The Sister
by Megan

Link parted the thick, dense foliage. The rabbit was right there, in front of him. Good. Aiming with his arrow, Link drew back the bowstring, ready to let the arrow fly. Just as he was about to release the bowstring, a faint sound reached his ears. Distracted, he took his attention from the rabbit that sat in front of him. The sound was hardly discernable  from the sounds of the forest animals. He wanted to find out what it was, but he couldn�t let the game he was hunting get away..... He drew the bowstring back again, and this time, let the arrow fly. The rabbit, startled, ran off and out of sight as the arrow landed just short of its intended target, sinking into the soft earth. Seeing that no food would be his that day, Link sighed in frusteration and rose, going over to retrieve his arrow from the ground.
As he stood, he heard the sound once again. It was a musical sound, and he wanted to find out who or what was singing. There was foliage on either side of the path before him, and he broke through it as silently as possible. The sound was growing much louder as he drew closer. Finally, he found the area that the sound was being emitted from. Silently, he parted the foliage, and crouching, saw the maker of the sound. A young girl, just a few years younger than he, sat on a wide, flat rock, singing softly. � Hey...� Link said, half rising. At the sound of his voice, the girl turned, and he caught a faint glimpse of her. Her golden hair sparkled in the sunlight, and her green eyes shone with fear. �No, wait,� he said, trying to make her stay. Inwardly, he swore at himself for scaring her. She took no notice of anything further he had to say, and dissapeared into the high weeds and trees. Before Link knew it, she was gone.
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The next day, Link went to Hyrule castle. It was here that he was to meet Princess Zelda so they could have a picnic in the Lost Woods, where he had been hunting the day before. She came out through the castle archway, smiling at him, carrying the basket full of food. As they walked to the Lost Woods, Link told her about the mysterious girl. � ...and as I got up to talk to her, she ran off,� he finished.
�Oh, I�m sure it was just a village girl,� Zelda said. Link nodded, but was busy thinking. Somehow, he knew he�d see the girl again.
These thoughts plauged him for the next few days. To get his mind off of it, he invited Zelda over. The day she came, a brutal storm arrived. Lightening flashed and thunder glowled in the distance as they ate lunch.� You know, Zelda, I keep thinking about that wierd girl. I keep getting the strange feeling Gannon is going to return soon, and that girl will be back.� Link began, giving vent to his pent-up feelings.
� I�ve been thinking about that, too,� Zelda said, thoughtfully. She was about to say more, but she gave a sudden, sharp cry. She could see visions in her head. A girl, running, then hit by an arrow...Now laying in blood, out in the rain...She sensed that Gannon was behind it...� Zelda!� Link exclaimed, leaning forward and touching her shoulder. The visions vanished.
� I�m fine,� she said weakly, as the last of the visions, like ghosts, left her head. � I just saw a girl. Blond hair, green eyes. She�s hurt. Gannon�s definitely behind this.�
Link�s mind swayed with the impact of the news. A cold feeling swept through his body, filling his body with ice.Gannon was back. He knew Zelda felt it, too. � We don�t have time to lose,� he said quickly to her. They both headed outside, only to recieve the full effects of the raging wind and cold drops of rain. � Oh, great, the storm�s getting worse,� Link muttered. He followed Zelda to Hyrule castle. As they walked past the rose hedges on their way to the front doors, Zelda gave a low cry and fell to her knees, her expression horrified. Link ran to her side and knelt beside her. Laying in front of them was the girl Link had seen. An arrow stuck up out of her back, and blood stained her dress.
� She�s still alive,� Zelda said, as Link removed the arrow. He carefully turned her onto her back. She was pale, her breathing shallow and raspy. Her soaked hair spread out on either side of her head, reduced to a dripping mess.
� Get Impa,� Link said. This was, indeed, the girl he had seen just the day before. Zelda nodded, and hurried inside. Impa arrived with Zelda a moment later, bags of healing powders in hand.
� Let�s get her inside,� Impa said, and Link lifted the girl�s body off the ground.

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Later, Link and Zelda sat at the girl�s bed side. Impa had been rushing in and out of the castle�s guest room with medicines and herbal treatments. The cold storm still raged outside, the rain lashing the windows with the fury of a whip. Candles, which now spread their golden light in flickering waves across the room, had been lit.
�Oh, I hope she�ll be all right,� Zelda said worriedly from her place in a chair next to the girl�s bedside. Link, who sat in his own chair beside her, nodded. Suddenly, something on the girl�s neck flashed gold in the sputtering candlelight. Link reached forward, and slowly pulled the cover back a little to reveal a gold chain around her neck. At the end of it was a pendent. It was as blue as Lake Hylia itself, and an image of the Triforce shone from inside it. Link carefully slipped it off her neck and held it up to the light. �Hey, I wonder where she got this,� Link said. Zelda said softly, �Let me see it, Link.� He handed it to her, she took it from him. � There�s something special about this, but I don�t know what,� she said, slowly. She was getting an unexplainable feeling just from holding the pendent in her hand, yet, she couldn�t say exactly why. Finally, she rose from her chair and bade Link good night.
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For the rest of the stormy, dark night, Link stayed beside the girl�s bed. He felt as if he already knew her, but he�d never seen her before. He felt as if he needed to protect her, to stay beside her, although he knew not why. Finally, sleep overcame him, and he slept fitfully the rest of the night.
The next morning, Link awoke to see the girl open her eyes. She said, her voice strained and weak, � Wh..where am I?� Link introduced himself, and explained the events of the day before. �I�m Anna,� she said, smiling at him faintly.  �I was raised by my aunt, my mother�s sister. I was left with her as a baby. I don�t remember who my parents are. They died when I was a young child. After awhile, I decided to go out on my own.I had to find someone. But Gannon came back. I was being chased by one of his soldiers, and he wounded me as I came here.� Link felt sorry for the girl. Like him, she�d never known who her parents were, and was raised by another relative. He picked up the pendant from the bedside table and handed it to her. � My mother gave it to me before she left,� Anna explained, looking at it thoughtfully, before putting it back around her neck. When she said nothing more, Link slowly left his chair and walked out of the room, his head filled with thoughts. �Who is this girl?� he thought, puzzled.

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Over the next few weeks, Anna recovered, safe within castle walls. Gannon�s  minions skulked around Hyrule, making life difficult for everyone. Link found himself constantly out in battle. He once again found it necessary to trek into the Lost Woods and get the Master Sword from its stone. It was during this time they found that Anna  knew magic, and could do many other things, one of which included shooting a bow with amazing accuracy. Link kept getting the strange feeling that he knew her from somewhere, yet he was sure he hadn�t seen her before.
One day, just a couple weeks after finding Anna, Link, Zelda, and Anna were in the castle talking, having just returned from running off some of Gannon�s  minions.Anna stopped talking suddenly, closing her eyes and concentrating. � Gannon...he�s found the Triforce.� Just as she said this, the sky grew black. Link felt Gannon�s evil permeate the still air. Zelda stiffened upon feeling the black energy sweep through her. � How did you...� Link started to ask. � I had a vision,� Anna said in explanation.
The three of them set out to stop Gannon. Stepping onto a tile, they went to the Golden Land. The sky was an inky, swirling mass of storm clouds, and Link knew the Golden Land was the Dark World again. Climbing the crumbling steps of the Pyramid of Power, they came face to face with Gannon, who weilded a large trident, its end stained with the blood of recent victims. � So, you�ve come to stop me again,� Gannon grunted, eyes glowing blood red.
� Let�s get this over with,� Link said, and the fight began. It was a fierce battle Link swung with the Master Sword, Gannon with his trident. Gannon summoned his firebats, and they swooped down on them. At one point, Link moved in closer than was safe to deliver a blow. Gannon saw, and with a mighty swing of his trident, sent Link flying. Link�s cry of surprised pain was cut short as he struck a wall. His inert form slowly slid from the wall, then lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. He was out cold. Zelda and Anna were both frightened, but went on battling Gannon. It was Anna who fought hardest, striving to put Gannon away for good. Wounds were inflicted upon them both, but they kept on fighting. At one point, a pause in the battle, Gannon turned to Link, who still lay unmoving by the wall.  Gannon moved toward Link, trident held high above him. His deadly intent was all too clear. Just as he was about to bring it down on Link, Anna shouted at him. �Don�t touch him, Gannon. Leave my brother alone!!!!!!!!� Zelda�s eyes widened in surprise. �Anna is Link�s sister?� she thought, gasping in shock.
Just then, Anna�s pendant took on a faint glow. It grew stronger and stronger, lighting up the entire chamber. A white-hot beam shot out at Gannon, freezing him. Anna quickly took up the silver arrows and bow, and fired a single shot. It hit Gannon, destroying him. Link slowly came to a moment later. He took in the scene before him, and knew Gannon had met his end. �Anna did it, Link,� Zelda said softly, looking sad. Cold fear gripped him. �Where is she?� he asked Zelda, and wordlessly, she moved aside. Anna lay behind Zelda, gaping wounds on her chest and back. Crimson was smeared across the blue of her dress. He stood, reaching Anna as quickly as he could. She opened her eyes just a little, and struggled to move. �Link...I...� she began, and her pale hand grasped his. The realization that she wasn�t going to survive struck him like a blow to the stomach. �Nooooooo!� he screamed, the emotional pain ripping through him. Just then, the chamber containing the Triforce opened, its light spilling out on all of them. At that moment, Anna took her last breath, her body shuddering. Link sorrowfully let go of Anna�s hand. He and Zelda entered the light filled chamber before them. The Triforce shone high and golden above them. � Make a wish......� the Triforce whispered. Link took the Triforce in his hands. Without having to think, he made his wish. The chamber was filled with soft light, and the wish was granted.

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The next few days passed slowly. Link and Zelda were in Hyrule castle. � How did you figure out that Anna was your sister?� Zelda asked, still curious about the unexplained events that took place the other day.
�Well....when I saw her for the first time, she brought back memories. Of my old home. Of my parents. And of the day she was born. I was only a few years old. I still remember my mother saying�Link, this is your little sister, Anna.� She was only a few weeks old when our parents left. At first, it was just a feeling I had. But after she told me her name, I remembered it all, in bits and pieces.�
Just then, the door opened, and Anna walked in. Link had wished for her to live. Although alive, she was still in pain, and walked into the room with much difficulty. As he continued his story, Anna painfully sat down and began to listen. Pain left as she heard Link speak. Now content, she continued to listen. �....and when she told me she was raised by her aunt, our mother�s sister, I remembered my uncle was our father�s brother. For some reason, our parents left us with different realatives. I also remember the pendant....it was our mother�s.� Anna added, �Half the reason I left home was to find the brother my aunt said I had,and I did.� She smiled up at Link, and he smiled back.

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