The Legend of Zelda: The Missing Link

Chapter 12: Escape from the Cell

Link groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the horrid smell of feces and disease in the air. The second was the sharp pain in his left wrist, snaking down his arm. The third was the chain.

A thick shackle was secured tightly on Link's wrist. It held him very close to an old concrete wall; he could only pull his hand about six inches away from the wall before the chain pulled him back. Fortunately, he was able to sit somewhat comfortably, but was forced to keep his hand above his head, causing his arm to slowly go numb. The floor was cold, despite the fact he had probably been here for a while, and the damp air made him cough. After a few minutes of trying to regain his senses, Link realized that he had been here before. When Hyrule was first clouded in Twilight, he had been contained in this very same cell, but the Twilight's darkness had turned him into the beast of legends. He had also met Midna here, who's body had been cursed by Zant into an imp. Link knew nothing about the Twilight Realm and Midna did not care about the Light World, so the two worked together only to save their respective realms. But, over the course of their adventure, they became closer, and they soon both cared immensely for both worlds.

Link became almost nostalgic towards Midna's initial feelings toward him, using him as only a tool at first to save her land. But this was no time for reminiscing. Link had to escape. He knew that Ganondorf had plans of trying to take over Hyrule again. He knew that he had to act fast.

Link tugged at his shackle, wincing at the pain. But how was he supposed to get out of here? He felt some sort of liquid trickle down his arm, and he forced his stiff neck to turn so he could look up, and saw a thin stream of dark red blood fall down his pale forearm. Link bit his lip and twisted his hand, testing the integrity of the shackle. He could feel a bit of give in the old, rusted metal, so he braced himself and yanked his arm down as hard as he could. The chains rattled and cracked, but did not break. Link turned his body to give him better torque, and yanked again. This time, one of the links in the chain shattered. He breathed out in relief, and although his wrist was still tied and bleeding, he had been freed from the wall.

Now, to get out of this cell. Last time, Link was in the form of a wolf and could dig underneath the bars--now that he was a Hylian again, he was unable to do so and had to find another way out. He looked carefully around the cell.

Link noticed that in trying to free himself from his chain, he had put a couple cracks in the cement. He put his boot against the largest crack, then pulled his foot back and smashed it into the wall. The crack became larger. He kicked the wall once more to create a hole about two feet in diameter, and forced his small body through the hole, into the cell beside the one he awoke in; on the other side of the cell, there was an entrance to sewer that rested beneath the castle. Link rose to his feet.

"Ahh!" A small, high-pitched voice echoed off the walls.

"Wah!" Link stumbled back, putting his hand on the crumbled wall to catch himself. Before him, there was a little indigo fairy flying recklessly inside of a metal cage. "Who are you?" The fairy stopped and pressed itself against the bars of its cage.

Link took a moment to recover from his scare before telling the fairy who he was.

The fairy gasped. "Link! You're the legendary hero! So nice to meet you! Wow, I've heard so many great stories of your adventures and bravery and--oh, sorry! I just got excited! My name is Tristam. Do you think you could help me out of here?"

Link took a few steps forward, reached down, and picked up the small cage, looking around and underneath it for some sort of way to open it. There was an old metal key sitting on the ground where the cage was, and Link took it in his slender fingers, using it to open the cage.

"I'm free!" Tristam flew up into the air as his cage tumbled to the ground, flying in a couple circles above Link's head before coming down to eye level.

"So," Tristam said to Link, "where to next?"