else to go, unless they wanted the gorilla to catch them. Link hopped onto a vine and Zelda was close to follow. Each vine was as thick as Link's arm and felt like leather. They were too thin to support the ape's weight, but he didn't need vines to travel in the trees. He was clambering down the tree trunk and extended a large hand that nearly caught Zelda. It didn't catch her, but she did drop down a few feet. Link quickly followed behind. Zelda was NOT dying today.

 

Zelda was about halfway down when a vine suddenly looped around her wrist in mid-swing and left her dangling in the air. The ape, like the monkeys they encountered earlier, was going to take advantage of this and kill her if it could. Zelda had to swing her whole body in order to avoid the ape's gaping hands and each time the ape reached, it got closer and closer. Link saw Zelda in his situation and was clambering up the vine like a monkey. The ape had reached four times, and each time, he only got a handful of air. But on the fifth time, he wasn’t going to miss as Zelda seemed to swing right toward the beast. Fortunately, Link caught up to her and quickly took his sword to jab it into the ape’s finger. The ape howled in pain as it flailed its hand around as though it was tied to a bird. While the ape recoiled, Link went down to where Zelda was and used his sword to cut her free of the vine. She fell until she grabbed Link by the foot as her hero slid down the vine like with you would on a firefighter pole and the ape was still close behind.

 

Link saw that there was a deep river below and he got the idea.

 

"Zelda, I'm going to let go of the vine."

 

Zelda looked up at him, her face full of fear.

 

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She shouted.

 

Link looked at her and said, "Trust me."

Link let go just when the ape was reaching for them again and fell a good fifty feet before landing in the water like they did a cannonball. The ape was short to follow because a ten-foot deep pool wasn’t too much for a fifteen-foot gorilla to handle. The ape landed in the water just when Link and Zelda got into the shallows and got out into more open land. The ape was just twenty feet away from them when a large, green foot landed in front of them. Scarface was back and the ape had gone into his territory or probably trying to eat HIS food.

 

For a few seconds, they both remained silent and seemed to stare at each other like they were daring the other to make the first move. The ape reared up on its hind legs, roared at the rex, and beat his chest in an attempt to scare his enemy. Scarface stamped the ground and moved one step closer before he let out a few loud roars to try his luck. It didn't work. Threats weren't enough and there was only one way out: violence.

 

Chapter 10: Tooth and claw

Scarface was cautious. He obviously fought these guys before and knew how dangerous his opponent was. He decided to let the ape make the first move and it did just that. This time, there was no place for Link and Zelda to run. They were caught in the crossfire.

The ape crossed the gap in just a few short bounds and met Scarface's jaws with a sharp punch. It managed to knock out a few teeth, but Scarface wasn't down. He countered by giving the ape a tail swipe that caught the primate across the face and caused it to recoil in shock. The ape shook his shaggy head and looked up just in time for Scarface to clamp his teeth down on his hand. The ape put Scarface in a headlock and tried to free his arm, but Scarface's grip proved too strong and they ended up in a test of strength. Link and Zelda were caught between them, having to avoid both of their feet from stomping them. Just then, they came to a very steep hill and the ape lost his balance, taking Scarface, Link, and Zelda with him.

Link was holding on for dear life to the underside of Scarface's tail while Zelda was clutching the fur on the ape's shoulder. The two behemoths were rolling down the hill, all the while fighting like professional wrestlers. The ape was punching every inch of Scarface he could find, while Scarface was kicking with his powerful legs and snapping with his teeth. The ape then sunk his large canines into Scarface's nose and the dinosaur grunted in surprise. He raked the primate with the large claws on his feet and they shed blood that dyed the ground like red paint. Then, after they had been rolling and fighting for the best of five minutes, they hit solid ground and the ape rolled just when Zelda let go. At the same time, Link released Scarface's tail and darted after her. The fight still continued and they had to go underneath the ape's legs to stay alive.

The ape got up, dazed, and looked wildly around for Scarface. A piercing pain in his shoulder told him that Scarface was sinking his six-inch teeth into him. The ape reached over his injured shoulder, grabbed Scarface by the neck and tossed the large reptile over his shoulder. Scarface's jaws never let go of a certain part of shoulder and the entire skin was taken right off. The wound was so deep, that bone was visible, but the ape was still willing to fight. The ape saw Scarface on the ground and got on top of him just when the dinosaur got up. He then sank his teeth into Scarface's shoulder, causing the dinosaur to growl in pain and thrash violently. Scarface turned sharply and shook the big primate off him. He then ran over and clamped his jaws onto the mammal's face, but the ape avoided death by punching the rex's face very suddenly. Result: He ended up with only one eye and got heavy injury on his face. He was about to get up when Scarface sunk his teeth into the abdomen. The ape roared in pain and punched Scarface again, in pain, but not about to show it. This time, he stood and faced his opponent one last time. He let out a loud roar and beat his chest while Scarface returned with a loud roar of his own. Either way, one of them was going to either die or get fatally injured. Then, they charged, each of their steps seeming to quake the ground. The ape swung, but Scarface moved back and grabbed the ape's long, muscular arm. The ape howled in pain as there was a sickening CRUNCH. Scarface released the primate's arm and the ape quickly ran away to avoid losing his life. Scarface let out another roar and let everyone know "I'm the boss here!"

Link and Zelda had barely gotten far when they heard whimpering behind them. It was the ape, but he was badly injured. As they watched, a birdlike creature swooped in after him. It had a long beak, but wings made of skin instead of feathers. On its head was a kind of crest of some kind. (A pterosaur) It swooped in close, but the ape took a swing with its uninjured arm and the pterosaur flew away.

 

"Well, there's no need to hide from him anymore. He couldn't kill us if he tried." Link assured.

 

Zelda was still gasping for breath, but managed to say, "I guess not. Let's get back to camp."

 

Link nodded and they stealthily avoided the king of the island as they headed out to the jungle. Fortunately, Scarface hadn’t noticed that his dinner had gotten away and decided to search for more suitable prey. He stormed through the forest, quietly growling, and went hunting for survival.
 

Chapter 11: Down to the river

Link and Zelda returned to their camp only to find it in shambles. It looked like a twister hit…or another animal. The killer bird that Link killed for food was now nothing but bones and the campfire was a smoldering pile of ash. They were about to wonder what happened to the eggs, when the culprit was caught. It was a pterosaur, similar to the one that tried to have at the giant ape. As the hylians watched, the birdlike creature broke into another egg and they saw it slurp up yellow goo through its long beak. It suddenly took a little interest in the pair and it waddled closer on all fours, its long wing finger bent backwards to prevent the wings from getting in the way. The pterosaur walked up to Link and inspected him with its eagle-like eyes. Then, it turned to Zelda and gave a sniff. It turned back to Link and began clacking its beak at his thigh. At first, Link thought it was an attack.

 

"Hey! Get…" He said in a threatening way, but Zelda interrupted.

 

"Link, he doesn't want you. Look…"

 

As he watched, he saw the stork-like beak gently pull a bit of meat out of Link's pocket. Then, it took off and headed for the far north.

 

"Wow. That was a surprise." was all Link could say.

After seeing their camp torn to ribbons (It was most likely a raptor or two), Link and Zelda decided to find another campground.

 

"I can't believe that thing ate our breakfast!" Link said as he clutched his head.

 

Zelda sighed. Link had said that three times already. She then decided to speak up.

 

"Take it easy. It's only a few eggs…"

 

"JUST A FEW EGGS?!" Link asked angrily.

 

The two continued to bicker and didn't even notice that they came to a river. They had just gone into waist-deep water when Link felt something.

 

"Hey, something just brushed my leg." Link looked down, but couldn't see a thing.

 

All he could see was the bottom and the water ripple. There was even a very large ripple near the middle of the stream, but there was something strange about it. This ripple wasn’t moving according to the flow, it was moving side-to-side in wide arcs.

 

"Wait a minute..." Link said as he looked at the larger ripple.

 

Before Zelda even had time to ask what, something else arrived at the water. It was a crocodile, similar to the one that Scarface beheaded and it began sprawling after them, snapping its jaws like a bear trap. They didn't have time to run when something exploded out of the water and seized the crocodile.

The thing that launched out of the water was NOT a dinosaur, but a GIANT snake. Link estimated that it was over seventy feet long, almost twice the size of this croc. The snake's jaws seized the crocodile's nose and a long chain of coils began to wrap itself around the crocodilian's body. The crocodile, not expecting or even seeing it coming, fell on its side and thrashed its tail wildly. It struggled for a while, but with a loud CRACK, the crocodile stopped moving. The snake then moved its large head, arced its neck and flicked its tongue out to taste the air that contained Hylian scent. The snake looked around, saw Link and Zelda, and released its victim to change targets. Zelda screamed and Link followed his instinct to quickly move away. The serpent was much quicker in water than land, and it was quickly catching up to them. Link had to jump in order to avoid the coils. But the minute Link landed, another coil was there to meet him. He quickly rolled under it and had to roll again with Zelda struggling to keep up. The snake then changed tactics. When Link landed, the tail came to meet him. Link ducked, but the tail got Zelda. It wrapped itself around her and began to squeeze. She almost ran out of air when the snake hissed in pain and Zelda fell to the ground. Link had taken his sword and injured the creature, leaving a huge gash in its side. Zelda almost hit the rocky bottom, but she didn't hit hard rock. Instead, she landed in Link's arms and he had to carry her through whatever the snake threw at him.

The snake changed tactics again. It attacked using its coils and tail, but when Link dodged, he dropped Zelda. The giant snake's head was there to meet him when he landed and bit him right on the chest. Link strained as the snake's sharp teeth dug into his flesh like needles. He dropped his sword and tried to pull the head off him, but the serpent’s teeth curved backward and only caused further pain. Link couldn't move his arm, because the snake's teeth got his shoulder. Slowly, the long, curved teeth began to draw him into the snake's mouth. When his legs disappeared into the snake's unhinged jaw, Link thought it was over.

 

 

It was a very dark tunnel, but then Link saw a small light in the distance and it was growing larger and larger until he went right through the “tunnel”. At first, he thought he died, but then he guessed that the Sacred Realm didn't have bloodstained water or tropical trees. As he looked around, he saw a HUGE, wormlike body and the snake's severed head on the ground behind him. He then looked up and saw Zelda offering him a hand.

 

Link smiled and said, "Thank you."

 

He then took Zelda's hand and she helped him up. When he was on his feet, she shook her hand back and forth with an "EW!!!" Link inspected himself and saw that he was covered in snake drool.

 

"Uh, hehe…Oops."

 

Zelda then handed him his sword and said, “Here. You need it more than I do.”

 

Link took the sword and the two went off, looking for safe ground.

Miles away, the injured ape was now very weak. It was a struggle just to remain standing, even more painful to walk. And as he watched, more and more scavengers started trying to get at him. For the moment, they were just pterosaurs. But who knew what else would show up? The ape was on the fringes of the jungle when a loud roar sounded. It wasn't a T-rex, but it was a dinosaur. The ape looked at the spot and saw its attacker thunder out of the dense undergrowth, its teeth bared. The ape was too weak and too badly injured to fight; all he could do was wait for the killer blow. A roar sounded and was closely followed by a more high-pitched roar, that would have been a human scream.
 

Chapter 12: Through the predator's eyes

We will momentarily take our eyes off Link and Zelda to spend time with Scarface the T-rex.

Morning again on the ancient isle and Scarface let out a loud yawn that was almost a roar. His tiny arms, though useless on almost everything else, were enough to help get his legs underneath his body to get up from a night of sleep. It was time to hunt again. He trundled off at a steady pace and searched for a perfect prey item.

On the plains was a suitable item. It looked a bit like a turtle, but it had a build like an elephant and a long tail with a bony club on the end. This was another one of the island’s native dinosaurs and was called an ankylosaur. Scarface had taken them before and put his plan into action. He knew these things couldn't run fast, but he still had to be careful. The dinosaur had impressive defenses. Small bones on beneath the skin on his back acted like chain mail and that tail club was like a sledgehammer and could be used with bone-shattering force. Normally, a tyrannosaurus would back down, but NOT Scarface. He let out a loud roar and charged from the undergrowth. The ankylosaur heard the roar and reacted almost automatically. It tried turning sideways in an attempt to keep its tail at the ready. But Scarface was not an ordinary tyrannosaur and followed its front because he knew that the tail couldn’t reach him there. Then, his strategy got put into action. Scarface put one of his massive feet on the ankylosaur’s back. Now the ankylosaur couldn't move at him. Scarface then seized the tail at the thinnest point and pulled it backwards. Rigid armor splits if bent too far and Scarface used this in his hunting strategy. The tail snapped and Scarface quickly followed up by clamping his huge jaws on the ankylosaur's head. A crunch and Scarface could move the body much easier. With a seemingly effortless nudge, he flipped his prey on its side and exposed its soft underbelly. He then started to nibble away and the prey item’s innards provided a feast for him. However, there was someone else who wanted this food.

Out of the jungle came competitors. They looked a little like Scarface, but there were notable differences. They had more D-shaped heads and three fingers rather than two. Another notable difference: They were slightly larger. They were known as Carcharadontosaurs [Kar-kar-a-dont-a-soarz], and they, like several others, were some of the top predators on this island. There wasn't just one carcharadontosaur, there was a pair. One was bright orange like a tiger while the other was a greenish-blue. The orange was a male and was slightly larger than the green, which was a female. The notable thing about these dinosaurs was that they were battle-scarred, but not as much as Scarface. The carcharodontosaurs’ scars weren’t as serious as Scarface’s, but they did make them look rather ugly. Scarface looked up from his dinner and roared at them. He's fought these guys many times. The carcharadontosaurs roared and advanced on him, but Scarface snapped at them. They recoiled, but didn't back down. Scarface is NOT going to give up his meal without a fight. The fight was on.

The orange male carcharadontosaur charged and seized Scarface's leg with its jaws. The teeth dug deep, but didn't break any bone. Scarface growled in pain, but countered with a bite of his own at the shoulder. The shoulder blade split down the center and the challenger let go. Scarface whirled around just in time for his tail to catch the female across the face. As he turned around, the male got back up and clamped its teeth onto Scarface’s flanks. Scarface began to spin in circles and the carcharadontosaur released the tail from strength of centrifugal force. Scarface then took his foot and brought it smashing down on the male's side. The male got up and bit down on Scarface's nose. Unfortunately, his lower jaw happened to be inside Scarface’s mouth. The T-rex brought his mighty jaws slamming shut and wrenched downward. The jaw of his contender crunched and the male carcharadontosaur screeched in pain as Scarface spun him in circles. Scarface released the male to bring him smashing into his partner. When the male hit the ground, it stood perfectly still, its jaw hanging limply from its mouth.

 

The female got up from the collision with her male counterpart and dug her jaws into Scarface's neck. It wouldn't kill him, but Scarface took it as a lethal threat. He shook violently and the carcharadontosaur fell to the ground. It quickly regained its balance, but Scarface had already circled around it. With a snap, Scarface clamped his mighty jaws shut with more than eight thousand pounds of force on the female’s tail. Result: The tail came right off and fell to the ground like a felled tree. The female tried to get up, but without its tail to balance its massive head, it was impossible. She tried again and again, but she was doomed to die. Scarface saw his opponent struggling on the ground and decided to drag its kill to a safer place to eat. She wouldn't be going anywhere.

After eating his fill, Scarface began a strange process. He went over to a large rock and rubbed his body down it. He then did the same thing for a tree. Why was he doing this? We probably won't know for a while. After doing this to many other rocks and trees, Scarface noticed the sun going down and settled down for another good night's sleep.
 

Chapter 13: Crossfire

It had been more than two days after Link and Zelda got away from the battling titans: Scarface and a giant ape. However, the ape was unsuccessful in his fight and Scarface ended up badly injuring him.

After the scene with the giant snake, they were wandering through the rainforest. Then, a smaller snake slithered by. It was nowhere near the size of the one in the river, but it was still somewhat large. The most unique thing was that its scales were emerald green and it had beautiful white spots on it. Link didn't seem to mind it, but when Zelda saw it, Link felt her hand close around his. When the snake passed, they looked at each other and released the other's hand.

A bunch of dense vegetation was in their way and Link decided to move it.

 

"Cursed jungle foliage." He mumbled as he began to move it aside.

 

Zelda emitted a short gasp and Link saw why. Behind the vegetation was the emaciated body of the giant ape. At first, Link thought it died of injury. But then he saw that more injuries were caused that Scarface didn't do.

 

"It's okay, Zelda. It's already dead."

 

Zelda's eyes widened and she pointed over the carcass.

 

"But that's not!" She screamed.

 

Link looked up and saw, feasting on the dead ape, was the predator that killed it. It was a dinosaur, but it was far different from Scarface. It had long, streamlined jaws like a crocodile and its arms terminated in three sharp claws like meat hooks. On its back were elongated vertebrae with skin over it like some kind of fin. This was a predator, but unlike anything Link had seen; it was slightly bigger than Scarface and known as Spinosaurus. This thing also had battle scars, but not as many as Scarface. It had a set of puncture wounds on its upper jaw and claw marks on the sides of its snout. It has always been the nature of a predator to seize an easy meal when it wanders so close. Such was the case here. The spinosaur took its chance. It roared a deep roar that was like a cross between a snarl and a loud bellow. It then stepped over the carcass and toward Link and Zelda. The chase was on…

Link and Zelda ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction, the spinosaur virtually nipping at their heels. Each of its steps seemed to quake the earth as it got closer. Link then made a sharp turn to the right and the spinosaur was completely wrong-footed. It clumsily turned the right direction and continued its pursuit. Link and Zelda got to a large lake and swam across it like they were in the Olympics. They had reached the other side when they turned around and the spinosaur was gone. For one brief second, they thought they lost him. Suddenly, the spinosaur exploded out of the water with its loud roar. Link and Zelda were caught by surprise and they barely had time to turn tail. By the time they had run ten feet, the spinosaur was on them and was going to have them for dinner. Just then, a familiar roar came and was all too familiar.

Scarface exploded out of the jungle and roared at the spinosaur for trying to steal its "food." The spinosaur roared back and snapped its jaws in a threatening way. Scarface charged in and the two began to circle each other, waiting for the first move. Link and Zelda made their way out and sprinted off into the jungle. They found dense vegetation and hid there in hope that Scarface would miss them.

After a series of threatening roars and signs of strength, the spinosaurus charged and clamped its crocodilian jaws onto Scarface's neck. Scarface however moved forward and several of the spinosaur’s conical teeth detached, still stuck in Scarface’s neck. Scarface snapped at the intruder and managed rip the skin off its left shoulder. The spinosaurus shrieked in pain and released Scarface. The skin on his shoulder was missing, revealing red muscle. The spinosaur then raised its clawed arms and slashed Scarface across the nose. Scarface grunted in surprise and shook his head like the injury was some kind of parasite it could shake, but that injury lit a fire in him and he charged again. He clamped his jaws down on the sail on the spinosaur's back. The spinosaur SCREECHED in pain and, with a sickening CRUNCH, Scarface had torn the fin right off. He shook it around like a terrier with a rat and tossed it behind him. It landed some five feet away from Link and Zelda, leaving them staring at it in horror.

 

The spinosaur was VERY ANGRY now. He latched onto the sides of Scarface's neck with its claws and bit down on his nose. Scarface growled in aggravation and struggled to get away from the claws, snapping wildly. Suddenly, the jaws clamped down on something hard and he bit down again. In a twist of his head, the thing suddenly came free. Scarface heard an earsplitting screech and he opened his eyes to see that he had the spinosaur's right arm in his mouth. The spinosaur, was screaming in pain and stumbling around, trying to get rid of the pain. The spinosaur had a useless stump where its right arm should have been and a row of severed bone and ruptured skin where its fin should have been. It had two serious wounds and down to only a few weapons. It was a standoff. Both roared at each other. One way or another, one of them was going to die.

They both charged with their mouths opened wide and they collided. They ended up locking jaws with the spinosaur biting the T-rex's nose and its lower teeth digging into the roof of its mouth. The two wrestled around, but Scarface had an edge up his sleeve. He opened his jaw and slammed it shut as hard as he could. There was the sound of breaking bones and the spinosaur ended up releasing Scarface. He opened his mouth and half of the spinosaur's jaw and tongue fell to the ground. The spinosaur never knew what hit him and Scarface seized his chance. He sunk his teeth into the spinosaur's neck and the spinosaur moaned in defeat as he prepared to die. Scarface wrenched the spinosaur to the ground so hard that he twisted the neck so far it broke. The spinosaur's lifeless head flopped to the ground, its eyes staring blankly.

At first, Scarface didn't take notice of Link and Zelda just ten meters away. But suddenly, the wind began blowing toward Scarface. And with it, came Link and Zelda's scent. Scarface sniffed the air, turned, and saw EASY PREY. Link and Zelda quickly stood up and ran as fast as they could. Scarface stepped on top of the spinosaur's dead body, crushing the ribs as it did so, and pursued them.
 

Chapter 14: Monster Mayhem

Link and Zelda sprinted through the trees with an eight-ton behemoth chasing after them. They found a log and quickly squeezed inside. The minute they had taken shelter and Zelda was beginning to catch her breath, something tried coming in. Zelda screamed, it was Scarface. He was trying to fit his jaws in there and try to snap them up. Link quickly took out his sword and made a quick slash on the thing. Blood shed, but it was nothing more than a cut to Scarface. Scarface grunted in surprise and pulled his snout out of the log. He then reared up and opened his jaws. He clamped them down on the log and lifted it right off the ground. Link and Zelda held on for dear life as the log began to rock violently back and forth. Scarface bit down hard and a large group of teeth nearly impaled Zelda. They narrowly missed her, but they did put a bit of a rip in her gown. The log shook violently until the pair had only one choice.

"Zelda! Jump!" Link shouted.

 

He then leapt out of the log and Zelda followed close behind. She trusted Link and had her reasons. When she leapt out, Scarface still had the log in his mouth and was trying to get it out. Zelda turned tail before Scarface could get it out, but a loud SNAP told her that he got the log out alright by biting it clean in two. Thundering footsteps told her that Scarface was again in hot pursuit. Suddenly, something whistled through the air and pelted Scarface in the shoulder. Scarface roared in pain as a wooden spear buried itself into his shoulder. Link had quickly made a spear with his sword and threw it. At first, Zelda thought it was a success, but then she saw Scarface reach down, pull out the spear with his jaws and snap it like a twig. Link had already grabbed her hand and whirled her around to go sprinting away again.

Link and Zelda had to run like crazy and change direction every once in a while in order to keep Scarface off their backs. If Link had other weapons, he would have fought Scarface. But as you remember, all he had was his sword and shield. Link remembered that most of the dinosaurs here had poor eyesight relative to smell and led Zelda right into some dense undergrowth. They watched from the bushes as Scarface appeared.

 

Scarface looked around but couldn’t see either Link or Zelda. He sniffed the air, but the wind was blowing away from the pair and the dinosaur couldn’t find them anywhere. After a little reassuring, Scarface found that the two of them were gone and wandered off to search a little more.

 

 

Link and Zelda thought for sure that Scarface was gone now and started to crawl out from the undergrowth. Link had just crawled out when he looked up into the catlike eyes of Morgrym the raptor. Morgrym glared at Link and bared his teeth, but just when he was about to pounce, he looked up and stopped right where he was. Morgrym then sprinted away as fast as his legs would carry him. Link was wondering why such a bold predator would run away. Then it hit Link: the only thing a predator fears is another, bigger, predator. The answer came when Zelda screamed. Link whirled around and saw ANOTHER spinosaurus that was even bigger than the one Scarface killed. In its mouth, it had a raptor that was similar to Morgrym, but wasn’t as badly scarred. Link and Zelda ran and the spinosaur pursued them, the raptor still in its mouth. Link and Zelda had just reached more dense foliage when the spinosaur tilted its head back and swallowed its prey whole. Link and Zelda scurried up a tree, but it wasn’t high enough from the spinosaur. However, when their pursuer crashed through the undergrowth, it looked around a bit and then trundled off somewhere else.

 

When the spinosaur was well out of earshot, Link wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “Whew! That was way too close.”

 

“Yeah. For a moment, I thought…” Zelda began, but a sudden snap had just drawn her attention.

 

The noise was that of a particularly large branch being snapped in two. Link heard it too and as he looked to the left, he saw nothing. Then, an old friend exploded out of the trees and they looked into the battered face of Scarface.

 

Scarface opened his mighty jaws and almost slammed them shut on both of them. The sixty knifelike teeth narrowly missed them, but it caused both of them to slip and dangle from the branch like monkeys. Scarface looked at them with his remaining eye and would have smiled if he could. Just when he thought he would have Hylian for dinner, there was the sound of rustling branches and Scarface looked up, snarling like a wolf. Link and Zelda turned their heads and saw a massive ape leap out of the undergrowth and plant its large fist into Scarface’s jaw. Scarface stumbled backward, but recovered as Link and Zelda lost their grip. Just when Scarface was sprinting at his opponent, Link and Zelda fell and landed on the dinosaur’s back. They were experiencing the whole fight up close and personal.

 

Scarface charged and clamped his jaws down on the ape’s hand, causing the large primate to roar in pain and try beating Scarface off with its free hand. The ape was also trying to get at Link and Zelda as well as try to kill Scarface, both for the same reason; turf. Zelda turned and happened to notice that the spinosaur that was chasing them earlier had just arrived in the forest just behind them. It took notice of the morsels on Scarface’s back and thundered toward the fight. The spinosaur opened its jaws and prepared to devour both Link and Zelda. But it was obvious that Scarface heard him coming, because he spun around, taking the ape with him, and the spinosaur ended up chomping the primate’s shoulder. The ape roared in pain again, but then spun around, delivering a punch to the spinosaur’s head and shaking off Scarface in the process. When Scarface hit the ground, Link and Zelda jumped off and they happened to be right in the middle of all three of the giants, who were all in a triangle of sorts. The spinosaur and Scarface roared their challenges while the giant gorilla did the same thing, beating his chest in the process. Link and Zelda then noticed that all three were looking directly at them, the ape doing so more in anger than predatorily. Scarface took one giant step forward and one last brawler entered the fray. Out of the sky came a massive, flying creature. It had goat-like horns and legs similar to an eagle’s as well as batlike wings that spanned more than twenty-five feet wingtip to wingtip. Like almost every other reptile on the island, this creature had very crooked teeth the size of knives. It then hit Link and Zelda that this was a dragon and it was diving right at both them and Scarface, its talons aimed for the kill.

 

Link virtually tackled Zelda to the ground to avoid being impaled by foot-long talons and Scarface took a sudden step to the side to avoid the dragon’s teeth. Just when the dragon failed its attempt, the spinosaur and giant gorilla charged into the battlefield. Scarface spun around and caught the ape’s midsection with his tail. The ape was about to seize Zelda and crush her like you would an orange, but he didn’t count on obstacles like predators. As soon as the ape was sent tumbling, Scarface knocked the spinosaur on its side with his head and stomped on its ribs, bruising one in the process. Scarface quickly turned to the dragon, which was about to take flight again, but seized its left wing with his teeth. The dragon screeched in pain as Scarface tugged at the wing with all his might. Scarface then spun the dragon in a wide arc and brought the winged beast smashing into the gorilla and then, with a sickening noise that sounded like a rip and a crunch at the same time, the wing came off and remained in Scarface’s mouth. Scarface dropped this remain on the ground and went for Link and Zelda, but the gorilla slammed into him and began beating Scarface savagely with its fists. Scarface thrashed on the ground and managed to kick the ape off him just in time to get up and grab the spinosaur by the neck.

 

While these titans were having at each other, Link and Zelda were caught in the crossfire. They had to avoid feet, tails, fists, and teeth to avoid getting killed. However, this task was becoming more difficult as the beasts continued to fight and they couldn’t get out or they would risk getting killed by a beast that went after them. All they could do was jump, dash, or dodge.

 

The battle, so far, was only getting more serious. Scarface brought the spinosaur, which was still in his jaws, spinning around until it fell to the ground. Scarface took one step forward and the dragon was there to meet him. Scarface took one quick step and dodged a burst of flame from the dragon’s mouth, crushing the spinosaur’s skull with his foot in the process. The spinosaur, its braincase crushed, twitched at the sudden loss of brain use and then went limp.

 

Link and Zelda noticed that the landscape was changing very suddenly from a forest to a steep hill. This only made the fight even more dangerous than before. Creatures were more likely to fall and could very well crush them. However, these monsters looked like they were ready to fight to the death as the spinosaur showed back there.

 

 

Scarface knocked the dragon back with his tail, sending the dragon slightly down the slope. The dragon gripped the ground with its talons, gouging huge gashes in the rock, and regained its balance. Scarface then dug his teeth into the ape’s shoulder. The ape turned this attack into a moment of weakness and put the T-rex into a headlock of sorts. The gorilla then dug its large canines into Scarface’s shoulder and the two tumbled down the hill. Link and Zelda took their chances and seized the hair on the ape’s thigh and then they noticed it was not just a hill.

 

The slope led to a deep trench netted with vines similar to the tree in which they met their first giant gorilla. All three beasts were now dangerously close to the edge and a fall from that height would lead either to chaos or death.

 

After the two tumbled a bit, the ape released Scarface and the rex ended up on top of it as well as the dragon. It was hard to tell if they wanted to simply kill the ape or if they wanted the tasty morsels on its thigh. Scarface dug his teeth into the ape’s arm while the dragon dug its talons into the ape’s face. The ape simply kicked Scarface off and peeled the dragon’s foot off before throwing it off slightly. The ape got up to try and attack the dragon out of pure rage, but Scarface dug his six-inch teeth into the gorilla’s arm. The ape roared, yanked its arm free, reached over its shoulder, and threw Scarface forward. Scarface actually landed on a steep rock on the other side of the trench. Scarface thrashed his legs violently, but couldn’t prevent the inevitable and fell down the trench.

 

The ape, after throwing Scarface, had accidentally ended up on the canyon’s edge and the dragon was towering over it, showing off its teeth. Just when the dragon was about to breathe fire and end it all, the ape reached up and seized the dragon by the foot. The dragon was caught completely by surprise and tried to pull its leg free. However, the ape was stronger and actually pulled the dragon to the same rock as Scarface. The ape had just begun climbing up when he felt something sharp pierce its ankle. The dragon was falling headfirst and had used its talons to catch the ape’s foot, digging its talons in the primate’s flesh in the process. The ape roared and Zelda screamed; those talons were just inches from impaling her. For a few seconds, the two dangled there with the ape trying to hold on and the dragon flapping its remaining wing uselessly. Then a rock under the gorilla’s hand crumbled and all four of them fell.

 

 

Zelda screamed the whole fall and actually fell off the gorilla’s thigh, getting tangled in a few vines in the process. Link also let go to try and get after her, but he was much further away and his job was only made harder.

 

The dragon released the ape’s foot and the ape actually seized the dragon while they were falling. Then, a tangle of vines caught both of them and they continued to tussle. The dragon dug its teeth into the ape’s hand and its talons into its abdomen. The ape growled in pain and delivered a sharp punch to the flying reptile’s head and if you were standing just at the trench’s edge, it would be like listening to a horror movie with the volume turned up.

 

Zelda had just started swinging free when she suddenly screamed. Just a few tens of meters away was Scarface, suspended by the vines with his legs propped onto the trench wall. That scream was enough to draw the attention of Link, who had also grabbed a few vines. Link started scrambling up the vines like a monkey as he saw Scarface kick off the wall toward Zelda, ready to devour her like you would a piece of popcorn. Scarface emitted a low roar as he got so close to Zelda, she could feel the heat of his breath. However, the rex’s swing fell short just feet away from Zelda’s leg and Scarface’s jaws slammed shut. However, Scarface would try again and Link wasn’t even halfway up his vine. Scarface tried again and just passed Zelda as he snapped at her and missed again. Link was now three quarters of the way up and was almost at Zelda when he heard two things, Scarface’s open-mouthed roar and a grunting creature. Link was just ten feet away from Zelda when Scarface swung at her again, but this time, he wouldn’t miss. However, before the beast even closed his mouth, something big and hairy grabbed him by the tail and pulled him down. The ape had apparently had enough with the dragon and saw that Scarface was still there. The gorilla had clambered up the trench wall and went after Scarface. The two fell further down the trench until Scarface and the dragon were so close, they would have kissed each other if they were any further.

 

Link went up to Zelda, drew his sword, and cut the vines binding Zelda’s arm and she fell before grabbing a hold of Link’s foot. Link suddenly slipped down the vine and reached the end of it before falling right on Scarface’s nose. Scarface crossed his eyes and began thrashing his legs and tail violently. Then, his leg actually kicked the ape right off the vines and the ape fell into a kind of pool with a SPLASH.

 

You could imagine that Zelda was scared to death of being right on top of a dinosaur’s nose and being an inch from being bitten in two. While Scarface thrashed, some of the vines underneath him snapped and Scarface began to fall. Normally a fall from the height he was would be enough to kill a dinosaur of his size. However, as he fell, Scarface began to snap at the air, as though something invisible was just waiting for him. Then, his jaws latched onto something and the sound of a screech sounded in his jaws. Scarface had just clamped his jaws on the dragon’s head and eight tons of dinosaur hanging from your neck is NOT very pleasant. Scarface continued to thrash as the dragon began to do the same thing. Then, with several cracks, crunches, and a loud ripping noise, Scarface fell, leaving a headless dragon hanging from the vines of the trench. Scarface fell into the pool and Link and Zelda flew off just ten meters away.

 

Link and Zelda had barely started running when Scarface was back on his feet again. He let out an earthshaking roar at the pair of them and then slowly advanced. However, he wasn’t walking toward them, it was the ape. It had apparently survived the fall into the pool and was still piping mad. Scarface roared and charged with his head down just as Link and Zelda ran to the side. Scarface’s head bashed into the ape and sent both of them skidding to the ground. The ape thrashed its arms while Scarface kept one of the arms clenched in his teeth. Scarface thrashed until he managed to worm away from the ape’s front, its arm still in his teeth. Scarface was beginning to pull back when the ape suddenly caught him with the other arm. Scarface roared in something that could only be described as frustration as he knocked the ape onto its stomach and got on top of its back. It clenched the arm in its teeth and began pulling again. Then, there was a sickening CRUNCH and Scarface let go. The ape’s arm limply fell onto the ground, still attached, but the joints in the shoulder were severed and so were the nerves, so it couldn’t move that arm. Scarface then placed his massive foot on the ape’s head and put all his weight on it. The ape then went limp and lay perfectly still as Scarface looked back down at it in what appeared to be disgust and chased off after the hylians again

 

 

Link and Zelda had a small head start, but the ape would only prove a minor obstacle after seeing what Scarface did with the previous one. They hadn’t been running for a few seconds when they heard what sounded like thunder. Link glanced over his shoulder and saw Scarface was quickly catching up to them. Within seconds, the T-rex was within range and was about to bite them in half when there was a roar. But it wasn't a spinosaur roar or a dodongo roar. It was a T-rex roar…

 

Chapter 15: The predator is tamed…or so we think

Scarface turned to the sound of the roar. But instead of roaring ferociously, he gave short, bark-like roars. As he did so, the thing he was roaring at came into view. It was a t-rex, but it was a lot smaller than he was and not as ugly. It had no scars on its face and responded with a long, trilling call. Scarface slowly walked toward it and they begin to circle.

"Link? Are they going to fight?"

 

Zelda asked in fear. Link inspected them closer and then noticed something. If they were fighting, they would be snarling and roaring.

 

"No…They're dancing."

 

Zelda turned to him and he did the same thing.

 

"That other thing is a female." Link said, filling her in.

Now, the reason Scarface was spreading his scent became apparent. He was using it not only to warn off intruders, but also to attract the opposite sex. Then, Scarface began to rub his body down the female's.

However, there are things that are better left untold, so I'll turn the camera around. While Scarface and his mate did…well, you know… Link and Zelda made their escape.

They had barely gone fifty yards when there was not one, but two roars. Scarface and his mate had now chosen to work together in an attempt to store up food for their long wait until their eggs were laid and ready hatch. (It's never too late to start.)

Link and Zelda took off again. Link couldn't fight two t-rexes at once with just a sword. He hacked Scarface with his sword before, and doubted he got so much as a nosebleed. They had just reached a high mountain. With nowhere else to go, they could only do what they could. They started to climb the mountain.

When they had gotten above Scarface's height, they thought they were safe. However, the sound of rolling rocks had just gotten their attention. They looked down to see Scarface climbing after them. His jaws latched onto one rock while he used his legs to heave himself upward. His mate waited behind for him. For Link and Zelda, it was either climb or die.

Zelda scrambled away just in time to avoid Scarface's jaws snapping her legs off, and Link nearly lost his footing. He then noticed that the mountain was getting steeper and that Scarface would have virtually nothing to latch his teeth onto. They had been climbing as if there was no ground until Scarface gave up. He couldn't climb anymore, so he slowly slid down the mountainside, using his short arms to prevent him from falling too fast. When he reached the bottom, he gave a roar that was probably an improbable threat before he thundered through the growth, his mate close behind.

Link and Zelda decided to camp out in a cave in the mountainside. Little did they know that an old friend was about to come back…
 

Chapter 16: Escape from prehistory

That night in the cave, Link and Zelda were sure that Scarface had disappeared. Link woke up to an AWFUL smell that smelled like rotting fish. He woke up to see a pair of yellow eyes looking him in the eye. At first, he thought it was Morgrym the raptor, but upon recognizing the beak and crest, he found that it was only a pterosaur, and knew they didn’t come off as a threat. Zelda's eyes slowly opened and she scrambled backwards.

 

Link just held her hand and said, "It's okay. He only likes fish."

 

Zelda sighed in relief with an, "Oh."

The birdlike creature seemed VERY fond of Link, judging from the way it was nudging Link with its beak. Link patted this thing on the head and it closed its eyes. It seemed to enjoy it. This thing could be called a "Friend" and it didn't seem to mind Zelda either.

Link then got an idea. He slowly walked toward it and got on its back. This thing was big enough for Zelda to fit on, too.

 

"C'mon, Zel. He won't bite." Link assured her.

 

Zelda was unsure about this thing, but if Link said it was okay, she trusted him. She too got on and held onto Link's midsection. Link then gripped the pterosaur's crest and moved it to the right. It turned toward the entrance like a horse when you pull its reins and began to walk toward it.

 

"What's going on?" Zelda asked.

 

Link answered without even turning back to her.

“We’re getting out of here.”

It happened so fast, one minute, the pterosaur was waddling awkwardly on land. The next, they were plummeting hundreds of feet to the ground at dropping speed. Zelda was screaming at the top of her lungs, but Link couldn't hear it over the rushing air. Just when they were halfway down the mountain, the pterosaur pulled out of the dive and began to soar like an eagle. Zelda panted for breath as the pterosaur rode the air currents. She had never done ANYTHING like that. She could see a familiar face from down below. Scarface saw them taking off and let out a roar that seemed to say, "GET BACK DOWN HERE SO I CAN DEVOUR YOU!" However, Link and Zelda were only safe from ONE threat. They were now under siege from a completely different threat.

They had just reached the seashore and were about to head out when Link heard a loud screech and looked over his shoulder. His expression immediately changed to a mixture between worry and fear. When Zelda turned around, she saw that right behind them were three or four giant eagles; just like the one that took out the giant monkey from the air. The minute Link saw they were gaining on them, he had to do something. One eagle flew in close and tried snapping at Link with its beak. Link ducked, but part of the beak got him on the shoulder, shedding blood. But the minute Link recoiled, another came at him with its talons. Link ducked, feeling the wind of the blow miss him by inches. He ducked to the right for another bird and ducked to the left to avoid getting caught in the bird’s feet.

 

Link was in a bad position. He had to use both hands to control the pterosaur. Link then had one idea that might work, but would require immense concentration and focus. He pulled the crest closer to him and the pterosaur soared upwards. The eagles followed, determined to capture their prey. At the peak of the climb, Zelda saw what was coming.

 

"Oh no..." She said, closing her eyes as though bracing herself for extreme pain.

She had a reason. The minute the pterosaur reached the peak of its climb, Link pushed the crest forward and all three of them were launched into another dive. The eagles followed, wings tucked to their bodies to make them more streamlined. When they were about to hit the water, Link pulled out. Two eagles flew after him, but one ended up in the water. SPLASH!

 

"One down, two to go." Link thought to himself.

The other two eagles were in hot pursuit and Link still had to find some way of losing them. Then, the burden on his back seemed to ease a little and he didn't have time to find out. An eagle suddenly came right up to Link. Link didn't have time to turn, but the eagle's talons never came to meet him. Instead, there was the sound of breaking bones and a screech in defeat. Finally, there was another SPLASH and Link turned to see that Zelda took out his sword and hacked the bird's wing.

 

"Zelda, you don't know how thankful I am now." He admitted.

 

Zelda just grinned.

Strangely, the last eagle didn’t try to attack them. It simply turned around and flew the other way; toward Ancient Island. Link guessed that they didn't have as much stamina as a pterosaur and couldn't fly far out to sea.

 

As they looked back, Zelda waved and said, "Goodbye, Island! See you about ten thousand years from now!"

 

"I can hardly blame you." Link added as they soared back to Hyrule.

 

After what seemed like years, they were finally leaving the island. The struggle for survival was over.

Chapter 17: Epilogue

Link and Zelda flew for about two hours. It was a good thing the pterosaur was strong enough to carry two people over the Hylian Sea, which was about as large as the Atlantic Ocean in our world.

 

"I can't believe we got out of that horrible place." Zelda said, finally relaxed.

 

Link scoffed and said, "All in a day's work for a hero, Zelda. It will be good to see everyone again."

 

Zelda then had a two-way comment. "Impa will be glad to know I'm okay. But on the other hand, I may never get on a ship again."

 

Just then, Link saw a streak of brown and green cut through the blue of the sea. He then pointed with one hand, while the other held onto the pterosaur's crest.

 

"Land ho!" He shouted.

Zelda peeked over his shoulder and beamed as the land got closer. They were home at last.

 

Link landed the pterosaur on the docks and they hopped off. The minute Zelda got off, she ran over to the shore fell on her back and looked at the sky, smiling while she did so. Link shook his head and turned to the pterosaur.

 

"Okay, pal. Time to go home." Link said, patting it on the back.

 

However, the pterosaur refused to go and licked Link with a long, thin tongue like a dog. Link almost fell over in surprise, but recovered very quickly.

 

Zelda got a sly smile on her face and said, "I think he likes you…"

 

Link was proven right, because the pterosaur nuzzled its long beak on Link's body like a cat.

 

Link shrugged and said, "Okay. Why not? And I think this 'he' is a 'she'. I'll call her 'Skye'."

 

Skye opened her mouth and licked Link with its long, thin tongue again.

 

"Okay, Skye. Go on to the forest. I'll call you when I need you, okay?"

 

The pterosaur seemed to understand and flew off in exactly the same direction as Kokiri Forest. Now Link had a useful ride on land and in the air.

As soon as Skye disappeared into the sky, Link managed to snap Zelda out of her overly dramatic joy of being home and they began a long journey back to Hyrule Castle Town. When they began strolling through castle town, they were often mistaken for homeless people and received several odd looks from city folk.

 

“Just ignore them, Zelda. They don’t know you’re the princess now.” Link advised, because Zelda was looking a little annoyed at their glances.

 

Zelda took Link’s advice and continued walking. They were about halfway to the castle when they came across Impa. Zelda couldn't help herself when she ran over.

 

"IMPA!" She said in great delight.

 

Impa turned at the mention of her name and Zelda embraced her in a hug. At first, Impa was a little surprised. She didn't know this person. Her dress had grass stains and algae growing in it and her hair was tousled and dirty.

 

Impa then asked, "Okay. Who are you?"

 

The minute she looked up and saw Link, her eyes widened as she knew who this was.

 

"Zelda? We got a message from Calatia saying that you weren't there. Where have you been?"

 

Zelda simply answered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

 

Impa hugged Zelda and said, "We can talk later. Let's get you cleaned up. You too, Link."

 

Link smiled as he jogged after them. It was now BEYOND good to be home. It was HEAVEN.

A few hours later, Link was back at his house looking as though he never left and decided to go through his trophies. One of which was the Fierce Deity Mask. He looked at the spot where he put it, but then he noticed something.

"It's gone."

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