See, that's my problem. I know that Link is going to leave the isle. Becuase he must.
Link is starving. In reality, he has now been drifting for several days. Hyrulian metabolism is different to humans in my story, so they can go for longer without eating.
If he can't/doesn't leave Kohol island, he's gonna die.
By about eth fourth chapter he's locked in another plane of reality, where he'll take the stage for his ultimate battle against the nightmares. In (reality?) Marin, having been the closest to Link, was taught how to handle a sword and his weapons. They spent endless hours toying with the various (non lethal) weapons
So she has to defend koholint.
The ultimate boss is the spawn of the Nightmares. The nightmare child.