A RUN-IN WITH A REDEAD. [LOZ:OOT SHORT STORY]

Redead; the very name inspires torment to blossom forth from the recesses of the minds of those who gazed upon their rotting eye sockets. I, too, carry the burdensome sight of the damned that linger, but I've come to realize that perhaps they are simply misunderstood. I could argue until I'm as blue in the face as Morpha that not even the Dead Hand could be made to haunt the subconscious like those creatures, but we've all felt that way before. Instead, I'm going to give you a little something to consider. Maybe they aren't so bad; maybe the message they bring is lost in translation, due to their time spent decaying and therefore losing necessary brain function required to speak and act as they did in life. Allow me to share with you my most memorable Redead encounter, the one that, although still haunts me today, has given me precious perspective. Ahem...

It was a stormy night in Kakariko Village as I walked past the windmill. The eerie tune that came of that crazed old man's organ echoed in my ear as I passed on my way to the cemetery to pay my respects to the Royal Family. Nayru only knows why no one typically sees any of the remaining Sheikah doing the same, as they share a common lineage. Perhaps the memory of the "man who could see the truth" keeps them away, as such a damned spirit who struck the drums of war and inspired the bloodshed of years past should be as forgotten as the relic which carried his eye.

Being of Kokiri descent (or at that time I believed), I had no reason to fear any connection to the phantom shadow beast that hung decapitated from the ceiling of the great abyss deep within the Shadow Temple. Instead, I made my way past Dampe to the large memorial on the opposite side of the cemetery. Looking down, my eye caught the glyph of the Royal Family, one I saw many times while I was in Hyrule Castle speaking to the princess. Remembering the melody that binds them, I drew out my ocarina and began to play.

The skies grew ever darker as storm clouds blotted out the moon. Suddenly, a fierce wind blew and rain began to fall. My mind raced as I feared an omen, yet I remained still. After what felt like an eternity of uncertainty, a bright light spread across the earth shortly before the ground erupted, revealing a hole leading far below the surface. I don't know what possessed me to make the leap, as I've never been one for Dampe's little grave-digging tour, but still I leaped.

Once fresh air was replaced in my nostrils by the odor of death and decay. Below my feet rested earth as gray as the skeletons that laid before me. And though I knew I was mortal, I realized only too well that I did not belong amongst their ranks just yet. Though, even with that knowledge, a force seemed to take me by the hand and push me further into the crypt.

I gazed up from the center of the room to find strange markings cast into stone, which was carved as if to resemble stairs. The markings were of the Hylian tongue, but as a Kokiri, I knew not what they said. As I climbed over the cold stone, two torches stood before me on either side of a strange door built behind iron bars. Taking out Din's Fire (a gift from the most beautiful fairy in the land), I summoned forth a mighty flame, which struck the torches and filled the room with light. Just as I finished this, I saw what appeared to be small wings of a Keese burning on the wall and the iron bars flew up from the ground, leaving the door accessible. Again I felt the force draw me further into the grave, though my hands quaked with fear as to what I might uncover.

The way opened to a room with green smoke billowing from the floor out of poisonous fountains. I proceeded as the aura forced my legs onward, though my loss of free will betrayed me as I quickly realized that I was not alone down here. Creatures of skin and bone, with faces that resembled tree bark, moaned throughout the corridor. To gaze upon the face of death is a burden no mortal is made to carry, especially a child as I once was, and even more so the sight of one who was dead but has risen again by unholy means. Though, the gift of sight was not mine alone, I discovered, as the beasts turned their attention to me and lumbered forward.

What I heard escape their lips as they drew closer is a sound I still hear as I lie down to sleep; a scream so blood-curdling that it could cause even the strongest of men to fall lifeless at an instant. My body was stricken petrified by their anguished shout, and it wasn't long before I felt the cold fingers of the lifeless upon my shoulders. As I stood there helplessly, the face (or what one might call a face) of one of them crept over me and my eyes turned to meet what remained of its.

I could hear it speak through its droning, though the words were incomprehensibly slurred as the beast had lost movement in its mouth. Suddenly, a hand flew forward and motioned in the air as if to direct me, but I was much too afraid to understand what was being instructed of me. The beast stopped speaking and slumped off my back and onto the floor beside me. I felt this was as good a time as any to push forward and uncover what I felt so inclined to seek, and thus I ran as fast as my legs might take me to the room beyond this.

Inside this room I found what appeared to be another memorial, but had carvings this time that resembled what I understood to be music. I retrieved my ocarina and memorized the notes to the Chant of Passing, as I believed what few words came to mind as if by destiny. As the final note struck my instrument, a warmth seemed to blow through the crypt and struck me in the back. Far off in the distance, I could hear the faint squawking of a rooster as though the sun had risen, though the sound was muffled between the surface and where I stood.

Making my way back to the central room (as the corridor before was nothing but a dead end), I was greeted once again by the wandering undead, though this time they did not wander. Their skin appeared to have been bathed in light and they stood frozen to the ground, which gave me time to run past them, open the door between this room and the entrance, and emerge from the grave with my task completed. As I returned to the surface, I had to clench my eyes shut as a bright light shone upon my face until I had adjusted to it. Looking forward, a new day had dawned, though it wasn't even midnight when I walked past the windmill.

Had I truly traversed the halls of the departed for so long, or had the song I played inspired the sun to rise on my command. Realizing the power this tune possessed, I dropped its Hylian translation and adopted my own, simple name: the Sun's Song. Of course, perhaps I had read its name wrong and this was its true name all along, but how was I to know the language of a people that were alien to me at first glance.

I have since become enlightened to the truth and carved my own path in life. The words Navi spoke to me shortly before she flew away after I laid the Master Sword to rest in the Temple of Time still spark fond memories in my heart. And thus I thought, "Hey listen!"... Was she trying to tell me more than I could comprehend? Was it the Great Deku Tree's dying wish that I know not only the origins of myself, but of my true people, the Hylians?

Recalling that dreadful day when I first laid eyes on the deceased, I thought what this man could have said. All those words mumbled became clear given enough time, and his message I eventually translated. Having written down those words, I'll share them with you now:

"HEY YOU! Listen, and no matter what you do, DON'T PANIC! I know you're scared, but I need to tell you something; it's REAL important. You know that archery shop in the Castle Market? Yeah, don't aim directly at the rupees, but where they're going to be. I know its strange, but just take my word on it. Matter of fact, you're shaking, so I'll be back later to remind you, because I feel like you're a good kid.

A few of my friends and I plan on returning to the Market to have a little party as it gets kind of gloomy down here. It'll probably be a while before we can go back there, but hell, it's a dream of ours to attempt to return to our normal lives. When we get there, I hope you'll come by. I'll make sure all of my friends know who you are, so that if they see you, they can yell, "HEY, LINK!" and give you a big hug, because you're my friend... right?

Of course, you've got no reason not to be. Well, I'll see you later. Remember what we spoke of today, because I'd hate to never see my best friend again. And one last word: don't sell your soul to Ganon, or you'll wake up down here with us."

Now I feel kind of bad for using them as target practice for the Master Sword after awakening from my slumber in the Temple of Time. But heck, what're you gonna do?