Power of the Tri-Force (turned into a one shot)

Chapter 5: The Twilight Returns

     Link sat in the pasture and watched as the goats grazed carelessly. This evening I'll be headed for Castle Town, he thought happily. He was overwhelmed by his own contentment, the wind blowing freely in his face. Epona was grazing with the goats. He layed watching the clouds. All was peaceful, for the moment. No one knew the terror that would come later on.

     "Hey Link, how about we close up early today? After all, you'll be leaving this evening and will be gone for a while" Fado called out to Link. Link nodded as he picked some horse grass and blew to call Epona. She ran up to him and willingly allowed him to climb onto her saddle. They herded the goats into the stable in about ten minutes and headed toward Fado.

     "Great job! You feel like jumping fences before you head into the village?" Fado asked eagerly. Link got into position and nodded. Fado put up the fences quickly. Link raced through the obstacle course and headed toward the village.

     Link stopped to talk to Mayor Bo. Ilia stood petting Epona as Link and Bo talked. Suddenly she stopped what she was doing and looked at Link.

     "Epona's hurt! I bet you hurt her while jumping fences, didn't you?! How could you be so careless?!" She said angrily.

     "Now honey, I'm sure he didn't hurt her purposely..." Bo said trying to calm her.

     "Dad! How can you stand there and defend him?! You're the mayor! Do something!" Ilia said, cutting him off.

     Bo and Link winced.

     "Come on Epona. Let's clean it in the spring" She said calmly, leading the horse away.

     "Link you must find Epona. You need her to deliver the package to the Castle" Bo said after Ilia left.

     Link nodded and headed toward the spring. When he reached his yard, he found that Talo and Malo were standing in the way.

     "I told Dad that they had run into the woods. He told their dad and now they won't let me pass" Colin told him.

     "Yeah and now we're in big trouble. Sorry Link, but we can't let you pass either" Talo explained. Then the hilt of Link's practice sword caught his eye. "How about a deal? If you let me borrow your sword I'll let'ya pass" He continued.

     Link reluctantly lent him the sword and he and Colin went toward the spring.

     Ilia had closed and locked the gate.

     "Ilia, I'm sorry. Please open the gate! You don't know the whole story!" Link called.

     "I'm not forgiving you so easily this time, Link! You'll just have to stand there all day!" Ilia snapped. She looked crossly at Link and went back to bathing Epona.

     "I'll talk to Ilia. You go to the crawl space and come out on the other side of the gate", Colin told Link. He ran to the crawl space and wriggled through. It was tight and cramped, but it was the only way. He came out on the other end to find Colin telling Ilia about Talo's capture.

     "I hadn't heard the whole story", She said turning to Link, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. That doesn't excuse you from being careless, though. You have to promise me you'll be more careful with Epona, ok?"

     Link nodded, glad that the conflict was over. He started to walk over to them just as a monster on a huge boar broke through the gate. It rode quickly toward them, knocking Link to the ground with the club it held in its right hand. Link watched, half conscious, as it carried Ilia and Colin away...

*  *  *  *  *

     Where am I? Link sat in dark cell trying to remember what had happened. He was chained to a metal peg in the middle of the room. Ilia! Colin! That huge beast took them! This sudden memory aroused him. He started an attempt to break the chain. He fell over several times until he noticed something was different. He felt like he was being watched. Not only that, he was a wolf!