Another Adventure

Link heads over to the stables with all his stuff he is taking with him. Link finds his favorite mount Catherine and saddles her up preparing to leave. “Well, girl we have a long ride ahead of us,” he says to her as he mounts. Just as he rides from the stables into the courtyard, Zelda comes to him. Zelda says “I know you will do a fine job in southern Hyrule. Promise me, you will write me when you can.” Link responds “I will.” Zelda leans up to him and says “Oh, this is something for you to remember me by.” She kisses him as passionately as she can before letting him go. Link looks at her and says “Zelda, I lo…” before he is able to get it out of his mouth she says “I know and I love you, too. Please take care and return safely.” Link continues on toward the market square and on down to the gates. Zelda follows closely by on foot then when he passes through the gates, she runs up to the wall and waves a final goodbye.

Link picks up speed as he gets over the moat and moves into the wilderness. The woods, he thinks are a lot quieter now that Ganon is gone and safer he is sure. About halfway through his journey south the sun begins to set and darkness starts to usher in the oncoming night. Link figures “I might as well stop and camp out somewhere along this road or maybe find an inn. I will get a fresh start in the morning anyway.” Link looks and looks before finally seeing what looks to be an inn. The establishment has a sign out front hanging on a shingle in red it says “The Rhinestone Inn”. From the outside it appears to be two levels high and has a brown shingle roof. Link enters after tying his horse outside, the bar area is full of patrons with a couple of empty tables near the fireplace. He walks over the barkeep and asks “Do you have a room available for the night?” The barkeep responds “Sure do. It will cost five rupees.”

“Okay that sounds fair. Where is it located?”

“Room 9, second floor here is your key.”

“Thanks.’

Link goes upstairs and locates room 9 without any problems. He opens the door, enters and lays his stuff down. The room is very simple one bed, one table placed against the wall with a window above it, a chair at this table, and a small fireplace. Link thinks to himself “Pretty Spartan living, might as well make the most of it.” There is still a nice journey south to Duke Duncan’s keep in southern Hyrule, perhaps another day before arriving. Link’s stomach starts growling, so he leaves the room to see about eating. He re enters the bar and finds a table near the fireplace. The fire is going real good and the warmth there makes him comfortable. A waitress walks over and says “What can I get for you?” Link responds “Do you have any specials this evening?” The waitress says “We have roasted pig two rupees, baked chicken three rupees, and roasted duck four rupees.” Link ponders for a couple of minutes and then says “Roasted pig sounds good to me.” A couple of minutes later the waitress brings out a huge plate of food, Link digs in. Ten minutes later he wipes his lips and asks for the bill. The waitress responded “Oh, no sir. This is on the house, just like breakfast tomorrow morning. No need to thank us this was the only way we could think of thanking you for what you did, Link.” Link is shocked, “But I didn’t know you knew who I was.”

“But we do, the bartender knew who you were when you entered and made mention of it to everyone in here. We never figured you coming through this way ever of again, however we are happy you did.” Link smiled as he leaves the table to go back upstairs he notices everyone in the bar has their glass raised for him. He nods and they cheer in response and drink. Link enters his room thinking, “Wow, I never knew that I would receive this sort of reception.” Getting into bed Link thinks of how this day has went and hoping that all will go well, and then he goes back to thinking of Zelda and how things are between them. He had come here two years ago with the idea of adventure and seen just that, but love that was the last thing on his mind. As he had gotten to know her he realized how much she meant to him. They had had their ups and downs, but nonetheless he loved her. Ever since the time he had lost his body and his spirit remained they had gotten closer together. When he recovered his body she sort of blew off what she said however Link knew the truth. Link finally fell asleep.