Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ❯ Maiden of Forests ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter IV: Maiden of Forests.

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.

"Link…Link…Link… wake up."

Blinding flashes of light were the last things he remembered a light so large and fast it would have stopped him in his tracks. Now, only a few seconds later a deep voice within his head sounded him, but the boy shook his head numbly and kept those lips shuts. Suddenly the voice was a bit impatient, yet all the same a gentle tone came out of it, soothing the boy awake as a mother would do when trying to be firm, yet having the parental touch. Yet again the boy kept away from the gruff voice (not recognizing it as Navi's, so totally ignoring it.) Whatever he did to the voice, seemed to spark him awake as it yelled out in a furious tone, the deliberate fury of the tone stoning him awake in his path.

"Link!" Peeking through those blonde brows, the pupils did, refocusing them out after a good night's sleep, but hadn't he just pulled the--ah, the thought wasn't there, it was as if he was brainwashed. The room he was in, was blue, the only colour of the room, some of the areas infront of him black, and the land where it was stand able was a blue that shimmered in between white and gray with them, switching back occasionally. Spying no one in his path of vision, the boy's lids sunken back down into semi-consciousness before a loud grunt gutted h back to the three-fourths of a consciousness. Seeing no one still in his way, he looked over to the left, only to be surprised by a bulbous man seated upon a yellow platform.

"Link, you are awake." The man, who looked about in his early fifties, was a medium skinned man with a long tuff of gray hair staring at the rims of his head and connecting into a full-grown beard above his nose. Where hair should have been on the top of the head, was nothing but baldness stood abrupt. Studying those dark eyes, he moved away from the least interesting part of the chunky man and went down to the main course: his ensemble. A huge red scarf was sticking off of his neck, seeing that if it went over his head than you wouldn't have been able to see his head, maybe like the Grim Reaper. That part really did give Link the shivers, thinking that maybe the impact of the sword had killed him and now some fat creature was judging him.

Connecting to the scarf was a deep, luscious orange robe that flowed right down to the tips of his feet, starting at about where his shoulders were give, the robe so long that the man's hands weren't even shown in it (of course, that could be for the victim's sake.) Victim's sake? Now he was talking nonsense, and going back to examining the man, he saw that the scarf wasn't a scarf at all, it went down towards the end of his chest and cut off, so it was a robe. At the center of the robe wasn't white at all, but a bright white colour, that was either sown into the robe, or some sort of undershirt shown off to the public. No, with close examination he concluded it had to is another robe sown in, for at where his hips would be were the tassels of the white robe (on both sides), blue marks being imprinted upon them.

Shaking his head In disbelief at where his stomach was, there stood some sort of belt snapped across it as if he were some championship fighter, imprinted in the center of the belt yellow stitching of the Triforce. Surrounding the symbol were six other symbols, each stitched in another colour, but none of them were actually filled in with anything of the yarn. Finally, below the belt was the end of the robe, a matching part to the robe that was the same colour, but was actually the front part of the robe. Letting a piece of cloth hide down to cover up any of his legs that might have shown through this uniform. No shoes or sandals were on the man, for his feet were covered up with him, and to Link's approval he wore no scythe in his hand. Staring at the man with deep ease, he couldn't help but feel rejoice to see him.

"Young hero, you have awakened. I am Rauru, the Sage of Light."

"And I am Link, nice to meet you, Rauru-sama." Sage was a high title, so he shouldn't disapprove of this being, the funny thing was that he didn't know exactly what a sage did, he guessed it was some sort of high priest since he had mentioned himself of Light. From his clothes, he did resemble an old priest, since many hadn't been around Hyrule in this day and age, there didn't seem to be a need to worship deities for the Hylians, they seemed to have understood the world of science, leaving the Triforce as a myth. Well, Link couldn't disregard it anymore, he had seen the Master Sword, and now was looking around a room he had never seen before, only awakening himself less than three minutes ago. Not being able to move, the silent boy stared down at the man, as if asking for help.

"Ah, yes, young hero. You don't even have to speak; I can read it in your face. But before I let you down, stare down into your reflection, you will notice something eerily different about you." That did freak out the boy, how could a priest read his thoughts? Smiling nervously, the boy looked down at where the man pointed, but never got to the reflection, he was mesmerized at the resemblance this place had to his pre-existing place, the place where he pulled the sword out. It was the exact same platform as before, same shape--everything was the same--except the structure was blue and each of the marks that had been a deep gray from before were now in multiple colours. Next to the one where Rauru stood was a green one, followed by red, blue, purple, and yellow. Some of the symbols he recognized once again.

Shaking his head, as he looked for the pedestal and sword (for he felt it not on his body) the boy stared down at the water, his eyes drawn back--his face shuddering--w-was this a dream! There in the cool reflection of the water wasn't a boy at all; there was some sort of man in his place. Falling to his knees, the reflection splattering when his knees collapsed down, he looked at the man with worry plastered on his face--seeing it also on the man's face. In the aquatic illusion was a man with the same clothes on as him, except they were much bigger, a complete white undershirt on under his body, bigger boots, a larger satchel and side pack, plus gloves were on this man's hands. The same hat, the same hair (just now stopping at below the front part of his spine), the sword and shield put on behind him. Shuddering with disbelief, he shook his head, slamming that light colored glove into the water--staring in horror as his hand did indeed have the glove snatched upon it.

Shaking his head again, longer elven ears remaining in place, he studied his structure: the darker skin, a pointer nose, the hat having been added onto so that it would be the same size, and his ears! He had piercing in his ears? T-this…what is this! Leaping up in a bound, the new white suit soaked in the warm water, along with the brim of his tunic, he stared down at this so-called Sage with a rage that was fired beyond all belief. How could be this old, for one he was a Kokiiri, it had only been a few minutes, and where was Navi! Crying out silently, detecting for the first time that his own voice was indeed a lot deeper than any of the Kokiiri's could have seemed, he laid his hands down on their sides, touching the building abdominal muscles that had developed over a period of seconds.

"N-now, Hero, let me ex--" The Sage's face had become quite flustered, never had he imagined such a reaction from someone like this, the anger swelling in his face was unbelievable. Only thing to do was reason with him, somehow, or someway, whichever came first. Those ends of his robe where his arms were supposed to go weren't too small; they were banded shut by some sort of rubber, preventing his own hands from escaping. Rubbing the left cloth at his chin, the other one staying at the man's chest, he tried to speak again, only interrupted.

"My name is Link! What did you do to me!"

"W-we had to seal you up for se--"

"We, who is we!"

"The Goddess', I was told to seal you up, now be quiet!" Flashing a hand before the boy, he stopped in a sudden movement, paralyzed for the time being. "When you pulled the Sword of Evil's Bane from the Pedestal you were destined to become the Hero of Time, but you were too young to become the hero, you see, so you were sealed up in here: the Chamber of Sages, for the next seven years."

"Seven years…are you serious?" Seven long years, years he could have spend re-aquatint himself with new people, reminiscing with old ones, seeing the new lands, finding new journeys, and he had spent seven years locked up in this stupid hell-hole, aging at a marketable speed of a normal person. How could someone be so cruel, how could they have pent up anger so much to let this happen, why wasn't he just left in the Forest where he could spend his days until he grew up (which still mystique him.) Curse them, curse them for doing this, for taking my childhood away, how dare they have such a right? He was the one taking care of the land, not them!

"Yes, Hero of Time."

Spitting off to the side, he growled at the man. "Do not call me that." It wasn't as if he this reward was bad to him, for he did deserve the title, he did beyond all recognition, but he would not accept that title upon him, until he truly felt that this was a good thing. Right now not even excepting this face as a wonderful event. Catching the paste of dishonor in the old man's face, the older boy came to think that maybe this was one of the original sages he had read about oh-so-long ago in his teachings from Saria. They were still fresh on his mind, what else would be for seven long years, but moreover, he came to think that the Light was a position in the sages.

"How come I have never read of this place before?"

"It is so sacred that it isn't covered in your history books, plus up until now it wasn't that real important. This place is the last stronghold of the Sacred Realm, the rest was corrupted by the evil king." Shaking his head a little, Rauru had to keep from throwing up to throw those images out of his mind. Clasping his hands together, he watched the newly awakened hero question his surroundings.

"Where his my friend?"

"Who, you mean your guardian?"

"My friend." Having no time for these foolish traits, he clicked his tongue partially from impatience and waited as the man stared down at the ground, mumbling silently to him and after a few minutes nothing happening. Keeping his arms crossed upon his chest, a small crystal appeared before the boy, the size of a block in his hands, beginning to rapidly un-melt. Link had a feeling that was what he, himself, had been trapped in for close to a decade, and that feeling still didn't suit too well for him--why didn't they at leas tell him, then maybe he would have done it for the good of the country. What good of the country, the King of Hyrule has probably taken care of this place, Ganon is dead.

At the very bottom of the melting process, two simple cracks occurred upon each side of the stone wall, the two slabs of ice disappearing back into the water and going back to wince they came from. There, unconsciousness for the time being was his young fairie, she having grown over these seven years also. From before she was only the size of his middle finger, but now she was two inches taller than that, getting a little bit bigger in ounces. Wings had spread out in six different directions now, two pair in the front to keep her performance at its best. Studying the skin that was just as silk, blue hair dropping down to her waist, and the same clothes, but different sizes on her--he couldn't help to smile.

"Navi…" Ignoring the big man who had just tried to explain the situation in Hyrule; all he heard was something about Ganon. Not caring about that wet-bag of a man, the boy continued to blow upon his fairie with gentle breezes, wiping off the crystals of ice that had formed around had when the ice was melting. Somehow as it melted, it had kept her dry, so she was still as dry as he had been just before waking up. Holding her upon his palm, he blew a few more times, before those eyes jutted awake to the eyes of someone new--someone foreign. That wasn't a good reaction for the new meeting with an old friend, for she did not great up, but flew away from him, searching around.

Where was she? What had happened? Nothing made sense, she awoke in some stranger's arms, and someone dressed in a green tunic like Link, but not Link at all. Looking around the room, she recognized it as the room they had only pulled the sword out a few seconds ago, looking about the room, she saw that it was entirely blue and black. A bearded man and the young teen that had touched her were the only places around here--the old man sitting on the yellow insignia. While the boy sat on the middle section--well stood--upon the thing that held out Triforce mark with only the one on the left was lit up in this picture. No Link, no pedestal, no nothing at all, she shook her head, trying to fly away from the two, but was caught by a pair of strong arms. Automatically she began to sizzle and burst, maybe trying to burn his hands in the process, but damned all the luck that he wore some study gloves. Holding her above his face (maybe to eat me), she stared down into those perpendicular blue eyes.

"Navi…what's wrong with you?" The voice wasn't familiar, it was smooth and sweet, and having not been hit the right notes of puberty all that from a few years ago.

"W-who're you?"

"…Navi, y-you don't recognize me?" Dropping her, who she caught herself up, the young teen leapt off his platform and dove straight for the man in the beard, cursing wildly under his breath. When he neared the man, the older one held his hands infront of his face, summoning a bright shield that deflected the boy back to his seat. Slumping down in the water, he slammed his fist down on the hard marble of the structure, looking over to Navi with a face that changed so quickly it was unbelievable. The face of anger switched so surprisingly to that of utter compassion, to sadness seeping in the ends of it. "Navi…it's me, Link."

"You aren't Link…Link is ten years old, he is a little boy, and a Kokiiri. Besides you look nothing like him--"

"I know! It's weird, but this guy--he claims to be the sage of Light-- he says that I have aged during these seven years of eternal sleep." The man had tried to interrupt Link, but he glared back at him, ready to pounce him at will be, when the man just crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from the group. Good, let them discuss this amongst themselves, because from what Link was getting at, it would take quite a while for them to get used to this sort of stuff--to get used to being much older--that is if he could convince Navi it was him. She might become too hard-headed and just flat-out leave Link searching for the real Link, unless he had some sort of evidence, maybe some sort of proof.

"You have no evidence you are Link, so I won't believe you." Crossing her arms firmly across her chest, she managed to take a look down and saw that he wasn't lying about the years of aging, that had went on, but Link shouldn't be like that. Link would be about Saria's size, not much older than thirteen would, and that was supposed to be the age he would remain the rest of his life. Studying her new form had actually made her feel nice--she felt beautiful in this form--not that the other form was cute, but it was a kid form. This little piece was her woman-self, a self she had been dying to get into, but the wait had been forever.

"Rauru-sama, cover your ears! And no mind-reading!" Turning at the man called Rauru, the man gave a little smile, covering his hands upon his ears, making the change in his face seem like he had just died. Turning back to Navi, he placed a palm upon her, scooping her up into his arms and looked down at her--smiling a little, before he leaned in and pecked her cheek. That wasn't the proof, of course not, it was just something that he would remember her by if she decided to high tail it. Yet for the time being she seemed to be tolerating him, so he petted her hair out and spoke softly, making that louder voice seem to disappear, at least momentarily. "The proof is that a few nights before I grabbed the sword we kissed--ain't no way no one else knew about that, but me and you."

Gasping, her hands clasped over her mouth, she looked over to him and pointed with only one finger. Giving a slight grin, and nodding, he stood up from his place and snapped his fingers to the man, who uncovered his face and seemed to come back alive. Navi stood in silence, of course it was Link--there was no need for anymore testimonials, if this was an imposter there was no way he could have gotten that out of Link, and plus, he wouldn't have known otherwise. Landing up upon his harder skin, she rested on her shoulder, running her fingers through his hair, then his neck--so amazed at how much he had changed. Maybe it was something to do with the Deku magic leaving you when you left the forest that made him grow up, that could be a factor to consider.

"You are from the ancient text, right?" Link blurted out, staring at the man.

"Why, yes, Hero, I am." Keeping true to his wishes, 'Hero' was much better for Link. "I am one of the original six sages, the other five having died out unfortunately from one way or another--perhaps to the most relevant trials of Ganondorf." Rauru's face turned grim, the expression souring.

"Ganondorf--he's still around?" Now the name did perk interest in Link's mind, he was contented with having proved his innocence to his faire; so the boy did want to learn what had gone on in the world these past seven years. Without so much as a word, Rauru didn't bother to explain he silently went dormant again and projected images that had been cast down by the Goddesses to the Sages, images that what happened those seven years ago. After Ganondorf had seen the young boy gone without a trace and decided to make the most of it, by reaching for the heavens and taking the power of the God's for himself.

Images of Ganondorf riding to the gates of Hyrule Castle Market with an entire army of Gerudo women at his side, no one else could be seen as it seemed every person of the civilization had banded up for this event. Young and old, even some of the teenagers were about acting as squires if they couldn't muster the strength to fight. At first the King thinking it was some sort of joke, he was later very mistaken when they attacked through the streets of the market, destroying men, women, children, and burning anything that came within their way. It didn't last very long, an indeed, since the knights were positioned so far away that the town market was burnt before they could even make it halfway.

Ambushing most of the knights when they went in the market to search for survivors, the pitiful men were savagely mutilated in all parts of their bodies, screaming for a painless death, but rewarded with hours and hours of torture. Holding back the tears, the boy watched in silence as all the knights were taken care of (at least the ones that had left) the Gerudos and Ganon had rode the days trip to the castle gates of Hyrule, but instead of fighting with the men, Ganondorf did something else. The man ripped off his left glove and out shone a Triforce symbol, a piece of the symbol glowing up at the top and in a flash of an instant the battle was over.

Buildings crumbled, people murdered, the King was sliced to bits by the ravaging Ganondorf with him and his new power too the throne as not the King of Thieves, but as Ganondorf, the King of Evil. This had happened less than a week after Link had been gone, the land over the next few years being dried and sucked out of until it was barren all around Hyrule Castle market. People fled from that place, cursing the Goddesses, and praying for some sort of hero that never came. Now the castle that once housed the royal family only housed the Evil King--himself-- and his minions for bidding his own evil, no one could get inside for it was pinned up with a barrier and other resources. Rauru didn't show the castle to them, for he said that they would see it in due time.

The images faded away in a slowly mask of fate, the boy holding back the tears, as Navi burst into a few of her own, being comforted by the boy. Sage of Light wrapped his arms around his chest, giving a gruff nod to the woman's content, and waiting until it was finally over to speak to them as a whole. When Navi had dried herself up, gotten contented with her again, the man stared at the boy with a questionable look on his face. Nodding that the emotions were not to be spread until later, Rauru accepted this conference and went on with his story.

"Ganondorf is now the King of Evil, as you saw. That is where you step in, Hero of T--Hero."

"I have another mission?"

"Unfortunately, you do. I am assigning you to freeing the six sages of the lands; each one with the combined power of the Master Sword will be able to take down the evil King. When you left this world, the man called Ganon went inside the Door of Time and entered the Sacred Realm. There he tried to seize the Triforce for himself, only resisting being able to break the piece into three separate parts: Courage, Power, and Wisdom. We have no idea where Wisdom is, Ganon has the piece of Power, and as for Courage…take off your right glove."

Slipping it off, the power that exterminated made him hold it back in fear of blinding himself. There upon his left hand, the back of his hand was a Triforce symbol embodied into his skin with the left mark was glowing brightly. Staring at it for a few more seconds, he slipped the glove on that concealed the light of it, giving no detection what-so-ever to what had been the best source of power he had ever seen. Looking up to Rauru, the man smiled greatly, his arms opening in a welcome signal before doing what he had done best: explaining.

"Yes, you have Courage. Be warned, do not show that piece to just anybody, for there are people who have been corrupted by Ganon's evil and would turn you in a second. Ganondorf thinks you were burnt to pieces when you laid your hands upon the sword, so until you defeat the first temple he will not know otherwise. There are six sages to awaken, but I will make it easy for you--since the Temple of Time is the temple of light and I am already awakened you shall receive my medallion."

"Medallion?" Navi spoke up, Link was busy snapping his glove on, and wondering what material concealed such. Flipping the glove back in and out of its position a few times, he stopped when Navi slapped him on the arm, trying to make him pay attention. Mentally he was the same, not that he was stupid, but still had the innocence of a young child. Yet his adult side did show, as she had seen earlier before, something that seemed flawed in most ways, but high, too.

"Remember those Spiritual stones you collected? Well, those blue lights that you thought powered you up--you were mistaken, it was the jewels themselves that added their power into you--even Ruto's, even though you didn't know you were getting it. It was as if the jewel itself knew it, all those blue lights did was used teleportation." Pulling out around his neck, he produced a small medallion that would be able to fit in the palm of their hands. Placing the medallion to Link, he gasped as some power surged through him--not like the jewel's powers, but power he needed since he was an adult, and that was something to be able to wield the blade well.

"What is this?" Link pondered out in the open.

"This is the Light Medallion, hero, it contains a sum of my power needed for you."

"Thank you Rauru-san. Will we see you again?"

"Oh, yes. I am the leader of the Sages so whenever you open up a temple and awaken a sage you shall be returned here to receive the medallion and the power. Please do not lose these medallions, they are needed to open up the gates to Ganondorf's castle." Waving to the boy, he seemed to disappear from existence, as another blue light surrounded their body, the fear of another seven years passing before both of their eyes. It soon went away when that shocking feeling from before wasn't there, the emotion that time itself had stopped in mid-air. As the lights cleared, they stared out into the darkness, quite unable to see where they were, a quiet hymn being played in the background. Navi recognized it automatically: the Temple of Time.

The hymn, it was so beautiful, with the composition of humming of the ancients, clashed with an old textile organ playing, Link couldn't help but sigh a deep content of pleasure when he stepped from the platform, hands weakened at his side. Not having yet learned how to draw his sword, the teen would occasionally lay a finger upon the hilt, as if ready to yank it out at any prepared second. Smiling contented, from the windows shown it was dark, but none of the moon shown through the lights, either it was a new moon or something was abyss. Also, the sky that had once been a perfect blue from that scene in the windows that streamed up a few miles, were now painted a violet colour. I have no time to deal with this; we must see what has happened to this work… Looking down at the pedestal for his new and improved sword (the previous one, and a lot of his weapons missing), the boy did it to remind himself he was back in the real world and not in a land of sages. Tapping his foot upon the ground, getting his legs straightened, he tried to balance his weight and walk.

That ended up in a little bit of a disaster, Link had barely weighted over a hundred pounds before, and now he was packing up in the sixties, also holding down a five feet and seven inch broad frame. Stumbling over, the boy hit the ground with a wheeze sound out of his mouth. It was a little bad, but with some quick movements of his hands, he was up again and began to descent down the stairs of the platform. Taking each small step, trying with all his might not to trip over the medallion insignia's, the boy came to the very end of the room when a voice rocked in his direction. Correction, the voice rocked behind him, a voice deep and menacing, somehow holding a gentle touch with it at the same time.

"It's sad the hero can be so clumsy." A male voice, but not Ganondorf.

Spinning around, shifting in his knees and falling back down, he tilted his larger head up only to meet the eyes (or eye) of a male Hylian, but the attire showed that this couldn't be a Hylian, something else, perhaps? Around where his head was, stood a large white piece of cloth, serving as some sort of cap, or protection from attacks (although not very heavy, so it wouldn't provide perfect protection.) Sticking from the cap were streaks of golden blonde hair, most of it covered by the piece of cloth, so he could only notice the spikiness of the bangs that hung from the left and right in a fashion that revealed his face. Concealed underneath the hair stood a dark-skinned complexion, with crimson pours standing out for his enjoyment. Normally this could have been an albino Hylian, but the skin was a dead give-away that this person was far from white, he had been heavily tanned in more ways than one.

The rest of his skin could have been white, for all Link knew, for on his muscled body was a body suit, much better looking than Link's. Starting off with a large white collar that stood up all the way up to the end of his nose, hiding the face and giving his voice the booming effect. Below that Shinobi mask, connected in all ways, was a long white jump suit that in the vest part was white with a simple sign of a blood red eye, the pupil opened up while three triangles in the north, northwest, and north east directions sticking out. Attached underneath the eye was a red blood drop that was painted on, going on for several inches, and reminding him more of a teardrop, than a blood-drop. Around the shoulders was a separate layer of cloth, maybe to conceal in dark places from enemies, but it was white so that idea was trashed in an instant. Rest of the appendages, up until his thighs, were poured on with a sleek material that Link didn't have the words to describe, stopping at the thighs and consisting of the same colour, but turning a light shade of blue.

"W-who're you?" He asked dumbly, reaching for his sword as protection.

"Tsk, tsk tsk. If I was an enemy, you'd be dead." Holding his hand out, that was bandages for no apparent reason, he held out some shurikens for Link's exposure. Tossing the bladed knives up in his hands, not even worrying that if they so much as moved in the wrong direction he'd have a spilt appendage. The Shinobi returned the star-shaped knives into a little slot that rested around his waist, looking like a small sheath for a dagger, except larger. Now they couldn't see the expression upon the man's face, but from the look in his one eye (the other covered by that piece of cloth) a definite smirk was on his part. Maybe for Link's lack of strength, maybe for that he didn't know why Link seemed so weak, and named the Hero of Time.

"Who are you, ninja?" Navi asked calmly, the weapons didn't impress her, nothing seemed to impress her upon him. The boy didn't look very friendly, so he might have been an assassin to take care of the boy if he ever reappeared, or one who guarded the Temple of Time. He didn't seem like the guarding type, more like the type who would want to be in battle more often than once, living for the taste of blood whenever a battle ended, always wanting more. Shuddering in recognition, the little Farie stood infront of the boy (whose face had gone incredibly pale when he saw the stars), keeping her stance as a guard for this one. They had just arrived and no two-bit punk was going to take care of her partner the second he touched ground, no, no she wouldn't allow for him to lay a finger upon him.

"I admire your courage, maybe you should become the Time's hero, little sprite. Not this wimp…" Leaning against the wall, in the shadows, the man had moved away from the pedestal and back into the shadows from wince it came. Admiring the shadows was something that anyone could do, respecting the dark and the stealth it gave out, loving how darkness could over win the lightness in any fight. A shrieking sound of metal came out, when the man stepped back into the light he had two extra additions added to his wrapped hands. Lying on the hands were a pair of gloves, razor sharp spikes sticking out of them, dried blood crusted on the edges from previous fights.

"We're going to fight?"

'I am not your enemy, hero. I was called to train you, too wield you in that sword, you are so clumsy with it I doubt you can life it." Wiping a brush of hair from the back of his head, Link could just smell a pretty-boy face under there. How dare he be so rude to him, for no reason at all, and the boy nodded a quick approval reaching for his new blade and yanking it out of the new sheath that rested just below his old Hylian Shield. With a thinner sound of metallic riding, the boy held the double-edges sword out in two hands (even though the sword was a one-handed, he wasn't used to so much in a blade, that this one seemed so immense.) Giving a small grin of approval, pointing the sword at the man, Link clicked his tongue a few times.

"Wait, there are rules. You are out of this fairie." Before she could reply, the new one had appeared right infront of her a small bottle encased in her hands. Slamming her into the battle, he snapped the cap upon it, the jar being compressed in their so no air could enter or exit. Smirking, through that cloth veil, the boy threw up the jar, catching it with little ease and placed it about ten feet away from him, without moving, or so it seemed to the young Link. Reacting quickly, charging in, the man shook his head and pointed at the bottle with a little sigh placing down his throat, showing he was definitely up to something, it not anything else.

"Defeat me and she lives, lose and she dies. Hold you tongue fairie! There is only two minutes in there…" Throwing down a small seed, the room filled with mist, the ninja falling out in an instant to his whereabouts. Yet the smoke didn't clear as when he was in the fights with Impa, it simply stayed there. Must be a Shiekah. Link quickly jumped for the bottle, only to be thrown back by some mystical force, a force field of some kind, and cursing his luck, the boy heard a small taunt about how cheating wouldn't get him anywhere in the room, the voice seeming like it came from everywhere. Gripping the hilt of the sword, it suddenly didn't seem to weigh as much as before, the real nature of the sword revealed as the edge of it began to glow brighter and brighter, as if absorbing the young hero.

"Ha, you are the hero! Only he could do that, now use your quick skills to find me, or the one dies." Goddess, how can he throw his voice like that? Link had heard of ventriloquist, but this guy was throwing his voice so far that it seemed to be going in every direction in the room at once. While the right hand gripped the sword bravely, the left hand held out his hand to searched with his hands over his eyes to stare around the room for some sort of movement, some sort of detection of some kind. When nothing went around, the boy reached through his new side pack to see what just the great Light Sage had removed. Missing his boomerang, Fairie Slingshot, Deku sticks, and the sapling seed was all that was gone, and his little tunic that he wore as a child, that one also throw away or something. Grabbing out for a Deku Nut, he threw it out towards his left, seeing a flash of light, but nothing move.

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She shouldn't of let her guard down, she should have shot that freak from the moment she saw him. Yea, that was a Shiekah, why hadn't she noticed it before, she had read about them oh-so long ago. The symbol meant for the Royal Family, the tear added so recently to represent when the Shiekah were all dead except a few, a symbol that Impa had added only fifteen or so years ago. Shiekah's were dirty and underhanded; they had both faced some brutal attacks by the great Impa when training with her. Stealth skills, hidings down, finding her within a time limit. Why hadn't she noticed it before, it was so simple that a child could have figured it out in a matter of seconds.

Seconds were too late as she pounded upon the invulnerable jar, trying to yank on the top of it with no choice but take shallow breaths, holding her breath whenever possible. Firing Ki marks didn't seem to work either, the bottle either absorbed them or deflected them (which was bad in a jar) back at him. Staring through the glass, she silently cheered on her boy as he began to throw nuts around, understanding the concept behind the strategy and what was the plan. If Navi could have talked through the glass she could have told him his location in a matter of seconds, the night-vision of her magic working with her. The Shiekah had obviously seen that, imprisoning me for that handicap, and that the stakes were to low. I mean, this person obviously wanted Link for some reason or another.

Cheering silently within the bottle, she finally got out of the process of yelling, and into the process of keeping her breaths calm and clean. Or hoping that the man was lying to get on Link's bad side or that her former Kokiiri could get move a little faster and catch that creep in the head-lock that he deserved. Whatever his problem was, they were going to fix it, if he had some sort of grudge then maybe they would duel it out, but how dare it separate them. They were a team, they didn't need someone keeping them locked up together, but the instant thought of them being separate. That's what Impa said. Exactly what she had said, that one day they might be trapped, so was this some sort of follower of Impa?

Hoping that their sensei was a former trader to Ganondorf (if this kid even did work for the evil King) her hopes were drained clean when she noticed that through her night-vision the boy was watching Link throw the little nuts. It was as if he were testing the boy, knowing full well what was happening, but allowing it to happen so that it was destiny. Maybe the boy was just resting us to get on our bad sides, and if that was what he aimed for, he got it. Leaning up against the clean glass, she let her aura stay on, sighing a little bit, this fight wasn't going to take long. If it were, then she'd find out what the ninja's true intentions were. Unfortunately for her, she would be dead when that happened.

--------------------

"That won't work, I can't be paralyzed."

"We'll see about that, heh...Throwing out a total number of seven nuts in the room, each in a different direction, he detected no movement from the Shiekah, only the occasional middle-of-the-room chuckling and some taunting that paralyzing wasn't going to happen for this ninja. The funny thing was that the boy wasn't trying to freeze him in his tracks, he was looking for the smarter position, the position where it was easier too see through the mist when the flash of burst came about. Finally the seventh nut stuck to the northeastern section, seeing a figure sitting behind in the twilight, leaning against the wall. Only a few minutes or so left, go for the old approach! Turning to the northwest, he threw another nut, growling with frustration, trying his acting skills out for a few seconds.

"Damnit, where is he? I can't find him, maybe here?" Leaping to the northwestern direction, the man was caught in the middle of a laugh when Link had pounced on top of him, holding the man down by the throat, the sword held to his side in a slashing manner. Gasping, the Shinobi had been tricked indeed, for while he was chuckling away from the boy's inconvenience, Link had made a quick attack to the left and overtaken the defenseless one. With a grip upon his neck, so close to breaking it that he could taste it, the boy gave a sickening grin from his lips while they moved down into the light that was shining from the Triforce symbol up at the top of the room. "Let her go, now!"

Disappearing away from the lad, the man snapped his fingers once, the jar disappearing and Navi reappearing next to Link's side, as the two rejoiced in a few hugs and kisses, the Shinobi stared off to the side about to gag from all the emotion. To be a Shiekah meant to be alone, like a Shinobi or ninja, it meant to stay in the darkness, the shadow of the Royal Family, not to be respected, nor honored. He understood this taking great pride in his situations, not even admiring the boy for his power. Finally, the boy turned back to the man, did he fully begin to talk to that one: the hero.

"What is your name, Shinobi?" The gagging fairie answered, still trying to clear her lungs from the past adventures. Link patted her on the back, since he didn't have a grip on the boy any more; it was obvious that he was testing them, from the point in his skill he could probably take them out. The thing was that he didn't, so that showed he wasn't some accursed man, but someone with a mission, maybe another person who taught techniques, or maybe another rival looking for a quick thrill. Whatever the case, it was obvious that the cheering section of this band camp were ready to take on anyone who would directly hurt another member of the team.

"Shiek, and I am a Shiekah. Never call me 'Shinobi'." From the tone in his voice, he didn't appreciate the Shinobi too much. Maybe it was like that bond between Samurai and Ninja, if you got them mixed up then dire consequences were faces from the people of both clans. Shinobi were stealthier, wore black, and killed for a living. Navi didn't really know what a Shiekah did, it had been so long ago since they lived, except the gentle Impa, but obviously they were loyal. Maybe the complete opposite of Shinobi, where they killed they Shiekah would clean and help others in need. That would be a good reason for becoming over-edgy of a name.

"Alright, Shiek. What is your business here?"

"Hrm, I am here for help, if you must know. I know your partner here is the Hero of Time."

"Hero of Time, what's that?" Link slapped his head. Of course! Navi had been resting when this went on, but he, himself had no idea what exactly the Hero of Time was. From the meaning it meant maybe someone who traveled through time, also being a hero? That would be good in this case, because figuratively he did travel ahead seven years in time, without his own knowledge, or growing up. Only problem was that there wasn't a way to get back down this his original form, relive his childhood that had been washed away in an instant. Staring down glumly, the boy recollected upon those thoughts as Shiek explained.

"The Hero of Time is the person who shall wield the blade that repels evil, the Master Sword. Also, the Hero of Time shall change the future for all of Hyrule by defeating the once re-noted King of Thieves, Ganondorf Dragmire. To perform this task, you will have to cross through forest, down into mountains, in the most vast sea, out in the spirits of the dead, and deep within the desert." Smiling to himself as his small introduction, he went on. "The Hero shall be the most powerful, most will not believe he is the hero, maybe a False Prophet, or just another insane person who has gone mad over the time that Ganondorf has been around, you and your partner shall be the ones to take out this evil. He being dubbed the Hero of Time and you being dubbed the Fiireui Ruiilu, or Fiery Ruin. As the old sage may have presented to you, you must collect all five medallions from the places I explained."

"I-I see. So, you are saying we are to go to the Lost Woods, Death Mountain, Hylia, somewhere ancient, and the Gerudo home?" Link stated out, looking up at the man. No, not a man, a boy he had to be, but still older than him.

"No, hero, I am not saying that. I am not saying anything to you, for this is your destiny and you shall handle it however you like. Now I want you to draw your blade--you seem to be able to handle it with one hand--so attack me as hard as you can."

"A-attack you? You are unarmed!"

"Just do it, idiot! You need to learn or you will not accept in your leadership as the hero. Understand that the training you received from Impa was essential, but these monsters are twice as fierce compared to these new monsters. They are rulers from each division, under Ganondorf's power, or his generals."

How does he know about that? How could this guy know about him and Rauru, the stones quest, and Impa? Shaking his head, the bangs slicing to the left and right as he turned, the boy grappled for his sword, the slithering sound of a snake resented as it slid from its holster. Holding the blade right before him, giving a quick and honorable bow to Shiek, he pressed the Shiekah in the most admirable fashion he could seem good. Still worried about the fact that Shiek had no weapons on him, no shield for defense, nor could he detect any manna for a physical barrier. That worried him beyond belief, not really caring for the older boy, but not wanting to ruin his life just before the man was cocky. Biting his lip, the boy swung to the left of Shiek's ribcage.

"He's gone, Link!" She couldn't believe that, right when Link had sliced down at his side, the boy seemed to vanish, as if he were an apparition. Simply amazed by the conflict, her eyes began to wonder around the room to see that if he was real or not, but she wasn't really surprised when she saw him hiding amongst the shadows, a finger to his lips for her to quiet herself. Not that that stopped the young fairie from spilling the action to Link, so she quickly whispered a few words in the boy's ears, loving the face that appeared on Shiek. Absolutely ridiculed, she could see that he raised his finger up, the middle one, giving it to her before taking off into the deepest part of the room. He could be anywhere, for the boy could hide up in the shadows, farther up than Link could reach.

"Link…I don't see him anymore."

"Hrm, where could he be. I wish he would just att--" His prayers were answered when something caught him in the left of his eyes. Gasping, a leap back saved his skin as the Shiekah came down with a malicious look plastered upon his face, baring weapons that Link hadn't even paid much heed to until now. The claws that were hooked to his hands--not real ones, but metal ones--they had slit down right for Link's face when he had dodged the attack. Raising the sword up, the boy knew that this attack couldn't be dodged, they were head on together, nothing was going to save him, for Link was near a corner that Shiek was blocked into. Link also noticed that down where the palms were, there was a pair of spikes sticking out, so if he were to grab someone they would be pierced. Preparing himself, the sweat tingling from his brow, he threw his weight all into the blade to vanquish the evil.

Shiiing

Oh, my Goddess how did he! With the blade pressed upon Shiek, or so it seemed, the enlarged Kokiiri was staring down at the man whose eye was gleaming a re-collectively amount of crimson. Both of his hands were crossed in the shape of an 'X' giving off the indication of trying to defend himself, but what was weird was how he was holding himself off. Feet spread a few feet out, the hands were shaped like the letter at the beginning, but near where the claws were was where the fun started, they were hooked in with the blade. Yes, somehow, at the right exact moment Shiek had grasped the blade with his sword, letting that cold look give out to Link that this wasn't just luck.

"How did you--" Link began only to be cut off.

"Because I am better…" Using the wall as a deflector, he pressed his back up against it and jumped into the air, pressing his feet into Link's chest for balance. Those shoes he wore weren't so hard, so nothing was broken when Shiek launched himself off of the boy, using him as some sort of catapult, skydiving over the boy's head and revealing himself back into the shadows before Link could even manage up the power to turn around. When he finally did spin around, all he saw was his silent partner and the darkness that seemed to have filled up the entire space. It was if the Triforce that was in the entire Temple was fading, fading fast--he didn't think it had to do with Shiek either.

"Did you see that?" Navi blurted out, looking out with her eyes around the room. Somehow the boy couldn't be detected of the intense darkness. It had gotten so dark now that the only parts that were lit up was the room outside of the Door of Time (which didn't matter), and simply the pedestal was giving off a faint reflection of the gray material about. Standing in the center of the room, the girl could hear something, something metallic that was being ready for something. Then her mind thought back to what she had feared, those little knives. Grabbing a hold of his head, she hit his head fiercely, trying desperately to get her boy off his feet.

"Get down, Shuriken!" Hitting the floor, three of the tiny stars zipped past them and clattered into the nearby wall, directly passing over where they had stood just seconds ago. Shiek wasn't talking anymore, so that must have meant it was time for business, the hero had to stop him or he would die. Leaping back to his feet, Link began to search the room, thinking as the seconds passed into minutes, nothing happening at all except the occasional unsheathe of a shuriken, and when he threw it and they hit the floor. His fairie didn't have any problems stopping the little knives that were collecting into the near wall, but he sure did. If Shiek decided to go for a knife down when he was on the ground then he was dead meat.

Still lying upon his back, he could only hear two things In this room: his own heartbeat, and the sudden gasps of Navi as she would sigh with relief when he would evade precisely. Laying his hands infront of him, the sword in the left, while the shield in the right, he did notice something. That all the shurikens seemed to be coming from one general direction: the north. No, not all of them were north exactly; some were headed more towards east and west, then north, while most stood around northeast and its counter part of the west. Springing a wonderful idea into his mind, the boy looked over to his fairie, speaking to her so silently the Shiekah couldn't hear.

"Plan, I got one."

"Which is?"

"Direction I see, go in with shield raised and hope doesn't aim for legs." Speaking incoherently, he was doing this to throw off any indication that the boy could get a peek at them, or an earful. Navi caught on, deciding only to nod with a bit of relief reflected on her face, but she did show some worry about that fact he couldn't guard his legs. As a child he could have ran forward with the shield (if he could lift it) and would have done it easily, but being bit had its advantages and disadvantages. Link hadn't really discovered on any of the advantages yet, his own soul pleading to be returned to its initial inhabitants. Jumping up, he felt one of the knives whiz past his ear, causing some pain and blood to pour down that delicate feature, and grabbing the ear, he was responded with another one, this time raising the shield to defend himself.

--------------------

He was getting to smart, to fast. Not that was expected of the boy, he was the Hero of Time. He had just expected them to be at it for a few hours, instead of only a few minutes, and with the damage cut to his ear that meant the malice in the boy was going to be intensified. Not that Shiek minded the little messy part of the battles; those were always the most fun of the battles, getting in real close and personal for the final assault. Maybe he could try the ramming trick again, but he doubted Link would fall for it--he wasn't stupid or anything. Gripping his palms together, gnashing the claws, he leapt in as Link charged.

Being accustomed to the night was a good thing, he could see most of everything in the dark, most colors were almost natural to him, but there were a few that escaped his mind. Ah, if only blue hadn't been one of those colours, then the battle would have gone on for a few hours or possibly even days. All Shiek saw was a large bird headed his way, a Triforce hidden under it with some other insignias printed upon it, and only when he noticed that Link was towered over it did he leap up for defense (he hadn't seen Navi, she was blue also.) Not having enough time to move, he crossed his claws together, bracing himself for the impact, no matter how hard it would be.

Yes, it was over when he hit it. Link hadn't held back his power that time, the Ki in his soul had moved up to a higher caliber than Shiek could imagine for the younger child. When he slammed down into Shiek, the man slammed into the wall, making a few rumbling sounds come about (not that anyone would notice!) That kind of joke made the pain disappear somewhat when he slumped down, the shield being pried off of him, and a huge mark of the shield printed all over his upper-chest and face arena. There he was about to jump up when the legendary evil repel was pressed from Link's hand up to where Shiek's throat was, obviously not liking him in any bit.

Slumping down to the ground all the way, he knew when he was beat, it was quite a shame that the battle had lasted so short. Stopping wouldn't have been an option until Link over-took him, that was only when the boy would be able to face the first general of Ganondorf. Not that Shiek was weak or anything, he was more powerful than the Hero would be for months, but this was all the power he was allowed to use on the hero without getting in trouble. Grabbing the blade, he yanked it away and stood up, walking over into the light and sitting down upon the pedestal of the sword. There the Triforce brightened again ah-ha so it had just only been his doing.

--------------------

The two hadn't really known what Shiek could see under the darkness of night, but they took a chance and came out lucky. A bit of the part on Navi's side, she had suggested he be quiet instead of his plan of yelling a war car and charging the boy with the fierce battle that was supposed to be laid ahead. To both of their surprises, the Shiekah laid down with a snort and jumped up, pulling off his weapons (no--he pressed a button and they depressed down into his wrapped hands.) Crossing over to the land where the pedestal, they saw him take a seat the light return back to the room, making it a seemingly more happily place. So, it had just been some trickery of the man, but something was wrong, it wasn't as bright as seven years ago that was for sure.

"Hrm, you've proven yourself worthy, for that I shall teach you a song that will help you."

"A song?" He had nearly forgotten about his instrument.

"Yes, pretty soon you will have to travel to this temple as lightning speed, so this song is sort of a teleportation device. As in if you play it than the song will transport you from wherever you are standing to the spot in the middle of the Temple of Time where there is that platform with the Triforce and the symbol on it. Yes, you've seen it before." Chuckling, he snapped his bandaged fingers together, a bit of a sparkle arousing and then a golden jewel appeared in his hands. Not a jewel, but it certainly assumed the identity of one, it was actually a harp of some sort, the thing incrusted purely in gold so it had quite a beautiful value rate. Ripe stringers sang upon the delicate siren, giving off the incantation of holiness, and holding it out, the boy tuned it up with the brim of his fingers.

"Transportation? I don't believe you." Navi spoke out, looking towards with boy.

"Yes, you probably don't either, do you hero?"

"Well, it is farfetched."

"Just as farfetched as the Chamber of Sages." They both remained quiet, so he continued. "This song is a beautiful tune, it is entitled the Prelude of Light. Composed many thousands of years ago when the earth was still young, it was played to the Goddesses as a sign of forgiveness for their sins, letting off the holiness of all three sisters being combined and chastised as one. Now take out your Ocarina and follow along, I will only do this once."

Pulling for the strap, he was faced with a conflict. Which one of them would he take the fairie from Saria or the one made from glass by the princess of the Kingdom? The man who said that the Fairie Ocarina didn't give off the special powers that the Ocarina of Time gave out quickly gave his answer. Nodding, he kissed his old piece, snapping the pack shut and turning towards Shiek, pushing the Ocarina at his lips. Readying himself for the passage of the song, he blew up inside of the Ocarina, cleaning some of the dust upon the edges, he may have been preserved but this thing sure hadn't.

Shiek's tune did turn out to be very melodic. Where the story about the honoring the heavens was true or not, had to be determined by someone else, maybe a scholar (if any where left.) It was made up of six different notes, as all the other songs had been, the notes gliding out into quite a chipper mood yet giving off a somber look of it. While the boy tried the first time to play the tune, Shiek reached down into his satchel and grabbed up the piece of station that Link had for his songs. Reading it over, while the disgraced boy practiced, Shiek grabbed the writing tool from his pack and began to write on the paper, not just copying notes, but drawing something.

About fifteen minutes of practicing proved the tune was a little harder than the rest, but it gave Shiek the time to work on the paper, whatever he was doing, and Navi to peer over his shoulder with a sudden interest. The time he finished the six-note tune perfectly, a light sprang above him, making a yellow aura surround him in a flash. Covering his eyes from the blindness that the light would surely give, his entire existence was gone from the spot he stood, Navi too being sucked up with him. When he opened his eyes this time, he was back in the first room of the Temple of Time; the jewels still stuck inside the slots of the room that opened his path to destiny.

"Link, it worked."

"Y-yea, guess he wasn't lying."

"Of course I wasn't." Stepping out of the Door of Time came Shiek, the paper and writing utensil handed back to Link who looked at it with his own interest poked in. When Link had copied down his songs he wrote down the name, notes and how they were played, a very bad manner it was in, but Link didn't compose. Shiek must have been some sort of composer, for it was written with the whole style that music was written in, with the little sign and lines all around, the tunes at such an easy access to remember. The stationary was obviously new, the old one had been crumpled and gray, the songs printed on there in a good fashion, and storing it down in his satchel, he grinned up at Shiek.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now, you may have been wondering where your weapons and everything are, correct?"

Actually he had been wondering where they are, but he just shrugged a simple shoulder. What was the point in worrying someone over old weapons, although he did have to return the weapons of the Kokiiri back to their original place--no one would recognize him now, would they? Shiek grinned at his confidence, walking up to the entrance of the Temple of Time and slamming a palm on the surface of the marble wall. Yes, this entire place was composed of stone and marble, maybe a mixture so complex that it was hard to tell which one went where. Anyway, the stones slid back in an orderly fashion, where there stood a rack that held the sheathed Kokiiri Sword, his old boots and tunic, Deku sticks, the magic seeds, and that boomerang. "As you can see, these weapons aren't fit for you, or that's what Rauru has decided. Fortunately for you and me, I don't listen to thousands of years old men. Help yourself."

And like children at Christmas, Link and Navi gathered up to their old cabaret, searching through the old merchandise for some sort of beautiful traditions. The tunic and boots were a no-no, but the Kokiiri sword would come in handy, so he grabbed it and stuck the blade down in his side pack, it could act as a last line of defense. Everything else was pretty much useless, the boomerang was too small, seeds weren't of any use anymore, and the Deku sticks were like twigs in his hands. Shutting the thing all the way, he looked over towards the man, who clapped his hands and the wall returned to its original space, no mark was there to shown as if it had ever moved.

It was hard to judge Shiek's expression, you could tell by the way the material moved, as when he was grinning it stuck up a little, when he frowned it went down a bit. Link had only seen happiness and cockiness in his new ally, but now the cloth did go when he spoke of something grave, something Link didn't want to hear. No, he didn't want to hear, but he simply had too, it was for the best if he heard it from his new friend (?) before seeing it for his own eyes. His hometown was having an over-running of monsters.

"Your serious?" Navi and Link spoke at the same time, their face graven with age.

"Yes, I have looked on and I see all the children hide within their homes in fear as Baba plants have sprout up, Deku Scrubs, even those evil Octaroks you faced in the Zora's place have migrated to the waters. Also, there seems to be a strange aura coming out from the Forest Temple there, that means the general is readying to attack and destroy everything in his path, now since no other temple is not activated up as of yet, I saw you start there."

"Tell me about these generals, are they different from our past main enemies?" It was Navi speaking.

"Unfortunately, yes. The enemies you encountered were bred, bribed, and given unknown power that they accepted for their own enjoyment. Before they received the powers, all were minions of Ganon--now don't make that face--they were the most powerful minions of Ganondorf, but not anything compared to the Generals. Your first one, was a tree of some sort, but a dispute came about and I heard he was killed, so someone new may get there. Others are usually elemented what you will be fighting, so expect a fire, forest, desert, death, and water monsters. Yea, it only gets tougher from here. Oh, that reminds me!" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper and threw it at Link.

Catching the paper, he unfolded it and read it aloud for Navi to hear. "'New treasure supposedly discovered in tomb of late Danpte'. Oh, he's that guy we dug with back then, huh? So, what about it, Shiek?"

"I know the treasure he has, he's still a ghost and since I am Shiekah we have the ability to interact with the world--think of us as Shamans, but without all the integrating stuff, we only speak to them. Now, he has a tool that you will need to get into the Forest Temple."

"That's right, Link, remember? When we went to the meadow that place above us, the place near the top of the tree, that is the Forest Temple, right, Shiek-kun?" Navi asked, she perching upon her boy's shoulder, lazily. Yea, she had gotten some little respect for Shiek, he was just too battle hardy, she still doubted that the jar she had been in was really empty of air. Of course who couldn't help but be a little bloodthirsty in the way she still remembered from those images, shuddering at the thoughts. Whatever Hyrule looked like was probably worse than ever, maybe even decaying dead bodies around. The thing she was truly glad was over had to be the battles, maybe that was a way the Goddesses had protected Link, for if he was asleep and imprisoned away from the world than no one could hurt him.

"You are right, miss fairie. And don't try leaping from that tree, it's about forty feet across. The weapon you will get is called a hook-shot, it is basically a hook attached to a base that fires off a chain and when it connects with the target it will pull you up with the recoil."

"And we need this?" Link chirped in, not really in the mood for anymore side quests. He had had his share of fun as that when he was a kid, now he really just wanted to get all these medallions, win whatever there was to win, defeat Ganondorf Dragmire and go home. Since Shiek had said that there would be a time he should return quickly here, than Link made that to believe that maybe he could travel back home somehow. Everything was possible, right? I mean, we can get home somehow. Link caught something from the man named Shiek, a small little brown bag wrapped up with a band of rubber, and undoing it he discovered that there was some food in it, meat, cheese and some bread. Grasping the food to his chest, he smiled to the older man, who shrugged it off.

"Yes, hero, you do. Anymore questions?"

"Can we get home when this is over?"

"Yes, during one of your medallion quests you will be required to return, hero. To return to your past you simply slip the Master Sword back into the slot from which it came, if the sword is no longer in the world of the present than you return back to normal, remembering everything of course. Oh, that reminds me, transportation. I figured you are older now so you may want a need of transportation, I don't know where many are left around here, but you shall look. Mm, also, I think your friend is in danger--the one you hold so high in your heart." Smiling a little, he caught Link looking down to the ground and there was the time to make his exit. Holding out a seed like before, these were more of a darker gray, seeming the same in comparison as Impa's. Backing up ten feet, he threw the seeds on the ground, where there was s small explosion, and when the smoke cleared he was gone.

"Just like Impa." He spoke, admiring the grace at which he left, it was so weird, but he felt so familiarized around the new ally. Crossing his arms around his chest, Link walked over to the wall of the temple, leaning against and letting the marble touch his skin, caressing it softly between the fabrics. Sighing sweetly, he held out a hand, which Navi accompanied over to him, staring at him in utter fascination. What would become of them was still unknown, still very much stupefied the boy, but that didn't mean it wasn't time to show it. Pecking her forehead with a kiss, she began to talk to him in her sweet-mannered way.

"The only transportation I can think of is--"

Snapping his fingers, he intercepted her. "Lon Lon Ranch!"

"Yup, some horses, maybe not a buggy but what about that horse whose song you know. Epoch, wasn't it?"

"Epona, Navi, Epona. Yea, I remember her song and if we play that than surely we can overtake her with us, that is if Malon will allow us. Epona maybe nice and all, but she isn't my mare, I would like to see how she is doing, so we can just head off to the trail, and suppose we don't get Epona, we can always take another horse in action. What is she, seven now?"

"Yup, but we must hurry. I think we are in for some surprises. Shiek said that Saria was in trouble, or is there another Forest girl that you admire much from afar?"

"N-no, I think its her. She always stays out in the meadow--alone since I left-- so if the thing attacks it will probably take her hostage or something, I don't want her to get hurt so I'll go after her. Wonder if she'll still call me little?" He just had to chuckle over that, jumping off from the wall and giving a large glance around. It was funny; she was older, yet he would probably size over her many times, not that he wouldn't mind. This body was, after all, just a shell of himself, maybe it wasn't even his real body, but what he'd be like if he could grow up--something the Goddesses made so that he could handle the sword. Something like that, but there was no way that he was ever gonna grow up, for when this was over and he went back to his own time he was gonna go back to the forest and stay a few years.

"I think she'll like you even more, you are quite handsome now. At first you were cute, now you are handsome."

"Is that better?"

"Kinda. In some ways it is, but you are even bigger now." Whining, she laid down upon his hand, while he went around the room checking out for any other secret passages. It was true that now she was smaller than his middle finger, but it didn't matter, it was as simple as that. Navi did hope that Link's theories were true and this was just something that the heavens produced to do their own work, that would be fine with her, as long as he was all right in the end. Finally, he readjusted his cap, slapping the shield on his back and holding the Master Sword in his left hand, walking to the doors of the temple.

"This world might be frightening, Link, you sure you're ready?"

"Ready as I'll even be, if it is dark and gloomy, we'll face it together, okay?"

"Mmhm, that's right, sweetheart. Nothing can stop us." Leaning up and kissing his cheek, he let her get one on the cheek too, letting those tender muscles press against hers as it moved, the sweet pink muscles. Finally stopping the kiss of her cheek, he pressed upon the doors, seeing the Triforce dim from the back room, making a promise to fulfil his destiny, no matter what the cost, and give it all his all. It hurt to think of dying for a country he had never had the time to experience, dying for something other than that, but when he thought about it: he wasn't fighting for Hyrule. It may have seemed that way on first glance, but it was really fighting for Navi, for Saria, for Malon, for Ruto, and Zelda (wherever she was.) He was fighting for a future of these species, so that one day we'd all live in peace.

--------------------

Good, he's gone. Limply hanging his head, the boy slipped out through the shadows when the smoke had been at large. That was the best way to go, just like a true Shinobi, out the window when no one was looking, as quiet as a mouth, slick as a snake in attacks, and quick as a weasel. Chuckling dully, he knew what the boy had to face right out of Hyrule, nothing too desperate for his skill in the master blade, but something to test his abilities. Of course Shiek had gone easy on him, if he had used his full power than the boy would be dead within a few minutes, and the fact was that he was stronger: a lot stronger than the hero was at this time. Yet, it didn't matter if the hero was weaker now, he had to have received the sage's powers to realize his full potential, only then would he extend beyond the human limits in power and vitality. Right now he did cross over the borders of a normal human, but Shiek could beat a normal human, he was far beyond those days, back when he was younger.

Would have been easier if he was trained instead of kept sealed up. Rauru was so stupid sometimes, he should have trained the child inside the Chamber of Sages, there he might be able to change to different environments, let the boy train in a variation of arsenal, and teach him some simple hand-to-hand combat. That's what worried him the most, that one day he might have his sword thrown aside and without it all he had were his little gadgets for protection, no other weapons. He had to give him credit; it was nice to store that knife down, if only he'd have stored it somewhere it had easy access, like his boot for instance. Oh, well, you don't except apprentices to surpass the teachers within the first day, do you? Not that Shiek was his teacher, far from it; he was simply helping the time hero in his quest.

No harm done in that, he had commanded himself since he heard of the great hero to do this deed so that the evil king could go down. Speaking of the devil, I have to report in, the thoughts trance forward while he slipped passed the slums of Hyrule, ignoring them with utter disgust, slipping out of the large and barren market, making his way down into the castle gates, where that the palace stood. There stood the deep black castle of Ganon, once home of the Royal Family, only born of his generals and their precious allies, only the strongest, though. Since Ganondorf's take-over, the path to the palace had shortened so great a bit that if it was walked then it would take only six hours, but this was Shiek who was walking. Scaling the paths and soiled ground with only barren earth, he reached the castle within a few seconds, taking out another one of those pellets and slamming it into the ground.

Unlike the generals of the evil king, Shiek didn't wear any detection that he was with him. Why would he, he wasn't one of them, he was basically a mercenary for the king, one who could gather valuable vital information, and keeping on the Gerudo's good side. You never wanted to get on the bad side of Ganondorf, no matter how much more powerful Shiek was than Link, Ganon was ten fold that power, the Triforce of Power had been described for the right reasons, all it gave was power. Courage was assigned to give more vigor, energy, and willingness to survive, while Wisdom allowed more intelligence and healing skills. Wherever the Wisdom was, that person was awful wise in worldly affairs.

The pellet he threw down was kind of like Link's Ocarina songs, they did transport him through out the evil castle, having to miss all the shadows and wizards (what a loss) and come out to where the throne room stood. Placing his hand on the velvet doors, the boy gave a giant shove, the fifteen feet tall double doors spreading across and leading down a darkened path, showing nothing quite so bright for the future. Each step at a time lit up his path a little and little farther, that was until he reached the end when the lights suddenly flashed on, the sound of organ music floating through the air. Covering his eyes from the light, he'd never get used to that, the ninja stared forward through dimmed bright and caught a gander of his fearless leader sitting on a stool, the organ that was played being himself.

Kneeling before the throne, which was right infront of the organ, he spoke aloud. "My Lord." Suddenly those hands cracked into the organ key, splintering a few of them in the frenzy. Placing his hands on the sides of the organ, the man spun around to face his own little pet. Most would have screamed at the terror pasted on Ganon's face, he was the most powerful man in the world, after all, yet Shiek just looked at him with determination in that one eye. When Ganondorf gave a slight nod, the man stood up at the front of the throne that his boss had rested himself on, listening with an eager ear.

"He's awakened."

"Who, the hero?"

"Yes, sire. That wretched fool has awakened the Hero of Time."

"Interesting." Shiek was assigned to guard the Temple of Time from intruders, that was so no one would be able try to do what he had done: defile the pure land of the Sacred Realm. Nothing was pretty about this land, Ganondorf knew that, but he also knew that it was his land, the land of his people now, not the land of those dreaded Hylians. At his side stood two female Gerudos, each silent with a Kwan Dao, ancient blades of the past that was made up of a simple steel pole with two pieces of sharp curved blades on each side. Quite an impressive arsenal for these beautifies, but they were guarding the King from any assassins, it wasn't as if anyone had ever tried to take over the land (all the knights and their sons were dead) it was only a precaution.

"I have been watching him close, he doesn't seem too well developed in the sword now. Might this be a good time to kill him?"

"Oh, Shiek, you are too blood-thirsty. I know you are dying to taste his blood, but let him go through the temples, and if he goes in the correct order than he shall be ready when he gets to me. Besides, I doubt if that stupid boy even be able to get past the Forest warrior I have replaced Shiiu with, he is quite more powerful."

"I see, sire. Well, all right. I bid you farewell, I am going to keep a close eye out on him from a distance." Shiek forgot the to mention the part about the songs, he just thought they weren't that important and would probably piss the king off. Right now, all he had to worry about was what the King would do, the King had decided to let the boy live for now. That was quite fine with him, but he didn't like the fact on how cheery that his master was getting, it quite an eerie look on his face, as if he wanted to fight Link. Must be the case, since he hasn't had a good fight in over seven years, not even seeming to have aged in that time, his bones are probably restless for battle: a worthy opponent.

"Good idea, see what he is up too, don't show your presence, but just watch him when he sleeps, guard him, I guess. I do want him to live incase he gets to my castle and we face, I want that show for myself, but I do still doubt he will get past the Forest warrior, even if he gets past the guards." Guards were still in Hyrule, not the human Gerudo, but a different type of guards. His own kind were positioned around the world, everywhere except the Kokiiri forest where his beauties couldn't enter without being turned into some stupid Deku Tree. The guards that Ganondorf had planned for a Link would be enough to see if this was really the Hero of Time, no one to save him this time, nothing to protect him from the power of his evil. Zelda was gone, the king was gone, no one was around to save him, only himself. Ever since that day Ganon had taken an interest in the boy, he really could be the Hero of Time; he only needed to find out.

"So, who is replacing Shiiu. The sisters?"

"Ha! They are too weak; they are still in second commands. Mm, the person who is in charge is me!"

--------------------

The sky, it's too black. In fact it was the middle of the day when they stepped out of the room, Link proved this by slapping the older Gossip stone, only to receive that it was eight o'clock in the morning. Staring at the statue in disbelief, he slapped the other four that were next to it in the garden, just before the Hyrule market, each one repeating the same answer. That wasn't the worst of it, no not at all, the worst of it would have been the light that was in the sky, just like in the windows they gave of that malice aura. Deep violet clouds surrounded the entire sky, letting not an inch of sun or the transpolar clouds peek through, as if a thunderstorm was brewing on, but nothing was being summoned to strike down in an electrical fashion. Holding the sword out, he tapped it upon the ground, glancing at his fairie every now and then as they walked down the steps to the market.

"What is it?" She had finally caught his glance after a few of the looks, smiling at the shyness he was giving, but worried for his health. The boy was showing signs of weakness in his heart, the sign he was about to break down, the signs of everything were in his mind, giving off in the perfect aura that only she could view, surrounded him.

"I feel uncomfortable here, this world is so different."

"I am sure it's just Hyrule market, you remember what happened over in the mind clips Rauru gave us."

Did he ever, those images were burned inside his eye-sockets for the rest of eternity. Not taking anymore time holding back, the boy held out a gasp that would have come out, if not for the presence of Navi in him. It was weird, but he felt like he could cry in front of her, as if that was some sort of sin to show his weakness. It was quite the irony that when he was younger he cried all the time to her, not younger, but in his younger spirit he would weep to her as if she was some sort of bigger sister. What caused him to hold back his fear, his face twisting in fear, was near the end of the steps was a pile of bones (fresh, he couldn't tell), them piling down and inside the pile was a human skull.

Navi wretched away with him, seeing he wasn't going to check the bones, so she did it for him, not thinking of him as weak, just short-stomached. Inside the pile (which was only one earthling) she saw that tatter pieces of clothing showed that this thing wasn't too old, had been a peasant, and where he held his hand laid a broken scythe, so it was given off that he was a farmer. Fortunately the body structure didn't match those of a heavy-set man, so the thought of it being Talon of Lon Lon Ranch was out of her mind, and yet feeling the sorrow for the family of this young man. Shivering from the bones, she came back up to where he was, wiping her hands on his new tunic. She did this because something was on her hands, from the bones.

"A farmer, or something. Been dead for about a weak, but was picked clean, I saw saliva on the bones--or some liquid." Brushing her dried hands against his tunic once more, she wiped herself off and stared around the room, since the end of the stairs they were right in one of the many beginnings of the Hyrule Castle Town Market, or at least she thought this was the Town Market. From the looks of things around it had bee deserted for quite a while, maybe after that film was taken seven years ago, so the place must have been all alone and sucked up the power from Ganon's Triforce piece. A power that wasn't to be reconciled with, or so it seemed.

"This is horrible. He is killing the land, whatever is in that Power piece we need to stop." Navi nodded quietly while Link spoke his mind. Gripping the handle of the sword, he couldn't help but drag it across the ground in the pain as they stared around. There were bones everywhere, some decaying, some not (the good thing was that there were no fresh bodies around.) Whatever had cleaned them left must have just left from wherever it was coming from, for that reason he lowered his guard for the seances. Now where the fountain in the center of the ground once stood, there was now the same fountain, but it was more cracked around the edges, having no water, no spring of joy it must have been. Cuccos that he had heard here before were gone, the kids that played beautifully, and the women who would yell at him for bothering him when they were shopping.

"I don't see anyone, should they be guarding the fences for intruders."

"Doubt they expected someone to come from the Triforce temple, Navi."

"Mm, maybe you are right. There might be ones more northern, and we have to get to Lon Lon Ranch, so let's get a move on."

Taking a few steps forward, his body stiffened as a long and melancholia moan went out into the air. It certainly wasn't the air, for even though clouds were around, there wasn't anything around to blow the wind, letting this howling being maybe the one who had eaten the others. He had heard that howl before, a distant howl of that sort, it was a lot younger back then, some more of them were around then, but the distinct enemy plastered on his face. Not being able to remember the name, he pictured that evil entity, the brown flaky skin, bad posture, and that evil mask to hide off the fact it didn't have a soul. Redead, those were the names, and revenge was their game.

"Oh, no, are those what I think, Link?" When he nodded, she stifled a quick whimper. Damnit, it was those stupid zombie-like creatures from back in the Kakariko graveyards, where they received that song of the sun. It had worked in paralyzing the enemies, but since the sun was supposed to be out and it was blocked out, she doubted the sun wouldn't help either. Link seemed to mentally agree with her, for he drew out the blade of evil's bane as one of the figures staggered out from behind one of torn down tents that were around, moaning for sweet flesh for some relief. She didn't know if they were zombies, or just liked to munch on your skin, whatever the case, she was not going to take a chance on that.

"The ocarina song won't be any good, right?" It was doubtful to try it, so he yanked his musical machine from its holder, pulling it to his lips and releasing the melodic upbeat tune of the son, composed by those dead brothers all those long years ago. The sun normally would have reappeared from the clouds and shone down to paralyze those Redeads inside small pillars of white silk, something of what a spider did, but it didn't do that. All what happened was the zombies noticed the music coming from the general direction, turning around to see what the commotion was. Sinking down behind a box stealthily, he watched as they closed over him, not moving by sense, but by those soulless eyes. As soon as they passed, he wiped the sweat from his brow, leaning on his knees now, noticing how uncomfortable it was to do something never even thought imaginable in the old body.

"Shoulda' let me answer, Link." She appeared at his shoulder, turning his veil off so the bright colours wouldn't attract the zombies. Actually, it was a pure guess that they thought on senses near the eye sockets, instead of near the nose (they're noses were decayed off, so there was only a slumped bump where it would be, some of them even having them compressed into a single triangle.) Those creatures either thought on their sightless eyes, or maybe touch, that would explain why they were always staggering around. What they ate was uncertain; they were just going from the old legends of the dead that were passed down in stories, the dead that waked for flesh of the living.

"Mm, at least they can't find us. How many are out there?" Finally relaxing, he sat down on his rump.

"At least a dozen or so, and those are just as far as we can see, you know there have to be more hidden in the valleys and troughs throughout the market."

"Goddess, what happened here, I knew it was bad. But are those the people who were killed here?" Shivering deeply, he placed his hands over his chest, laying the blade in his lap as he did. Since it was a double-edged blade, it was laying down on the bottom parts, instead of the side that would have surely cut him up. Link didn't know what was going on here, this place was so weird, so creepy, it wasn't the place that a naïve lad had wondered upon all those years ago, it wasn't the place that was always bustling with people, good and bad. No, that scenery had died seven years ago, that scene was gone down to hell, nothing to protect it from the fires licking slowly away at it. Ganondorf…he could never be forgiven, he would be punished for his crimes, to this the hero vowed.

"We try to sneak out, Navi?"

"Only way, unless you want to go at them head first."

"Heh, no thank you. I'll keep my blade presentable, though, won't want to run into trouble bare."

"Good idea, and I'll keep my barrier down, although your clothes are quite…recognizable, the land here is a purplish black, while you are a light green. Ah, I've got it!" It was risky, would get him dirty, but it was better than being surrounded by ten zombies and having them all gnaw at your skin. Floating down to where he saw, she clasped up some handfuls of dirt and threw them upon the boy. At first he glared at her angrily, for messing up his tunic, but soon he caught on the idea that the dirt was the same colour as the ground, it had changed the same colour of violet blended with black. Grasping the dirt, he covered his entire body with it, doing the hat with it too and tucking that luscious hair down inside of it. Banding the blade with the dirt too, it looked awful to stain such a beautiful piece of still, yet it had to be done if they were going to go on, another thing was that sword was gonna have to go.

It was too risky to be climbing around on the floor with a handy blade in one hand that could accidentally clatter to the ground, getting the Redeads attentions. Better to be stealthy, like Shiek is, he thought tucking the blade quietly into the slot, looking down at the small clink that went about, fortunately thanking his lucky stars when none of the Redeads didn't turn around. Decayed ears were on their bodies, so maybe it was easier for them not to hear any of the stuff that would make shuffling against the barren part of the market much easier this time. Spraying some dirt lastly on his face and eyebrows, he looked down at his body in amazement if this was the same guy only a few seconds, he actually looked like a darker looking, sinister boy instead of the cherry one.

"You too."

"I can just hide in your--"

"Not enough room, Navi." With a groan, she allowed herself to be dipped inside of the dirt and pulled back, tucking her right under his collar. All her clothes were dirty too, but that would be fixed, for soon they would be out of Hyrule Castle and able to bathe in the moat that surrounded the castle, hence the reason for the drawbridge. Yea, it was tough to be here, tough to get dirty, yet sometimes you just needed to bite your lip, take the pain and hope that when it was over you could look back on it and laugh. All of their bodies were covered down in dirt, the armour that he wore, and bags that carried the supplies of food that obviously wasn't there anymore (most of it was rotten, the only thing that survived was the milk, damn that Lon Lon was good.) Standing up all the way, pressing against the wall in a Shinobi manner, Link began to go onward.

The box was right near the stairs that led to the Temple of Light, so naturally soon he ran out of darkness to hide under (and wall to press into.) There he was right before the stairs, and taking a few glances over at the Redeads, to make sure they weren't looking--his luck they weren't--glancing forward he made a mad leap ahead, not actually attempting a leap. Maybe tumble was a better word, for the leapt gave away and as he fell down, rolled into a wall and slid down the stairs and back into the darkness, slamming into a wall on impact. Layers and layers of more dirt caught them in the nose and mouth, making them gag out for several seconds, not even aware of the sounds they made. When they were done with the gag session, Link peered against the wall and looked out to the Redead, astonished at how mad their hearing was, they had not even budged an inch.

"We are lucky…these Redead are much stupider than the others." Remarked Navi, still bundled in his collar.

"I guess maybe that the others had been underground so much that they adapted intelligence, although we never really tested their intelligence."

"Mm, you are right. However, the stars are in our favor now, all we have left is past those curtains were the merchants used to be and down the path to the end, maybe two or three are there." Link nodded in agreement, all that was left were straight walls, nothing else but walls awaited them until they were past the old selling booths, then they would have to do down a straight corridor (the one where he met that guard one time ago.) Past that Link and Navi would encounter nothing else but the drawbridge, hoping it was at least open, or they might require a small problem on their hands, that thing couldn't be broken into easily.

With little ease, he slipped past the rest of the walls, letting it turn a crack and then onto the next wall that held in the rest of the curtains. From the looks of things a very big riot had occurred such a long time ago that it was sad, nothing was left of the sheets except decaying wood that had one held up the top commotion of the town. Supplies were gone, the food probably long gone, the supplies were perhaps looted when the town was in utter chaos, people tended to react to the most rash situations so weirdly. Sliding past the wood, sighing at the display of the town, the hero couldn't help but whisper a quiet prayer to the souls of the ancient ones that had lived here, the ones who had given their lives while the 'hero' was asleep. It was sad, yes, but mostly it gave him false hope.

Gulping silently, he watched as the wall disappeared with his sliding motions, the open air of the land readying for the path that would lead down into there. When at least he reached the end of the sliding wall, the boy took a quick peer over with his eyes, catching only the door of that place where he had never entered, some more buildings that were decayed, and the hole of where the drawbridge had once been. Doing a double take, he saw that the bridge itself wasn't lowered, there was no wall punched through it, the thing itself was literally gone, torn from the hinges by something terrible, something he never wanted to face, but known he'd have too one day. Scratching the back of his neck, freeing the dirty tresses from the hat, he slipped out and began to walk, still sliding against the wall.

"Link…it's okay, no one's here."

"I feel better this way, maybe it's a way to honor the souls of the dead, not stepping on their tracks. Goddess, do you see that door Navi, am I imagining it?"

"No…no, I see it. I-I knew Ganondorf had power beforehand, but his power must have expanded by ten folds to let him be able to do that, plus this town. That door was consisted of ten thick inches of wood, plus I saw metal that was made in it, all that, it's so wondrous that a power like that could be harnessed, and for all the wrong reasons." The speech she made had she tingling with excitement, fear, and anticipation of getting through with this journey and face this power. Unimaginable power that somehow was harassed, for all the wrong reasons, something that she would never get over. Those words did ring true in her head and mind as she watched him keeping his pace up in the sliding motions, coming out of his collar and sitting on his hat, brushing the dirt from her. Coughing out the rest of the filth from her mouth, somehow she thought she was allergic, Navi continued to watch behind and he, to make sure nothing would follow them. If they did come over, she would just blast them with a Ki blast, which would get them off their high horse for food and off the rode of perdition.

"Link, I really think you should be able too-" Her words were caught off as something fell off from the roof above, ten feet above, slamming into the ground. A bone-shattering crack came out of the slump, since it was so dark Link couldn't get a few view, so he motioned for her to brighten up, which she did without the slightest hesitation. Sitting before them was a man with long ears, obviously Hylian, in his mid to later thirties, the man was wearing a suit that made him jump back: a knight's armour. The same armour he had seen on the men that were in the room with the King and Ganondorf, on his visit to Zelda the first time, before he even considered collecting two more stones. Now they were fourteen feet apart from each other's, Link trying to take a step forward, but a roar of fury stopped him.

Leaping off the roof of the building he never entered was this man's captor, and one who punished. Before Link had stumbled back, he had inspected many slash and bite wounds on the soldier, some of them were fresh and bleeding (the mouth marks), and while the slash marks were all dried with crusted blood, puss forming over some of them. With the signs of infection, it might have been a blessing with a dark figure surrounded the Hylian, diving down onto the man who let out a long screech of pain, an inhuman scream that came from the victim. Covering his sensitive ears, Link watched in horror at the monster ravaged on the soldier, the screams not stopping until the creature reached the man's face--one of the last things it got too.

Stumbling even more back, the boy yanked out his sword, readying it in his right hand, while the left reached behind and pulled the shield out with little ease. Until recently Link had strapped the shield tightly around his body, only as a boy, so that it wouldn't come off whenever he was in a place that it might be lost. Now, however, Rauru had added a small feature that really gave the boy a comforting matter, there was a new slit in the place of the other where the shield held on from its back, making it easier for access. Now gripping the newly discovered slit, he yanked it out just as the monster was done with the dead man, sniffing the air hungrily, catching wind behind him, and jumping forward.

Navi screamed as the tyrant jumped forward, being deflected back by the strong force of the Hylian shield. It slammed up in its face, knocking the creature back several feet, with this it actually knocked the monster out of proportion so it had to help itself shake off the dizziness. No need for role call at this point, Link was up and at them, watching in Navi's gaze at the monster, shivering down with it. The monster had at one time been some sort of human, a mutation had occurred in this human (he couldn't tell if it was Hylian or Gerudo), making it all the more worthwhile. A cross between a reptile and a human was the best answer, except nothing scaly was on this beast.

Maybe an amphibian was a better choice, but Link hadn't felt it so he didn't know if the creature was slimy or not. Anew, the monster was a greenish colour, almost matching his tunic, the inceptions of the human characteristics shining through, showing that it could have been one of Ganon's minions, maybe that would account for the fact that it was evil. He didn't know what Ganondorf looked like, maybe sort of like this, but this very well could be what the intermission of what the Triforce of Power did to you. All that he hoped was that the Courage piece didn't have any side effects on him; he hadn't really gained anything from the piece. Gripping the blade, he launched himself forward, only to be shoved away before he could land a single blow on him.

--------------------

Navi hadn't pushed him, that was well thoughts, but she was shoved along with the boy, into the wall with them as the monster launched forward and slashed into thin air. Twirling around, she searched for the one who had touched them, the one who had not let them get a single blow in the creature, but all they received were the simple sounds of the wind. Whoever did that was fast and quiet maybe it was Shiek? Maybe so, but she didn't know, all she knew what that this freak needed to go, some loony who had obviously been corrupted by the evil powers of the Triforce. The case on trial was that they had gotten lucky in receiving the pieces, the good one was handed down to her partner, while the other one was splashed down to the evil King. It was great that he hadn't received the whole piece of Triforce, otherwise they would have never awoken, for the whole piece would have granted him the power for full mortality.

She didn't know if the rest of Hyrule was like this or not, and frankly at this moment she didn't give a damn. The only thing that was important at this moment was defeating this evil entity and protecting her boy at the same time, and firing off a Ki mark at the monster, her utter disgust was revealed. Just like in a previous battle, the mark didn't seem to connect--no it did connect, the thing just deflected itself off and slammed into the wall, creating some pieces of stone to crack and fall on the ground. Grimacing at this display, she didn't find herself lucky when the monster gave her, yes he noticed her, a look of content on his face, some sort of chuckle following before it leapt out at them again.

This time the boy was ready, throwing the shield up into the air, she watched as it stood in the air and came down to the ground while the monster was on its way to Link. When he threw it into the air, he aimed upward, she thinking it was very lucky that he threw at the right exact moment, for when it reached them the shield clanged on its head. Her eyes glanced upward as when he jumped on top of the shield, a loud crunching noise sounded, the monster giving off one last scream of defeat, the body jerking convulsing, and finally slumping down. They would have to clean the thing off in the river, but at least they were free of that monster--whatever it was, she thought they wouldn't see another one until a time for a journey back here was necessary, fortunately they would use that sacred Prelude to return. He guessed the time was right for that song, the title giving off that this indeed was the prelude, or beginning of a treacherous journey.

"You all right, Link?" He was pulling the shield off, studying the remains of the one that was once human. Sickly, she too gave it a look, if only out of respect, but had to turn away to keep from throwing up, because the monster had turned from hideous to gut wrenching. Where its head stood was just a lone mass of pulp, the head splintered down the middle and smashed brains being pushed in, and imprints of the shield were pressed in through the brains in a sickening manner. Since he was lying on his back when the event occurred, it was easy to see that the eyes weren't visible, but she had to guess they were out of their sockets and burst along with the rest of the body. Looking back to her boy, she saw that he was only looking down, shaking his head, while simple tears rolled down his cheeks, but why? Of course, he had never killed a man before that was very depressing.

"Hey, Link, it's okay… You were only defending yourself."

"I…I killed someone. Ha! That's a…well, it's sort of a relief. Yea, I was defending myself, but I could have gone while he was gone, I could have run, but my blood lust kicked in. I knew he was evil, and I needed to punish him for his deeds, so I…I could of made it less nasty, but I guess I love the smell of blood--guess I wanted to see this." Showing no respect for the being, she saw him hawk up some phlegm in the back of his throat and spit a wad of it down at the monster, taking the tip of his enlarged Kokiiri boots and smashing it into the tattered brains of it. Navi couldn't help it anymore; she ran off to one of the corners and vomited herself dizzy a few times, hearing the smash as Link repetitively brought his heel down on the brains. Yes, he was bashing the monster's brains in, not enjoying it, for when she came back after he was done those eyes were still filled with the tears of hate, the tears of pain, the tears of pure angst in its most natural form. That form was where a single thing like that wouldn't stand in the way, nothing mattered besides this, and by Goddess a thing like a conscious didn't stop the pure fact of this was bliss.

She should of said something, she would curse herself later for not saying anything, but as he went over and cleaned the soul of his left boot by beating it against the wall (attracting other creatures maybe, yet not caring) she did nothing. It seemed the right thing to do at the time, let him battle with his own spirits, let him be alone with himself, no she didn't even give a comforting hand on his shoulder--even as so little, it still would have mattered--no words. Although what would she say at a time like this? Ha, it was quite such irony to think of a speech of something that was about to hunt you down with barred claws, but maybe that was the humorous thoughts in it: irony was like that sometimes. While the drift would go on, there was no one to stop the bad thoughts from entering your brain, the lust of the death as it flowed through your body. While listening to these thoughts, she jerked when he spoke out loud, determination caressed in a voice of his.

"I shall not kill again." Waiting for some protest, he actually looked hurt when no other voice interrupted, but went on. "No, let me rephrase that. I shall not kill another human again…except one more, and you know who that is, Navi. Yes, I shall kill the evil King Ganondorf, I don't care who he is, any great title or anything, he is not great in my eyes, nor a king, he is a stupid Gerudo who used me for the powers of the heavens." Tightening his fist, the boy looked up to the girl with tears glistening in his eyes, she could smell how much he wanted a hug, how much he needed some comfort, but she took her instincts and nodded flatly. Another strike of pain appeared over his body, as if thinking he wasn't good enough for care anymore, yet he went on, the pain bracing in his voice. "If another human attacks, I shall not kill, I will only knock them unconscious, I can't bear that again…I'm sorry, I know I seem weak."

"No you don't. You are the bravest person I have ever met; you are doing this quest without any rewards. You are so pure, greed, power, lust…nothing tempts you, you are perfect in an essence."

"Yea, right. I have my faults, Navi." He seemed so much older when he spoke that it frightened her.

"That's true, hee, you do have your faults." With that he smiled towards her, a small dirty glove coming up and wiping the tears from his eyes. Catching on in the brink of his glove, he noted it for a second before launching the salty discharge off to the left, listening with quiet ears as he slapped into the ground. Pushing the sword back into the sheath, but not returning the pack back to its original place (when they bathed he would wash it) the boy couldn't help but grin out at the land. So funny, because from where he was positioned the land that led out got less and less dark, he couldn't see the closest landmark of Lon Lon Ranch, but somehow he foresaw that it looked just as beautiful as seven years ago. Clearing his matured throat, the boy shook the last of the tears aside and glanced up at his fairie who had returned to his side for the first time since the same back. No, he wasn't going to speak, he simply gathered her up in his arms, caressing her dirty body with the gloved hands of his own, before putting her back and taking off out the door.

What the two heroes missed about the previous battle had been quite an exciting element that should have been duly noted, that was the fact that Link hadn't killed the man, someone else had. Yes, upon close examination, it was seen that the perpetrator had used Shuriken, the small knives with no handles, a small hole in the center where they were held. Some Shinobi Shuriken were implanted inside the little body, so deep in that they were quite hard to view, but nevertheless the blades penetrated inside the region right around the heard. What this meant that a stealthy, quite person that had hid up in the shadows had aided the young boy in his journey, by lending a helping hand. The battle with the monster was hard, that evil thing would have taken over the boy if not for this mysterious being's presence. Who it was, that was uncertain, yet the fact was that a good suspect was in order.

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For the next few days they took it easy, after exiting the castle, they discovered that the castle bridge hadn't been thrown away, but had fallen down the remainder of the feet down into the moat. The water was still warm and beautiful as before, so that was where they bathed, it tasting and feeling as refreshing as ever. Washing all over their tired bodies, the two were then washing their clothes, Link's armour and most of his weapons that hadn't been inside the satchel, then scrubbing the guts and muck off of that shield. It took the remainder of the day to finish that job, for when they exited the castle the sun was in it's fully glory, shining upon the twelve o'clock position. That and they soaked in the water for the remainder hours gave way that they truly were done in that portion.

After his first meal in seven years (some of the unspoiled milk from his jar and the meat, for it spoiled first) the stuffed ones went to sleep under the stars, no worries of what would happen in the morning. The nice thing about these nights that no more nightmares came that night, maybe it was forever, but it was unlikely, even if they were back to normal, there would always be nightmares. The next morning was received in freshness, where they chopped up the rest of the meat from the pile and took off with four days of food on their hands, more than enough to reach their next destination: Lon Lon Ranch. Of course Shiek probably thought they would be headed straight to the Kokiiri Forest, but there was no sense in that since he needed transportation.

The funny thing about that night was that they didn't use any fire, since his kindle kit had been long since ruined after the aging process, but the Stalchildren hadn't paid them a visit. When he presented the question to the ever-present Navi, so just shrugged a shoulder and simply replied that maybe after all these years the Stalchildren have found new homes, since so many had died. Taking that depressing response as an 'I don't know' answer, he simply forgot about it as the days moved on, not really caring that they were gone, it was just the simple curiosity. It was true that he was still a boy at heart, those two days to the horse ranch proved it to Navi, and the boy was just too sweet to be a teenager, not ready for the patients and stupidity of adolescence.

On Link's part, Navi had to agree it was very unjust of the heavens to process in him time, her too, but she really didn't have much of a problem with losing her childhood as he did. On those two moons and suns that set sometimes the conversations would switch to the topic, both of them agreeing that the heaven deities were not as perfect as some perfected them in the legends, they were just like regular people. They made mistakes, this one being one of the worst ones and had happened to Link, what would have been better was to train him those seven years. Although it seemed like he had been trained, with only a few nights to practice, the boy was already getting better and better in the ways of the sword, already having some experience with the dagger added up in the help. No new techniques had come to him, yet he was still trying to perfect the one he used in Jabu, explaining to Navi (when she asked) that he had learned it from that guard who had attacked them that time they were there.

On the nights he would train his body and mind physically and mentally with some meditation (a technique he just started doing the first night, he explained to his partner that it helped him relax, yea she was with him now.) Before they had trained separately, but now it would have been better to be together some nights, the two nights they spend together learning some new moves, some moves that Link wanted to use without his sword. Navi had suggested the idea, saying that one day he may have had his sword taken away from him, and then he wouldn't know what to do, she was insisting that he was too dependant on the blade. Acting arrogant, he protested until she took his sword, weapons, and magic away from him and asked him to attack--which he could do nothing but complain.

His fairie wasn't much of an expert in the martial arts department, but what she had picked up from some of the other fairies from their boy partners was some basic techniques in fighting. Since he already knew how to flip backwards in his younger form, so they worked on flipping in his newly acquired form, relenting on it, because for the first few hours he couldn't do a thing with himself, but jump around and fall back. It was on the second night that he preformed his first flip, moving back with such ease it seemed almost too easy to believe, and with that he was able to flip back, sway side to side with some training. He wasn't that abdominal correct, so the flips were quite easy, he had the physique of an acrobat, he was very thin, but not scrawny and could move with the easy of one, yet he wasn't that weak in the power department. He could pack a punch, yet dodge one so easily, with practice that is.

Now that's what they worked on with him, for the first three hours they worked on flipping the first night, but up until five o'clock they were working on something new, a technique that required the two of them to do some moves to perform it. A double tech was the name that Link came up with, yet he wouldn't discuss it with anyone, whoever was watching would just have to wait for an actual battle to see it out in action. Passing aside the technique and flipping, Navi was perfected in using his own weapons (not the sword), but grabbing Deku nuts and throwing them, reaching for a bomb and getting rid of it. Just a weird way to protect herself when he was in danger and in no feel to help her out, either in pain or near death. All of his bottles were also empty except for the one with milk, the one with the fairie was gone, she had escaped when he was put to sleep, good, for he didn't like the fact of a beautiful sprite trapped inside of his bottle for seven long years. Either Rauru freed her, or she got herself out and flew away, either way was fine by him.

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Supplies were good when the overhead sun peered out at the third day, but he was over tracked from the situation, it was there that he stayed until the third night, watching as the sun glared over its horizon. Somehow he didn't feel well staying there that day, for troops were coming in and out of the milk farm, making the boy very nervous. Hiding in the tree that day, Link was surprised that Ganondorf's troops did look very normal, that other one must have been some weird mutation that went out of control and escaped. Ganondorf had a weird flag; it was a blood red flag, and a small triangle in the middle with the letter 'G' placed in the center of the square, the triangle also in the center. That was the only thing they could think of as they laid down in the apple tree, very much contented with the supply of their water (filling the canteen up at the stream) and munching on apples as he watched the sun peer over the horizon.

The troops stopping their comings and goings at about the time nine o'clock was around the corner, Link peering over the gates of the ranch just to be sure nothing had rested that night over here. He still didn't know if he had been discovered yet, something told him Ganondorf knew he was around the minute that the sage of Light took him back to his own temple. Now nothing was there, only the usual milk carts some of them so dusty from his view that they looked like they hadn't been used in months. Shrugging a shoulder, the boy pulled his larger satchel now (filled with apples) and hopped down from the tree, sliding down most of the way and landing down on his feet. Navi was at his side, slumbering somewhat, but watching with a lazily eye. Grinning at her, he reshuffled his large pack and spoke out loud towards her.

"You ready for sleep already?"

"Yea, I know we've done slept all day, but maybe the apples tired me out." Giving a small grin, she floated lazily up to his shoulder and took refuge up in the clumps of the large tunic, not closing her eyes, yet looking onward as Link nodded and started walking. That apple tree wasn't that far from where the ranch was, about half a mile, so as her boy slowly walked along the path, her mind would wonder on other subjects they were on with the world. For one, she thought about that flag, thinking the letter stood for his name or his race, the triangle meaning the Power piece, and the darkness probably meaning black. Crimson colour was most likely the blood he had shed in this war, if it could be called that, and maybe the blood he had shed before the war even began.

"Well, soon as we meet Malon we'll get a place to sleep, just bear with me?"

"Yea…you think Malon had gotten prettier?" She spoke up while they continued the walk, the ranch coming within distance, it was still the same as before, not at all like the previous little installment of the castle. As their presumptions were predicted, the places beyond Ganon's headquarters were not as effected as the places otherwise out of reach. Death Mountain seemed to have some sort of strange cloud, the ash around the entire range--or so far as he had seen-- was covered up, giving off a weird aura whenever he saw it, only which had been when they were in Hyrule, or had just gotten out of it. Link didn't plan to travel to Death Mountain until he was after the Fire Medallion, which he guessed was where it was, so it was safe to say he knew where all of them were except one.

"Hmm? Do I think she's prettier?" He repeated the question nervously.

"Yeah, do you?"

"Urm, well, I don't think she is. I mean, she was a cute kid and all, but…if anyone…I think you are much more beautiful." Navi couldn't help, but blush at this comment and look away from the boy for a few seconds, when she returned her complexion more fixed than before. Returning her face back, she shrugged a shoulder, really not agreeing with him, but she didn't disagree with him. Malon had always been a cute kid and with some of the growing pains, she was probably an older and more beautiful woman than he was now. So the boy did find her better looking than a woman he had never seen before, at least he still had the mind of a child, or other things would present themselves to turmoil him.

Link nodded with a quick remise, staring over at the sign that read in the language of Hylian 'Lon Lon Ranch.' Chuckling silently at the sign, he led his hand across the wood, noticed it hadn't been paved in a few months, so the milk trucks were messed up, troops were coming in and out of the place, what has happened? Something was wrong with this place, he doubted Talon ever gave into the punishment of Ganondorf, he seemed more like an independent, if interested in politics at all. Maybe they had been captured and this was a fort of some kind? Nah, that couldn't be true because he smelt those nasty horse smells as he climbed up down and tried to maneuver through the green path that would lead onward to the land of the horses.

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The land hadn't changed, nope not at all. Except for the milk carts and the sign from before, Link couldn't notice anything at all different about this place, the same smells over filled his nauseous nostrils as he passed wind of the stables, where the horses stayed the nights, listening to the whinnying. Yup, everything was in normal, the smell of the ranch was here, nothing dark or disturbing was around here, seeing that the place wasn't protruding with monsters or anything, that left him with a breath of satisfaction. Laying his hands down to his sides, the teenaged hero staked past the stables, coming up to the house that was directly on the left, seeing that it was locked and no windows were on it. When he had stayed here last time, the window above had led down to Malon's room, that was good, for he didn't want to wake up Talon when he chunked a huge rock at the brown shutters.

"Hey! You little bastards, stop that!" Grimacing, he took off running when the shutters burst open, peering over the corner to see the more maturely Ingo glance around with his hands placed on a pitchfork placed between his arms. The man…the man looked different, his features were darker, circles were placed under his eyes where he had pulled some all nights, his clothes had also changed from the friendly white to a dark suit that looking of what a clown would wear. Now away from the houses and much northern, where sometimes the Cuccos would frolic and eat, the house of where they were was gone. Slumping down to the ground, the boy heaved a sigh of relief and turned back around when the infuriated man shut the gates muttering some curse words under his breath. Link turned to his faire, those eyes rolling in a sarcastic manner.

"Wasn't that the girl's room before?" Navi pondered to Link. Of course it was quite possible that the girl could have changed rooms within the seven-year period, but didn't the attendant have a small shack-like house where he resigned before? It was strange that he would have an upstairs bedroom around here, yet the thought of Talon making another room seemed out of the question, last time they had been here he wasn't much of a handyman at work. That wouldn't even enter her mind as she looked back at the boy with the same look on her face, the look that somehow showed that things weren't as right as they had thought. No, something was wrong, Link may not have felt it, but Navi felt the presence full wind, she could smell it in the aura of wind, the wind was strong and gave off a dark breeze which make her hold herself in fear. Not like Ganondorf's power, no this was a little less than that, it wasn't even an evil they had to worry about harming them, but it just something that worried her.

"Yea, I think it was."

"Hrm, wonder what happened around here these seven days." Leaning on her shoulder, she looked out at the circular iron gate fence in the distance, a place where the horses roamed at night. Link also stared back with her, glancing out at it where there was something that caught both of their eyes: a tune was coming out of there, and a light was blooming out. Glancing at his fairie for approval, she gave it to him and he hunched himself up off the ground, beginning to walk past through the luscious grass and down where the light was centered in the middle that gate. When he came to the fence, the entrance that led in (the gate itself couldn't be entered without this gate), they found the lock undone and the gate ajar just enough so that a small figure could get in. Fearing that the entrance would creek when he opened it up, awakening the feared Ingo, he stopped and stared through the bars.

Sitting on a small wooden stool in the middle of the grass, was a red-haired girl about his age. She had on a long white dress, not resembling a sheet in anyway, the matching colour of the girl he had met here previous those years before. The sheet had been added onto so that it had a collar, to an upper vest and lower skirt a bluish colour, and adjusted to fit her height. The luscious red hair flowed down to her bad, stopping right after the shoulder length and bracing upon the small of her back, showing off in the glory of the pale skin that matched it. She would have been beautiful, that tune they had recognized was now in the retrospect a tune of an old memory: the song of Epona. Alas, she wasn't beautiful, where he light blue eyes stood off was sincerely the expression that Ingo had, but they weren't black circles, they were the wrinkles of a hard-worker. Correct, they were the wrinkles of a person who was just not a hard worker, but worked so hard that she could not stand up on her feet at night.

"Is that Malon?" He spoke in amazement, trying to get her face straight with the bratty former self.

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"Yea, I believe so." Navi cried out to herself softly, seeing her corrections were right about the being having more attraction than her old self, the eyes were a plus, but those could be fixed, something she couldn't fix herself. Staring up at her boy's eyes, she saw that he had an affixed look upon his face, not that one of a person in love, but one in pure awe over something. Rubbing fiercely at her eyes, she swatted at the voices that came out, stopping them before they could arise, she vowed that since the old journey was over she would quit those voices, hoping they would leave. This time she thanked the stars that they did leave, not bothering to stalk her, maybe feeling that their fun had run dry a long time ago. That would be better…if they just left. Looking back to her boy, she gave off a silent little shudder, one of pleasure and angst, yea, he wasn't looking with love, that meant that he wanted to be with her, no one else was important. Saria hadn't aged at all, so she was too small for the boy, Zelda was off somewhere dead or something, that only left her to worry about. Grinning, she floated up to him, and nuzzled into his cheek.

She let him catch her, bundle him up and nuzzle back with her, enjoying the warmth that he gave off, and mostly enjoying everything he gave off, the pureness of his soul, the way he moved, his appearance in both forms. Mostly she loved the way that he--himself--would move in anyway, no piece of a force was needed to show his courage, he had shown off that power when he braved three scary lands for no apparent reason than to please the ones around him. It took absolute pleasure in letting others feel happy to make something like that come true, for other people would expect some sort of reward--money, a knighting, anything--yet he just shrugged a shoulder and went on. Maybe she was like that too, she hadn't expected anything in return, at first she wouldn't have gone out of the forest, but Link had changed that with him being himself. Without she falling for him, she probably wouldn't have gone with him.

Did it have to do with the Deku's last words? Ha, that was a laugh, she respected the tree and everything, but the fact of the matter was she wouldn't have left if he had said so, she just wasn't like that. The fairie wasn't a blind leader, the fairie wasn't weird like that, she wouldn't have rushed out to her doom without some sort of reason, some sort of a purpose. Maybe it was human (or fairie) nature, but she had always expected something in return for her own duties, but he wasn't like that, it was as if he were some sort of god. That wouldn't be such a bad idea, maybe a god-incarnate off to save the world from evil, but he wasn't perfect, that was for sure the boy had his own faults. Pushing those thoughts away, and smiling graciously, she floated above the bars, going in for a closer look.

"Hey--Navi, wait!" He didn't yell, just whispered so loud for her to hear, but she ignored his muffled cries and continued to go on, finding that the truth was she wanted to see what this new girl looked like. She was sitting on a stool that they had gotten from first glance, but something they hadn't seen was that she was crying, having turned away right after Link saw her eyes, her back to them. Navi caught she was crying when she circled around, hiding her veil for the accumulation she would be caught if it was on. Moving at stealthily as a predator on the verge of finding food, the fairie went on only to find her with her hands in her hands, the song still going on, but cries echoing silently. Fluttering out of the darkness, her aura came on and she looked over to Link, waving a strong arm for him to get over here on the double. Where he saw it was her own guess, he did have keen eyes as well as ears, so maybe he did see the small arm waving, as the farmer girl noticed something right before her and looked up.

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Groaning softly, he cast himself forward through, trying to pry himself through the gates without so much as creaking them. That, however, wasn't the way things worked around here, so he came halfway around the place before a small creek sounded, his flat chest pressing up against the tip of the gate and giving it a small little vibration. Pulling back quickly, he saw the lantern go off where the girl he thought was Malon was standing, the shuttering opening up and the light in the window he had just hit was turning on. Curses of all kind went out as the boy heard footsteps stomping loudly upon the pavement, maybe intentional to try to scare someone. Link had to hide (and fast), so he scooped himself off the ground, looking for a place to hide, seeing the Cucco house, but thinking that was the most logical place to look.

His eyes caught the side of the stable, seeing a small little hold underneath where maybe they put secret stuff in, some sort of treasure or something. Grabbing himself up in a mad dash, as the footsteps plodded off the stairs, he leapt forward in a sliding position, slamming inside the hole just as soon as the door opened. Sticking a narrow eye out of the door, he watched as the man named Ingo came out dressed in the black suit as described from earlier, it was actually night clothes that he had been wearing before, he could see since these things had such a tighter feel to them. Gulping down, he hurried down into the ground, burying his head underneath the stable and awaiting.

"Bitch! Are you out here!" That wasn't Ingo's voice, it couldn't have been, the old Ingo was a simple man who had big dreams of making it big, liked to tease and get angry at Talon at his success of the farm and yet being a lazy worker. His image of Ingo would have never called Malon such a naughty word, being that he did indeed think of her as his own daughter, he had seen when he stayed the night how gentle and kind he was with the young girl. Helping her to bed when the Talon was off on business, being kind even to Link who was an utter stranger to him, yet Link couldn't help but feel bile in his throat now. No, this wasn't the man he had met all those years before; this was an evil being as if someone had possessed the late man's body and was consuming power from his soul. Ganondorf, the only explanation for this abomination of evil.

"Stupid slut, you better answer me when I am talking to you." Nothing went on, no voices were sounded, and from what he got the girl that being called dirty names was hiding with his fairie, with Navi trying to comfort and keep her calm. When Navi had left, he noticed the girl had turned around and started shaking, thinking maybe she was crying, a reason he had so hurriedly went over there, getting himself into trouble with this man. How easily he could have jumped out and battled that pitchfork from his hand, decapitating him in a few seconds. No, stop that, this isn't you. You aren't that bloodthirsty! It seemed they all had demons to fend off, the killing was one that he seemed to have a problem with, it was weird, but even since the mutant incident he couldn't get the power of killing out of his mind. A love it took to take something away from somebody: he absolutely loved it, and yet how he despised it with every living breath inside of his older body. Grasping the nerve to control him, the boy peeked out of the hole at the man.

Ingo seemed not to want to deal with this anymore, so he gave off a stream of curses once more. Came back to the door and re-entered it, Link hearing the reparative steps of Ingo going up the stairs, a blowing out of some kind and then the sound of something hitting the bed. The boy waited a full fifteen minutes, when the man started snoring, before he pulled himself out of the tiny hole, ripping some of his tunic off on the edges of the jagged entrance, letting out a small whine of contempt, he looked down on himself and noticed something else. There was something all over him, and also he noticed something else, he had a weird smell to him, something that you smelt when you used the bathroom.

Oh, no…is this what I think it is? All over his body, starting from the top of his shoulders and going down to the soles of his boots, was dung, pure dung from that of a horse or a cow, whichever stable he was in. The boy hadn't noticed it earlier since he had no exposed skin, and his head had always been out of the hole, so the smell was so hard to establish in that environment. A small retch came in his throat, holding the urge to puke, but kept his hands down at his side, turning his head away from himself in utter disgust. Even his sword was covered with it, everything was covered in it, his new tunic felt so dinged and dirty to him, wishing he was in the torn one from before. Clearing his throat softly, the boy stared forward as the light came on and saw that Navi's barrier was reflected off the lantern light.

Jogging the distance in less than a minute, he came back to the gate, seeing that since he had bumped it that he could slip past it so easily, and with that he slid past it the gate with so much ease, not bothering to walk the other distance. It wasn't that he was embarrassed--yea, it was---but he was meeting this girl now and had to be covered up in the worst substance in the world. Shying down, he lowered his head with no glance towards the two, knowing the scent of him was already burning their nostrils, it only took a few seconds for it to adjust to him. When he knew it had happened was when the two made a very disturbing gag noise, not being playful, but dead serious to him. Cheeks were burning brightly as firecrackers when this happened, looking off to the side and muttering an excuse, them not hearing it.

"Link--what happened to you?" Navi commented, fluttering over to him, stopping before she was two feet away and backing up to the girl. She knew it was cruel to do that to her friend, but the simple fact was that he was gross. That was sad what had happened to him, it was bad to happen at the least likely time, one of where he was meeting a new person. She wished she could comfort him, hug him and tell him it was all right, and that would have been good and fine if it was okay. No, it wasn't okay, it's nasty, and I wonder how he managed to do that good bit on himself. Probably jumped in a pile of it when Ingo had come. When Ingo had visited them, not coming close to the gate, but still scaring them--the two of them had hidden down in the deeper part of the grass, shutting the lantern off before he even stepped outside. It was only natural she would back away like the girl had done, but the girl had done something that she hadn't done, Malon had perked up at the sound of his name.

Navi had warned Malon, her ears weren't as keen as Link's of Navi's, so when she saw the light the young girl had gasped her hand to her chest and frozen. It was Navi who slammed the clamp on the lantern shut, putting it out for the time being, and pushed her off of the stool and down into the grass to hide, covering her up in the weeds that had started to grow around this yard. Looking like it hadn't been cut in months was a good thing, they hadn't gotten to that part of the conversation when they talked, and all they did was speak to each other about why she was crying. Malon had remarked it was Ingo, that over the past few months he had turned evil, going from a jolly man to his otherwise alter ego of evil. Navi hadn't really believed the girl (she had met Ingo, he wasn't bad), but he found out the truth when the man had insulted with a wind of insults. Glancing over at Malon when she heard the name, he knew their identifies were given.

"Link? Fairie boy?" He felt himself being gazed upon, knowing the green in his shoulder blades and above was showing, so it was easy to distinguish the green tunic implanted on his body (smothered in crap), but that wasn't important, he saw her expression when he glanced up. Her face had changed from the pitying crying, yea he saw she had cried just before Navi had come over, into a gasp of happiness, why she may have hugged him with that glance. If not for the nasty substance on his body, then he would have gotten a nice big hug, what she did do was clasp her hands together in happiness, an overjoyed look filling her face with that painted glance, looking over at him with those eyes sparkling. The wrinkles in her eyes had disappeared somehow; they were now glittering like that of a beautiful fountain, the pools moving back and forth with stars glazed before them.

"Malon, right?" Navi spoke up, looking at the girl and not enjoying it at all, she thought that Malon was okay, but she had never been one of her favorite (actually any of the girls were never his favorites.) She was just taking a guess as who it was, I mean it was pretty obvious who it was with the clothes somewhat altered, the hair the came, and having that cute-girl smile on her. Crossing her arms across her chest, she gazed down at the woman, seeing that she may have been a year younger or older than Link, she had forgotten, so she was either eighteen or sixteen, not that it mattered to Navi. All she cared about was how this would affect the future, was she thrilled to see Link because he was a hero, or were there other intentions in her plan. That seemed highly possible, In this day and age people were wedded off younger than ever, actually it was around the time they hit puberty since women didn't have much to do, so this would be considered a late bloomer, perhaps?

"Mmhm, I am Malon. Navi, Link, those two are you?! My, how you have both changed, Link more respectively than Navi. Hey, Link, I thought that you were a Kokiiri, and they weren't supposed to grow up, from what I heard." She threw out statements one by one, confusing the both of them more and more. Finally Link caught her in the middle of a sentence, speaking up with great pleasure for Navi. She guessed that he had caught this, giving off a smile towards the fairie. It was all right if Malon was interested in what had been going on these seven years without any visit, but the questions were getting old and dubious. Catching her hand to stop her, literally, the boy stared down at the shorter girl (maybe by three inches) and gave on speaking about what was going on these months and months of constant banishment.

"It's the strangest thing…I am confused why I am grown up." He chuckled nervously, having the impulse to scratch his head, but dare he do it with his gloves handled like that, but nevertheless he let out a sigh of defeat and stared up at Malon, noticing how much she indeed had changed over the years. The sheet he called a 'rag' was now bloomed out into a beautiful long dress, revealing some of her curves pressed against the fabric since she had just been down to the ground. Shaking his head mentally, the boy stared off to the ground, trying to think of a way he might be able to get himself back together, the bath was in there with Ingo. With the man dressed like that, an attitude to match, he doubted the man would let him use his bath, a complete stranger, but even with introduction it seemed doubtless.

"Link, you smell, why do you have manure--ohh, you must have hid under the stables, that's where Ingo makes me shovel all the manure. I don't know why, it does fertilize the ground, I guess. He has been like that for--oh going on four months now."

"Why is he like that, we saw Ganondorf's troops going through the town, we hid in the trees for we aren't so popular with him." Navi blurted out, hovering a few feet above the boy so not to get her attention veered back to the smell of him. It was so strange that Ganon was in here, maybe Ingo's personality change had to do with it, that seemed highly possible in the situation they were in, the man had probably been corrupted or something. Strange as it was, they had been warned that people wouldn't want this land to be saved, some actually liked living in despair well the rich ones anyway. The evil king had such weird performances on how to run a land, not that it bothered her, soon he would be put a stop too and Zelda would be back in power, the way things were supposed to be. Sniffing the cold night air, she let the breeze be inhaled inside of her lungs, nuzzling back into it with a shiver coming out of her teeth.

"Hmm? Oh, well they come here for milk. It's free since he is always paying tributes to Ganondorf, I don't understand why Ingo-sama has changed, he used to be such a nice man, but ever since daddy left." She trailed off, sitting back upon the stool, re-straightening it in the hard grass and heaving a soft sob to keep from breaking hysterically. Catching her breath slowly, she stared back at the two of them, locking the changes in them, accepting how that little 'fairie-boy' had matured into such a handsome young man, one who looked like one of those heroes from the ancient tales and storybooks. Grasping her hands to her chest, the young girl eyes roamed over the pasture, towards the stall, thinking of something, but mainly what to do about that smell. Ingo had the bathrooms upstairs, so the tub was out of the question, but wasn't their another way? Blinking with enthusiasm, she nodded, there was one other way.

"Malon-san, is there anything we can do about this smell? Link is getting a little bad." She giggled when Link swung at her playfully, missing on purpose. She would have tackled him, if it hadn't been for the aroma being so bad.

"Seriously, Malon, I do need some help." Link voiced in, slumping his shoulders.

"I've got a way, you two. Just follow me out to the stalls." The stalls, she thought. It was worth a quick shot, there was the only other way, and she took off in a dash out of the gate, slipping past it with no whim at all and breaking out into a run towards the outhouse that was behind the gate. It shall take him a while to get past the gate, so it gives me time. Turning around and staring, she saw the two had indeed were in trouble, for when she reached the door of the outhouse, she saw he was just getting out of the gate (looking like only an ant from this spot.) Opening the silent door, she ran into the room where the cows usually stayed, but they were all crowded in the barn tonight, so the luck was in when a giant pail was standing right where they milked the larger cows. Another hint of luck gave in when she peered across the trench they drank picking up the small piece of wood and emptying it inside of the giant bucket.

A few of the other troughs were around, taking the brown drinking fountains and emptying the contents inside of the large pale, it wasn't that there were no giant cows, just pails Ingo had made so that more milk could be transported at one time. It was large enough for the boy, that was an understatement, but she picked through the small satchel she had attached to her bag, picking out some soap and contents for bathing, laying them along the side of hay bales. By the time the water was drawn all the way, contents laid out for him, she heard the panting of him rushing up the long path all the way, probably running at full speed the entire way. She had trotted so her breath had been in content, developing a little sweat brow from the work preparations of his bath.

Ten minutes after the breaths came out, the boy came straggling to the door (Malon had thought her ears were good, but not that good.) From the looks of things, he was smeared all over and grassed upon, Link had obviously slightly miscalculated on his was out of the place, either tripping over many of the pot holes that weren't paved on the racetrack. Then there were some that had been paved there specifically for that reason, Ingo liked to bet, and would usually bet men in a horserace that if they won they could keep the mare or steed, usually they lost. It was an old trick, dirt and/or grass either paved them up so when the guy hove slipped in the guy went flying off, and the funny thing was no one complained. Spooky was the good word for it; it was as if no one cared they were getting cheated.

"Link what happened?"

Letting out a groan of pain, Navi let out a little giggle of enjoyment, dodging the blows that Link threw at her. As he explained, he had to stop himself every now and then to get in an extra swat in at Navi, telling her to stop the slight comments and giggles she would protrude in. Basically he was trotting along at full speed (as she had guessed) and he slammed into one of those pot-holes that Malon had been referring too, falling on his knees and almost twisting his ankle. Moving along the paths, it seemed every five minutes he had do jump over, dodges, or fell into and crawled out of another one of these holes, so frustrating at the smearing of his clothes and everything that he ended up on his knees the rest of the distance. That explained why her ears had gotten all of a sudden so keen, as it turned out he had been dangling to the bitter terran earth when she had heard the noises, him probably a few yards away, dodging the pot-holes. Letting out a little giggle, Malon pointed to the tub and then to him.

"What is that, Malon?"

"Ingo-san decided to transport milk in larger bundles, so he had these made from the blacksmith. I filled it up with water so you can take a bath."

"All right. Are you going to wash my stuff while I bathe?"

"Yea, I'll go out to the stream and wash them, there is one right at the right hand corner of the ranch, and if it isn't working, the pump that is, then I'll just go inside and deal with Ingo. He's bitter sometimes, but he won't mind if I am extra quiet." She slipped out the door, peeking her head in one last time before leaving it cracked for him to throw his clothes down when he got undressed.

Link was eager to ask about the evil Ingo, but now didn't seem the time, now seemed the time to be soaking inside of a relaxing bathe, to let his worries of this new land go to waste in the water. Pulling off the hat (his only clean material), the boy pulled down his tunic, slopping it right down next to the boots and socks that went off, sliding them all next to his satchel, side pack, shield and sword. When that was all done he remained in that streaked jump suit that was half-mannered and half clean from the protection of his tunic. Undoing the tight strings at the top of his suit, the only way to slip out of it, he noticed Navi was still hovering above him, looking at him strangely.

"Something wrong?" He asked pulling the top part of the suit off, as it turned it was two pieces. A top shirt and a bottom part where the pants were, slipping around his feet so there was no need for socks around here, they basically trampled his feet and didn't provide any warmth or anything. Besides, this was Hyrule, it hadn't snowed here in Goddess knows how long, the place was buried with subtropical temperatures, even the highest of Death Mountain didn't experience snow in the least. Throwing the top of the suit down, he examined the muscles down in the reflection of the water as he had done the previous night before when they bathed by the river. So strange he felt when looking at it, it was like a hour glass had been turned upside down, drifting him and aging him every other second (when a speck of sand drifted through.) A good analogy, I feel like that, a glass to be fooled with by a marionette.

"Oh nothing, I am just admiring you from afar." Giggling slightly, she came over and sat upon his shoulder, liking the feel of the strong flesh, yet feeling the anticipation to scream this wasn't him. It was strange all right, getting used to waking up to a teen figure instead of the puny one with courage so big her heart felt it would burst; it wasn't that she doubted this was Link. No, that had been proved in the Temple of Light, all she wondered now was who was manipulating him to have awakened him so old, to have taken the breath away from him, taking away all the dreams they had planned on accomplishing. Sighing out, the remainder of her veil fell, she slowly taking off all of her own clothing, she didn't wear boots or shoes, fairies were too delicate for that, the veil always provided a perfect protection. Sometimes she would just let it surround her feet, as a way of covering her feet from sores, not that she walked or anything.

"Mm, all right, I guess that's okay." Slipping down the pants and last of the undergarments, he chunked them at the door as he slid inside the tub, feeling the pressure of hot water all over his body. Malon must have heated it up with fire while she waited for them to arrive, because it felt just like when they were in the springs, hot yet satisfying. What they hadn't hoped on was a little screech, not loud enough to awaken Ingo, but one that was of infuriating pain and suffering. No, that was wrong, it wasn't of pain (for he'd have been up in a second) it was a scream of disgust, one that someone feels pity for when they are hit with something not known. Maybe this was the case, for Malon slammed the door open with the bottom part of his jump suit connected around her waist.

"Malon I'm--" Navi surprised a giggle, but Malon just took hold of the clothes and stormed out, slamming the door loudly as she went. It was okay to be as loud as they wanted too out here, no one was guarding this place, and Ingo was a few miles away, so when she left Link couldn't help let out a stream of giggles. Sliding down into the hot water, he let it slid down over his face, some getting into his nose and holding it there as he resurfaced with recoil so great he couldn't help but let out a shrug. Looking to his fairie, he saw her lying upon the air, like some sort of levitating psychic, pressing her face into the air and beating it severely. Laughter went on in giggles and chuckles for another fifteen minutes, before he caught himself sternly, telling himself to calm down or he would awaken the farmer.

"Hee, Navi did you see her! It was an accident, but I--"

"Yea, I saw it. Oh, Goddess, that was a good laugh!" It seemed the girl had finally caught herself with self-control and commanded herself to remain quiet, for when he stopped she gave last giggle and stopped herself. Poor Malon! Of course she felt sad for her, she didn't wish anything bad on her, but it was one of the best laughs she had ever caught, the thing had actually hit Malon in the face so she had crap smeared all over her face, all over the beautiful dress also. Somehow it had dangled down across her so that most of her was pain-stricken with the nasty droppings of the horses and cows. Now the giggles didn't help much, for Navi caught the growl and silent curses of the girl as she ran away, having felt sorry if the girl had cried, but it didn't seem she had. Something told her this girl had been through some tough times over the years.

"Navi, why do you think Ingo is like that?" Link inquired, lying down so the water was at his shoulder blades, feet sticking out of the end of the tub. No matter how big that she thought it was, Malon was a few inches shorter than Link, so she could have feet in it, but there was no way in hell that he was big enough for it. When scrunched up he was, but whoever took a bath scrunch up, it was supposed to be a relaxing feature. He didn't mind having his feet stick out, they were airing themselves out, brushing against the bales of hay for some drying off, and then resting inside it. Link had been pondering this question the entire time of their stay, he may not have noticed it at first, but now he did feel a pretense around Ingo. Maybe it had a sixth sense, or maybe he was crazy, it just seemed wrong to be here with him.

"I couldn't begin to explain it, but I feel a strange aura about him, like he's been corrupted." She was in the water so it was over her breast, yea she had stripped all the way too, so she was floating in the water instead of on top of him, her wings being used as sort of gliders to keep her up. Getting naked around him wasn't that much of a problem anymore, he hardly even looked down there (for when he did it was a blushing accident), but she didn't mind, after all they were friends and friends kept nothing secret. No, not that sort of friendship, she thought of him as more than a friend, so it was up to his actions that called out what would happen between the two of them. Anyway, she saw he didn't mind if she saw him naked, but that first time, which had been sort of awkward, it was strange for his new body, so he wasn't accustomed.

"You felt that too? I just started feeling it when I saw him come outside. He's not the same man."

"I agree, the other Ingo was a little high-strung, but he was an over-all nice guy." Navi let out a small sigh of relief from the water, trying to brush the thoughts of Ingo away, yet they returned even without speech.

No more talk of the farmer went on between the two of them because they spent the next hour and a half discussing on what was to come next. They both agreed that somehow they were going to have to get Epona, or some horse to act as transportation, the place was too much of a risk anymore without them being disturbed. Sure there were no more Stalchildren running around the field, but something didn't feel right, Link would always stand guard some nights, sure something was watching the two of them. Waiting for them to fall asleep before it would feed upon their souls; Navi had said he was having too many bad dreams, yet he didn't doubt it for a second. Stuff like that was too scary to put aside as child's play, ghosts were real, and maybe a haunted spirit was chasing after them.

Link had heard somewhere of some term that started with the letter 'P' of the alphabet. Whatever the word was, the definition was supposed to be an affixed ghost, or one that was so controlled on emotions they were too stubborn to return to the after-life. These creatures eventually got jealous of the living, developing small little physical forms of their owns, not being satisfied with this form and attacking humans. They weren't that all deadly, for if you looked one straight in the eyes it would fade away, but a nuisance, nonetheless. Spirits and charms weren't his things, some of it was fact and yet more fiction and all he knew was that he had never actually seen a ghost before. You don't see oxygen, do you? How do you know it exists? That was a nice argument he liked to bring up sometimes.

What was finally agreed upon was that transportation was a good issue, but it didn't stop there, they still needed that invention that Shiek had mentioned. Something about a spring attached that would lift them up to high places, the places they needed to get too in order to reach the Forest Temple, but where in blazes was something like that? The only other civilization that came to mind was Kakariko Village, so that was the place they would head next, if on horse could be reached out in a few hours, a day at the most. That was the great thing about horse travel, they went long and hard, as long as you fed them they were all right with you, they were all right living with you, and even traveled slowly at night so there was no problem of ghosts in Link's mind.

After gaining some information in the town, they would search for the prize, which was where Danpte' had it, right? Of course, that is what Shiek had said, so then they would head out to the old grave-yard, pay the old geezer a visit and win the hookshot over, buying it or something, if Shiek said it was a treasure, he doubted the grave-digger would let it go. Following those events he might pay an old visit to Anju, the cucco lady, then it was back to the horse and off to the woods where he would find Saria, saving the most time for achieving maybe a two day period to reach the forest. It was so far away that there was no other way to travel there unless it rode up Death Mountain a few days and took that small path back, but he didn't want too. Why do those when you could see your friends again, but friends that obviously wouldn't recognize him? Friends…friends, they were not when I left. An enemy was a better word of what the males of the tribe had been to him, the females with him all the way or simply neutral.

There talk ceased down until the other time passed, being three hours directly since they entered the tub, Link feeling himself wrinkled enough got out of the tub and dried himself off with the clothed towel. Handing his young fairie an extra washcloth that Malon had supplied, he let her wrap herself up into it so she wouldn't catch a cold, and a source of drying off. Soon the two of them waited for their clothes to be returned, not Navi's but Link's, for she was soon dressed and laid the cloth back to the side, pondering where the young girl was with her partner's clothes. The question was soon answered when a knock was given, not even waiting for anyone to call out, the door opening and shutting in a smooth breeze. No candles were lit so it was hard to see who it was; yea they had been bathing in the dark.

"Navi, glow." Link whispered, not sure of who it was, but relieved an expression of anger when Malon came out with some supplies with her. She sat down a few candles around the room, taking some kindle and lighting the candles in a few strokes of the stuff, before putting them back to her bag. Four candles total were lit, each one in a corner of the room and a new fifth one added in the center to help adjust the room to the light. With have been in the dark for so long, the two had to recuperate to the lighting change, noticing something that they hadn't seen before: Malon was wearing a cloth around her face, staring down.

"Malon-san, what is it?" Navi shut off her aura and fluttered over to Malon, who was staring down at the boxes, as if reading them, but Navi could sense a bit of tears dripping from the handkerchief she had wrapped around her face like a robber does. Looking up at her, she touched her face that was through the rag, the girl wrenching away from the fairie and bursting out in smaller sobs, not afraid to let them go, no one could hear out here. Maybe it is her pride, the fairie thought, to cry infront of people that she hadn't seen for so long, she might think that we thought she was weird. A strange statement, but even more normal people had been known to have different phobias, maybe she had the phobia to not show emotion. That was bad because it was flowing out in full proportion.

Link didn't go to her when Malon cried, he looked over to her sadly, and reached for the bag she had with her, pilfering through for his clothes and materials. When he came upon him, his eyes brightened at how clean his tunic was, how shiny his weapons were, and how much she had salved to get his satchel and side pack back to normal. Giving a slight giggle, he pulled the materials out and went behind a crate quickly changing down into his old clothes, throwing the towel over on the box where the bag was. A few minutes later he came out, clipping the strap on his shield back on, reliving the weight of what his arsenal was, and somehow feeling naked without it. Crossing his arms across his chest, he walked over to Malon, surprised to see her covered up, and spoke.

"Thank you Malon."

"Y-you're welcome, L-link."

"Malon-san, what's wrong?" He, without warning, pulled the cloth off of her face and looked down at what was being concealed. Malon automatically moved her hands across the scene on her face, but the two had caught the disfigurement of her face, looking at each other puzzled. Upon her cheek were some bruises, as if she while she was walking, somehow she had tripped and hit a hard piece of wood. Several times she must of hit, for they were all over her cheeks, having happened within the hour, each was still light so it wouldn't turn a dark purple or sickish yellow for quite a few days. Her eye was blackened; they hadn't noticed it before, but in the light they could see where she might have run her head into a post, or something. It puzzled Link, but from the look on Navi's face, she had gotten the mystery long before he ever would, so she would have to explain it to him.

"Malon, did he?"

"Did who?" Link interrupted Navi, being slapped across the face, and ducking down painfully.

"Did he hurt you, Malon?" Link remained quiet this times, pondering his guardian's words.

"Not anymore than usual…" She whispered out, whimpering at the gazes she was receiving from her old two friends. Yes, from the gazes of Navi the secret was out, but from the naïve fairie boy, he was still left in the dark. It wasn't that he was stupid, Link just wasn't aware of certain things that were going on in the world, certain things normal Hylians would know about, but he had never learned. Now Malon would have blamed it on the forest, being too innocent there, but Navi knew the real reason, a reason that they should discuss with anyone. That wasn't Rauru's rule, that was her own, so she might have to explain it to Link if he didn't catch on whenever it may or may not have been brought up in another conversation. Wincing at the thoughts of it all, she listened on, speaking sternly.

"Usual, he does this to you daily?"

"Well, no--he does much worse."

"What's worse than beating you?" Link spoke out, dodging the slap this time, only to be slapped again (harder this time) for dodging the last one. Wincing, he didn't quit there, he wondered what was worse than being hit all over, and from his own guess they were talking about Ingo hurting Malon, for he knew about that. Link had known about teasing his own life, if anyone would name him, he was a master at that sort of thing, not many people knew the stories of his childhood except him and Saria. He explained a few to Navi, aside the one in Jabu, but she would nod off to sleep in the sheer boredom of his conversations. Guessing the others weren't as exciting as the others, for the only people that were every interested in them remotely were Saria and himself, for Saria always saved him those times, making her look like the hero and him the damsel in distress. With diverted roles, he didn't seem to care about it, liking it back then.

"There any many things worse than hitting me, Link, think!"

"I know that, but did he server a limb or something? I mean, I see some bruises on your face, I know since you are a girl you are more delicate than a boy is, but that isn't something to cry over. Why don't you just beat him up, you can take my dagger and take him ou--" He stopped in the middle of the sentence, disgusted with himself. What was wrong with him, this wasn't some malicious creature, this was some human being they were talking about, at first his conversation had been about protection. Somewhere along the lines of pulling out the dagger had it turned from pure self-defense to cold-blood murder. Flushing softly, he whispered a sorry to Malon and stared down to the ground, those keen ears still staying open for conversation. Something was much worse than taking an appendage off, and he wanted to know exactly what it was.

Malon seemed to turn on him. "Are you dense! There are things ten times worse than just beating me up; there are more private things he has done to me, things you should have understood when you were twelve years old! I know I did." She let herself calm down, breathing out heavy sighs, grasping the edge of her dress and burying her face deep within, sobbing louder than ever, Navi patting her back (glaring at Link) and then staring back to the girl with a comforting look. Link was flabbergasted; not that he had been verbally assaulted, but the fact that she had said these things to him for no apparent reason, the gazes of Navi making him every bit uncomfortable. Well, there was only one way to solve this, he wasn't alive when he was twelve, so it was better to tell her about this, he did feel a little crazy for telling he was frozen for seven years. Then again who wouldn't think so, but Malon was his friend, if she didn't believe then no one else would. It was hopeless if friends abandoned you.

"Well, Malon I've never heard of this because when I was twelve I was trap--mm-mm!" Navi grabbed his mouth; shoving her fingers deep within it and making him gag a little. When their faces were pressed up together she mouthed the words 'don't tell, secret of ours' to him, winking a little. Nodding a little, the boy stared off to the side, licking his lips for where Navi had been, getting her taste on his lips again, and with a smile he shook his head and patted his head as if to say that he was being dense. Malon seemed to accept this, for she began to tell the story of the things that were much more worse than fighting or getting bruised."

"Ingo-san was such a sweet man up until my sixteenth birthday, that was a few months ago. When I turned sixteen the whole world seemed to be cursed, my father lost his job and ran away from the ranch, leaving me behind to fend alone. You see the farm was Talon's until the Great Ganondorf saw how lazy my daddy can be and gave it to Ingo, cheating us out of the farm, not evening paying content to us, liking Ingo for his jealously. No, don't look that way he came back but I had to stay, if I didn't the animals were going to be treated poorly. Yea, the sweet Ingo was replaced by the black-wearing man you see today, his eyes always looking tired even though he doesn't do anything all day, except talk to the troops and hold bets. Ingo made a deal with me that if I stayed behind he wouldn't beat the horses or mistreat the cows, so I have been working him for all these months as a stable-girl, cleaning from sun up to sun down. I never even stop for a break until I am almost dehydrated and then I get a few ounces of water." She smiled a little, looking over to Link with pleading eyes, and he seemed to catch the drift and dug through his satchel, throwing the canteen at her.

Catching it with little ease, she gulped down the water that she had drained from the stream for him, having drunk some early, but feeling that raspy feeling in her throat. Handing it back to him, she continued. "Then about two months ago he started getting violent. Y'see, at first he was just verbally mean as in he would call me names not as bad as last night, but they did hurt my feelings, but when the violence started that was when I wanted to go. He would verbally assault me like you heard tonight, and punch me around for his own enjoyment, even letting some of his workers go up and." she stopped for a second, biting her lip and pointing to her body. "And feel me down there, touch me and grope. That wasn't the worst of it though.

"No, the gropes were bad all right, I would sometimes cry in my room for all the hands that had fondled me, sobbing uncontrollably for someone to save me, but after that was when it got worse. His men would grope me and leave, and then he--himself--would start to fondle me the same way, getting the same reactions as the others." Holding a large lump in her hand, Navi looked down silently while Link looked off to the side, trying to figure out what that was, smiling weakly, she picked back up. "Well, that was when the big trouble started, for a few nights after he started to grope me--he'd also been drinking ever since the ranch was sold--he then started to want to do more than just grope. All I did was protest, telling him that this time he had gone too far that nothing would make me sink that low, that I knew he was being deceived. All he would do was chuckle and continue groping, asking when something more was going to happen.

"This went on for a few more weeks until finally he got fed up with my settlings and went down and took me."

She was interrupted by the silent boy who had pondered the story with some question, knowing most of the terms, but confused by what she had just said.

At first Link hadn't gotten it, but now piecing it together he had a quick idea what she me meant by the groping and the pinching and all that. It did disgust him truly that a man would do that to somehow, why would anyone want to pinch someone in those secured areas, anyway? The problem was that by the terms when Ingo wanted to go beyond that, was going to take her, all those things didn't quite click with his brain, you see he still had the mentality of his ten-year old. He thought like an adult, but when in those areas it was still innocent.

"He took me, broke me, Link."

"Broke your bones?"

"Navi, please explain to me why he doesn't know this stuff, he is seventeen, right?'

Navi stammered out loud, trying to think up a reasonable excuse for Link's behavior, she had expected that ever since she saw what Ingo was going to do to Malon, it was sad, but the truth was she wouldn't put that past Ganondorf. Crossing her arms across her chest, she was thinking as they talked about what those things such was breaking her were, when Link and Malon talked she was already thinking up an excuse. Of course Malon would question her, there was no doubt about that, why wouldn't she question her about him, she was his guardian. Smiling, her face beamed up at the perfect lie, for now, it wasn't that she did trust Malon, or anything. She just didn't want the girl tortured to give information on the two.

"The forest, I'm sorry, but they are strictly forbidden in the forest, such taboo subjects. Yea, no one else grows up in the forest, so it's not a big problem until now." Slapping Link across the face, she held his lip shut, smiling to Malon sweetly. "Please continue, no more interruptions will be expected."

"Heh, thank you, Navi." Malon was actually getting cheered up, but of course the next part was going to depress her and everyone else, and while the young girl described it in details so vast they made even Navi blush, the girl didn't stop once for the heeding Link. Malon explained that Ingo had gotten a little too randy and decided to drunk her up then seduce her, but that hadn't worked. The farm girl had tasted the alcohol in the food that Ingo fixed, throwing the food aside and then proclaiming she wouldn't do that ever, no matter how bad the man wanted it. Fear entered her eyes when he burst out, slamming his fist into her jaw and knocking her out of consciousness. The next thing she remembered was pain, sweat slackening from her body and the grunts and groans of people all around, she didn't dare open her eyes when it was over, yet she explained what she thought had happened.

Her theory was that Ingo had tried to move Malon (who was taller than him) up the stairs and into his bedroom where he would do the deed, but he had not been able to do it, so he got his buddies over. The buddies were the Ganondorf guards who guarded the gates every now and then (only back then, Ganondorf didn't see much in Ingo now so it wasn't happening anytime soon.) The men heard of the young harlot who was about to be tied down and raped, so they wanted a piece of the action in too, so as it turned out four people had her that night: Ingo, and the three guards who guarded the gates. Malon had awoken when Ingo was having his first turn; her hymen broken was what woke her up from the pain. Each of them took turns on her for all night, leaving her in her bed that morning and a wheezing Ingo explaining how she was kidnapped and raped.

A total lie, Malon did her work the following days, every night moving a little and little more stuff out of her room upstairs and sleeping in the stables with the horses. Ingo wasn't able to get up in there so he finally gave up in touching her, that was until he broke in the stables while she was asleep last night and had her again once more. Desperate to leave, Malon was begging for someone to come and save her, and that was when she ran into him. Someone to save her and the horses from this evil, a hero of some kind, not necessarily a great her, but any kind would do, for Ingo wasn't that hard of man to take care of. After the story was told, she was in tears, wiping herself quickly and looked up at the duo.

"Please, can you take care of him."

"Sure, I can just knock him out and--"

"No, Link! Cure him…I want him cured so he won't hurt the animals anymore."

"Malon, are you stupid? You care about animals that much, the man has done such unhealthy things to you and you worry about the animals, if I were you I'd go and get Talon, I am sure Talon would wring Ingo's neck for what he did too you." Malon smiled and agreed with the hero, letting her shoulder drop in confusion, it was weird how she acted, she knew that, but if only Link had ever had a pet then he'd know what she was talking about. Clasping her hands to her chest, she actually looked up and face the two, seeing the determination arisen in Link's eyes, the courage that held out to her from Navi, probably because she was a woman herself. Link wouldn't understand the human and animal relationship until he had a pet of his own, but on the road was such a bad way to travel with a pet, if only he had a riding one.

"Don't know where daddy is, if you ever see him, point him home. Oh, Link, I don't know how you can do it except if you bet him." Yea, a race was the ting, and the bet was what Ingo loved. Drinking, betting, and sex were what the man loved, you couldn't help feel sorry for him when It came right down to it. If maybe he was healed, Malon thought he might not remember these bad deeds he had done and then she would forgive him for it all. False hope, maybe, but what else were they keen on getting nowadays? There was nothing else to live off of, only false hope was alive in their hearts and their minds, it kept her strengthened, made her feel not so dead on the inside.

"Bet, as in staking and winning?" Link spoke up, he knew about bets, he'd seen them at the poker games sometimes in the Kokiiri, and he had never done that before, of course.

"Yea, at a horse-race. If you were to beat him at a horse race with the farm as the stakes, then maybe you'd win it back, and then it would be yours. You could sign it over to daddy and we'd be back to normal, but the only person who can beat Jiu is Epona." A horse race was impossible, even if Epona did remember Link; he had probably never ever ridden a horse before. The Lon Lon's were the ones who introduced the horse to the Hylians, no one else had heard of them until Malon's great-grandfather came from across the sea with some of these horses, claiming they could be raised as battle steeds. Lon Lon had always supplied the King's horses, now it supplied Ganon's there were other farms out there in today's world, but none so great as this ranch's.

"Jiu?" Navi spoke up, interested.

"Ingo's horse, it belonged to the Great Ganondorf, but he gave it away a few years ago."

"The one that we saw when we were shot, remember Link!" Link's hair stood straight up, nodding a little as he pictured him in a horse race with that man and the evil horse of Ganondorf, it would be a real treat to win at it, teach them no to mess with the Hero of Time. Yea, maybe it was growing on him, it was a lot better than being called a boy by the older men, and Hero of Time seemed to suit him, he was going to change the time and defeat Ganondorf once and for all. Grinning at Malon, he looked up to Navi with an approving look, her eyes as determined as his, so he accepted that as a challenge, yea they would accept the reasonable bet with the dreaded Ingo.

"I accept, so can I see Epona tonight?"

"Yea, alright, we shall beat him! No, Link-chan, need her to have her strength. But she has grown up quite beautifully, I think you'll like her, and she will probably remember you. Hero, I want you to go to sleep now and rest for the night, you need your power for the race. Ingo maybe a drunk, but he are an excellent racer and leaves potholes in the ground tonight. I'll go fill them up now and then I will turn in myself, I hope you have a pleasant night." Smiling, she went to the door giving a wave to the boy and slipped out into the land, her bag behind her as she jobbed onward to take care of the business of getting rid of the evil being inside Ingo.

When she was gone they talked about how brave she was to stay here with a man who had defiled her, what Epona looked like, some training techniques they might need on the race track and hoping that Malon got all the pot holes picked up. Finally ten minutes after she left, too lazy to touch the candles, they blew out and surrounded the place in utter darkness, Link gathering himself up in the hay with the aura of light bouncing down right at his chest, laying down a dimmer version that slept with him. It was pitch black in here, so soon he was drifting off to sleep, smiling to himself and praying that when his time with Ganondorf came he was half as brave as Malon. Brave or stupid, it was the quality you see it in, there is no way to determine which is which, there is only the way one thinks from perspective, the way one lives in another society could be different from the other's opinion of the same theorem.

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Bright and early the next morning was, spraying out sunshine for all of those who would listen. Birds were chirping their song loudly, the place was barren of Cuccos, and but then again the horses' neighs let go of that as they were let out to roam the fields inside the fence. Ingo didn't mind them inside there, they were always saddled incase a potential buyer arrived, so it didn't matter to him. For that Malon was relieved they could be on their own, even the lone horse Epona, the most beautiful mare of the entire bunch, sporting a perfectly framed body. Hair that had been white as a child--a mane really--was now much longer and the beautiful shade of white (a rare hair colour for a horse.) Strong as an ox, the creature could handle anything past her size, but there was a down side to all this beauty and power in one horse: she was so difficult to train. No one in the entire place could train her except for Malon, yet she didn't share that knowledge to Ingo, so he thought the horse was interminable.

Just as nine o'clock peered around the corner, Malon having been awake for quite some time, Link's mind decided to awaken him from his internal slumber, leaving him to sleep late on the grass as long as he wanted, but he felt it better to get up now. Stretching before those lids pulled back to see anything, he could smell a new smell around him, one that seemed so foreign, yet so familiar that he couldn't help but notice it. Not yet leaving those eyes open, he searched around the room for Navi, finding her resting on the hay next to him and a sigh of relief came out. Sometimes he feared he had slept on top of the girl in his new form, it was a scary thought to think that you accidentally killed your best friend caused by your roughness in sleeping. Glove-less hands (he took them off when he slept) were moving over to those eyes wiping the sleep from them, as they blinked open he was met face-to-face with a creature.

Backing up against the crate, only having seen a huge nose and deep black eyes, it took him a few seconds to notice the smell and place it down with the creature that had been leaning down to stare at him. It was Epona! It had to be, this grown up mare resembled everything that he thought would be the enlarged version of her, the body so much bigger that it was funny: last time he couldn't ride the horse, now the horse could crush him. Pulling himself to his feet, leaving the gloves down and the Triforce symbol opened (it had stopped glowing after his second day on the adventure, he guessed it glowed because they were near the Power piece) up he gave himself a shove and stared up. Yup, it was her all right, the rustic colour upon her skin higher than ever, the hooves down at her feet were sprayed with a white fur right before they came up and blended from black to a dark rust. The horse didn't move though, she was examining him as he did to her.

"Hey girl." Extending a hand to her, he touched the tips of her mouth and petted it softly. Maybe someone should have told Link about horses, it wasn't a good idea to put stuff close to their mouths, especially when they didn't know you. Yes, this could have ended in disaster, she could have taken off some fingers with her flat teeth, but in the end Epona seemed to trust the stranger and began to nibble on his fingers. Letting out a chuckle of mixed feelings, he let her gnaw on his finger tips a few more times before bringing his hand away from her mouth, running the fingers delicately along her coat, brushing through the mane every now and then.

Epona wasn't done with her own examination, the horse stood a few inches above Link when she was on her four feet, so while he got in to give her a close rubbing. While he did this, she rested her head upon his neck and began to nibble around his ear, biting not hard at all, but a gentle nubbin. Shivering from the feelings as she nibbled, the boy rested his head against her, letting her continue to sniff and nibble around him (his ears were sensitive, give him a break!) Finally when she pulled away from the ears, he began to stroke her more fully until at last her examination was done with her and the verdict was clear: he was accepted as someone she knew long ago. But he didn't think she knew exactly who she was, that could be a problem in the race, they would have to get to know exactly who he was.

"You don't know me, now do you, girl?" She whinnied in return; as if saying she wasn't sure, or that was the message he caught. Giggling a little, he bent down and grabbed his gloves, while down feeling the muzzle of the horse's nose right under the tunic and between the legs of the jump suit. Leaping back, he slapped her playfully, a blush forming around his face while he slipped the gloves back on, fastening the straps and sitting down on the ground to awaken Navi (he didn't dare bend again.) While he bent, the boy realized a quick idea, he might as well kill two birds with one stone, so it was decided that he yanked out his ocarina and quickly played the song he had mastered over the months he was traveling. This song was so simple, the one Malon had taught him that had been her mother's song, yes it was the song of the horse Epona, the way he killed two birds was he reminded Epona and woke up the unconscious fairie at his side.

It worked both ways, at least as he could see, for the young fairie limped away from the hay, drifting in the air and going behind a box to get her awake, something she usually went in his hat to do most mornings. Glancing back at Epona, he sort of gave a signal to attack (at least that's what Epona thought) not an attack signal, but one to come see her old friend. Whinnying louder than ever, she trampled over to him, standing so he was way above her and bent a head down to rest near his, lapping eagerly with that long pink tongue at his face. Gasping, he caught some of the tongue in his mouth, grasping away when that happened, catching the rest in his cheek and on those ears. Flushing deeper, he went under the hay, the stubborn Epona pulling the covers away and continued to lick on his face.

Eventually the timed hero just gave in, keeping his mouth shut all the way, but that didn't discourage the mare to stop licking, the tongue sometimes getting in-between his lips. By the time Navi returned from the post he was on his back, the horse lent down even more to lick his face, her tail of white colours swishing back and forth along the ground. Epona may have not known Link long enough, but she sure seemed very happy to see him after all these years, nothing seemed to stop her from getting a kiss in. Probably because the only good person she has seen in months was Malon, plus the fact that I am a guy. No, not that way, but she probably felt nice to be with a big strong Kokiiri instead of a weak Hylian girl to heed her around with, that seemed reconcilable, or the fact she smelt adventure on him and yearned it.

"Navi, you see this, it's Epo--" He gasped, feeling the tongue once again slid down his mouth, and letting out a growl he hit her tongue playfully, making the horse yank it back in a bit of panic. Seeing the way he grinned, the mare let out a whinny of her own and continued to lick his face, bombarding Link's plan of scaring her away. Whining himself, the boy looked over to Navi, turning his head and receiving the kissed and licks in the cheek and ears, holding back the urges to grab her and kiss back, the ears were quite a turn-on for the Hylians. When he looked at Navi the look that he got made him growl with fury; she was laughing, yea his guardian was laughing at his own torment for this beast that seemed to not get enough of him.

"Mm, Link I guess I don't mind her messing with you, just don't hurt him, Epona, okay?" Epona stared up, as if understanding and let out a breath that sounded like a chuckle.

"Navi--mm stop that! Navi, please, help, she's pinning me down!" Yup, the first time he tried to get away, she backed him up so he was against a wall and had her weight pressed up against the wall so she couldn't escape his grasp. Quite a smart horse, that was for sure, but beauty was a bad thing when she was being so formal with him, not quite understanding the mares intentions, they were scary. Finally the seemingly helpless Navi fluttered over to the horse and flicked her between the eyes, causing the mare to back away in surprise, but before she could see who hit her his fairie had gathered him up and pushed him away from Epona. Back on his feet, the boy brushed off the hay, seeing the desperate Epona coming for him and yanked open the barn door, running out into the morning sun.

Taking a few glances around the room, he didn't get to suspect it for he felt that muzzle down between his legs again, and about to yell at her, he suddenly was airborne. Coming to a halt on her back, he saw what she had done: the thing had thrown him up and caught her, yea she was very smart for a horse. Noticing that she had a saddle upon her, wrapped around her neck for support and seated at the center of her back, he looked down at stared at the inscription. For his own sake there was no Ganondorf symbol upon it, he would have trashed it if it was, but the insignia actually surprised him. Gold around the rims, and with a small golden flap that fell on each side, on the left and right side of where his behind went were two small Triforce symbols, nothing malice or evil about them. Where he saw was also stitched blue, looking a lot like the colour of the Ocarina of Time. There were no reigns to hold on, so he simply rested his hair in the luscious mane as she walked across the landscape.

"Navi, you with me?" Looking behind his shoulder, he saw she was sitting on his back, nodding a little. "You're quite, what's wrong? You aren't usually like that."

"Oh, it's nothing. I am just surprised on how this morning is going, I don't see Ingo at all." Truth was, she didn't want to race at all, she just wanted to take this horse and leave, jumping the fence or whatever it took, the place still gave her the chills. Epona was okay in her book, the kisses had annoyed her at first, but she realized it was a horse (a female horse nevertheless) and she shouldn't get mad at the way horses showed their affection. The horse was beautiful, strong, a lot bigger than Link, and would probably wipe out any of the stallions she had ever seen working for the knights of Hyrule, it was good to have someone like her on their side. Jumping off of his back when Link laid his head down, she laid her own body in the mane, looking to Epona incase she got wired up. She didn't so she turned to the fur, facing him.

"Ingo, I don't feel like racing him at all. Maybe there is a way to get him clean?"

"Beat some common sense into him." She suggested.

"I like that idea, don't think Malon would go for it. I sure hope Ingo is gone or we'll be ca--" He was interrupted when the scream of fury came out of no where. Jumping up, the horse coming to a stop, Link looked over ahead of him and caught wind of Ingo, yea he was there with some of the men from Ganondorf's crew. Actual men, they were, the men dressed in crude armour that looked like it had been stolen from the Hylian knights and just painted black instead of the normal white, changing the insignias and all. The men had their swords drawn, only a few feet from Epona, the reason why she stopped, and because she didn't want her friend walking into a trap full of people like these. Standing on Epona, Link jumped ahead, coming off and waved his hand for Epona to go off, and when she did he reached for his sword.

"Just who the hell are you! And why did you have the Great Ganondorf's horse, I am training her just him, I would appreciate it if you would leave!" Did he plan on letting the boy leave? No, that was simply out of the question, Malon had helped him somehow last night and for that she would get another one of her sessions, the things that he and hid friends loved the most. Grinning at the thought of it, he stepped back away so the guards could come up (Ingo didn't have a sword.) He wasn't going to take care of Malon yet, he just wanted to watch this boy be slain by some of his guards, even if they were goons, they could kill a simple kid, couldn't they?

"Me? The Gods sent me, believe it or not. They call me the Hero of Time." Chuckling, he yanked the blade all the way from the sheath, one he had been born with when awakening from his seven year sleep, the sheathe was probably a present of the Sage of Light, among other things he was yet to discover. Squaring the blade out all the way, it seemed to give off a gleam of pleasure when awakened to the light; the others were staring down at the sword in silence. No, no one had ever seen the legendary Master Sword except how it was described in the legends, forged by all the Goddesses seeking to repent any evil that would ever haunt the Sacred Realm. Now evil was at its worst and the only one to stop this atrocity was the thick hands of one named Link.

"I-Ingo-san, that's the Sensei Siiu we don't stand a chance against that!" The two guards rambled on together; a schoolboy of Hyrule knew the legend of the Master Sword, also called the blade of evil's bane. Yes, the thing was powered up and ready for action, seeming to glow non-stop, so it worried the men when a young boy had yanked the blade out of a sheathe, displaying it for their attention. It wasn't that the blade was so huge that it could miss, no it looked like a normal double-edged sword to some, but to the keen eyed it was more than just a double-edged sword. This was a power that seemed to stop evil, it wasn't really magic at first, and with the medallion powers it would develop powers.

"Idiots, it is a replica, this isn't the real thing, there is no Hero of Time. Destroy him!" Ingo wasn't too sure himself, the blade did look very much like something out of legends, and the glowing made him nervous so he took a few more steps away from the blade, now ten feet away. Looking around desperately for the horse, Ingo couldn't catch any wind of it, he was gonna try to ride it so to trample the boy to death, but that was impossible without the taming abilities of this horse. Nothing seemed to work on her, but how was that boy riding her, he even stood up and jumped off her. Hell, she stopped so he wouldn't run into an ambush, it was so weird, as if that horse were some sort of human trapped inside of its body, it would indeed make a fine gift to Ganondorf.

"Come on, take a good shot. I'm out-numbered." That seemed to influence their courage, for soon both of them took out in a charge at the same time, seemingly showing Ganondorf's knights had no code of honor, not that it was thought he had. Chuckling a little, the boy grabbed the hilt of the sword and swung forward at the first sword, dodging the second sort with some ease, when the two swords collided the sword of the man's shattered on impact, the remains going everywhere. Quivering in fear, the man without a sword took off, while the other man licked his lips, tasting the blood he had resigned on his sword.

"L-link your hurt!" He smiled too her, stopping her when she was about to charge up a Ki blast to hit the man, it wasn't that he didn't need her help, he just wanted to do this on his own. Navi seemed to understand him, not giving a complain or anything, all she did was float away from him heading after the malicious Ingo who seemingly was not ten feet away from them anymore and somewhere out to the field. As if reading his mind, he waved a good-bye to her silently, grimacing at the pain that echoed in his shoulder, because you see he had ducked and went to the left, but had been nicked by the blade. Now he was bleeding a little at the shoulder, hissing at the pain, wishing he had a tonic to put on it to stop infection, but doubting it would help much. He needed a fairie to help heal this.

"Just because you drew blood once doesn't mean you will again, I will allow you to leave unharmed, I will not go easy on you like I did your friend, you did wound me after all."

"Shut the hell up and fight!" Gripping the broadsword, the man took off in a leap, trying to come in for an attack from above, Link rolling out of the way and striking the blade as it sank down into the ground. Nothing seemed to happen for the next few minutes; the man's sword was still in the ground, along with Link's resting a few feet beyond it. When he tried to pull on it the sword didn't slide out, but neither did Link's own blade, so it was sort of like a stalemate match, to see who would out-last the other the longest. For a long time it went like this with no conversation, why talk to some one, it really didn't help to know someone you were about to kill anyway. Little by little, though, conversation began to float out seemingly.

"You're bane of evil isn't so tough now, huh!" The man was getting cockier by the minute, pissing the young hero off. If we wait just a few more seconds then we can do it.

"I guess you are right, I think I maybe finished, or this could end in a draw."

"Ha, I doubt it, I just don't carry a sword, I carry other things." Reaching into his pocket, he produced a dagger eyeing it on the tips of his fingers, smiling down at the man as his hands remained on the sword, now beginning to hum silently to himself. Link was concentrating, but with some madman with a dagger after him, it was hard enough to keep himself secure. Now the odds weren't exactly in his favor anymore, nothing really had ever been in his favor, but now he didn't see that much of a bright future for him anymore. Staring at the dagger, he knew he had one of his own in his satchel, but the odds of retrieving it and throwing it right at the other dagger were out of the question. Plus he had to keep his hands on the sword if he wanted to kill the man. It was hard, this spell wasn't even his own, it was if he was spoken to grab the sword and slam it into the ground, and wait for things to happen, that was fine by him, no skin off of his hands.

"I see you are very cowardly, it's sad when you have to fight with a dagger." Link spoke, buying time.

"Oh and you don't have one, give me a break!" The knight protested, grinning with the twirling blade.

"I do have one, I just chose not to use it." I wouldn't use it; it's too risky anyway. Link didn't have a knight's honour that the Hylians had, but he wasn't going to go and reach for his hidden blade when he was being preyed upon. Okay, so maybe he didn't think that losers used daggers, he had beaten three main monsters of those palaces with the help of a dagger, and he loved them. Using them as this way sort of made him mad, as a secret weapon it was harsh to use it that way, it gave it its own bad name, something he did not want to do. Smiling at the man, he shrugged a simple shoulder, one that suggested just to throw it and get it over with, there was nothing else better to do around here. At first the man stared at him when he winked, confused for a few seconds, before his tiny brain gave in.

"All right, say good night, 'Hero of Time'!" With a loud laugh, the man launched the dagger out of his hand, chuckling deep breaths as it flew across, not ever taking his eyes off the deadly weapon, even when he laughed. Link gripped the hilt of the sword, landing both hands on it and mumbling a prayer of release, as he suddenly spun around, not all the way, but to the left to expose some of his back. That would have been a bad mood, the back was weaker than the chest, but something was there that the knight obviously hadn't seen--a shield. Yes, the Hylian Shield was in place and deflected the dagger off to the side, falling down between Link's feet. Smashing the dagger into the earth, he pulled the blade from the terran earth, holding it up and speaking out words he didn't know he knew.

The piercing face upon the man was not enough to be described, he turned around and began to take off, but there was a little problem with his hand. During the anticipation, the man had tried to lift the sword out of the ground, resulting in the earth to sink in more and hold his hand in place when it sank down to the hilt with no acknowledgement from him. Now the knight stared down at his hand, jaw-dropping to the ground, looking up at the boy pleadingly, as the boy proclaimed some words. Words that typically wouldn't scare him, but in this case they sent tremors up and down his spin, relieving himself in his pants at the fierceness in Link's voice.

"Terran earth! Bring upon the grain of sand!" Yes, he knew those words; just not that those were the translated inscriptions of what he had been murmuring for the past few minutes. Since the sword never shattered, it resurfaced out of the ground, earth holding the knight's hand in place and seemed to melt down inside of the ground, as if being eaten by the earth itself, but it didn't stop there. Link's own blade slammed back into the earth, staring down at her and looking down at the earth as the land began to change from a beautiful grass to a swirling quicksand pit (only under him, though.) Giving out a small grin, he watched the earth swallow the terrified man, the hole disappearing after he left and the land reverting back to normal. Ripping a piece of his tunic off--near the sleeve--he pulled up the huge cloth and wrapped it around the wound on his shoulder, cleaning it up when he walked a few feet near the stream that Malon must have washed the clothes in the night before. Fastening the cloth around the clean wound, he bit his lip at the stinging.

Brushing the dirt from his sword he pulled out, the boy sheathed it back in, looking down at the grave of the former knight. No despair was taught, no pity was left for the man, he knew the promise he had made to himself and Navi that day in the alley, that promise didn't count when they were apart of Ganon's tribe, those people were already half-way dead and deserved to be killed. His only worry was when he went against the Gerudo, then he would leave them alone and maybe just Bon them upon the noggin when he ran into then, he didn't really want to kill a woman. Speaking of women, Epona came up from behind him, throwing him on his back and racing towards the beginning of the land, which worried Link that something was wrong. Navi was supposed to get Malon and Epona, watching Ingo too, but what had happened? Gripping her main sweetly, he rested his head into it, letting her ride off to whatever was next.

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While Link went on his Farore rampage of the knight, Navi had slipped away from them and trailed after Ingo, leaving her barrier low and following him down as fast as he could. Apparently he was after the horse or something, because he started chasing Epona, getting a kick in the head a few times, finally giving up and taking off back towards the barn. Reaching the barn, the man went back to where he slept and rummaged through the place for something, while this went on Navi peeked through a rotted hole in the roof, seeing that Malon was fast asleep in there. Surely she did her work and went back to sleep, forgetting about them or wanting to race another day or some other time. A feeling that racing wasn't ever going to happen went over her body, seeing the axe that Ingo had when he came back.

Damn Hylian, he won't hurt her this time! Fluttering to the man's eyes, he blinded them as he took the first stroke, hitting the air on accident. Now that the man couldn't see, he blasted a full hole inside of the barn, hearing the man yank and scream out curses to the Gods for help on the kid of blindness they were penetrating on him. Her spell didn't last long on Hylians, or humanoid creatures, so she only had five minutes to awaken the kid and get her out quietly away from this man before he came back, she would zap him again, at the expense he may have gotten an immunity. Peering through the hold just big enough for herself, the girl went all around zapping small holes in the places where windows had been barricaded, letting her see for herself the sun that would penetrate her eyes.

"Malon…Malon, wake up!" Oh, boy, she didn't do anything after the second term, so Navi began to shoot the other parts of the room, missing around the area where Ingo could get in, but hitting all the other possible areas. By the time she finished, the whole place had holes all around lights astounding her eyes, but not doing it and waking her up for the fairie. Growling softly, she counted the seconds knowing only three minutes remained, and yet it felt goof to be in a 'now-or-never' situation. Prepared her for the real life, helped her deal with the circumstances of the reality that was his own life, and letting out a long frustrated growl, she yelled inside the young Hylian's ears.

Overcome with the exhaustion of chores the following morning, the maiden's eyes poked open, only to see a hovering blue aura before her eyes, illuminating brighter and brighter. Recognizing it as Navi, she pulled herself up, hearing the cries of the infuriated Ingo, gasping with fear, but then she didn't worry about it when the sun streamed down in her eyes, causing her to whine softly. Jumping up from the barrel of hay she had been sleeping on--a place she had slept for the past few months--she stared around at the once shadowed room in amazement, there were hardly any walls around. It was like a fire had started somewhere outside of the barn, hit the walls and only burnt them down, some holes in the other walls near the entrance though. Taking a quick huff of breath, she glanced at Link's fairie with confusion plated on her face, what was going on here…it was so strange.

"Malon-san!"

"Navi-san, who did this to by stable?" Navi giggled nervously, pointing to herself.

"I did, but I had good reason, Malon-san! It's Ingo, he found out about Link and sent guards after him, and I think he's trying to capture Epona!"

"L-Link, is he okay?" Staring the fairie deep in the eyes, her own was filled fear, fear that the boy who was supposed to be like her knight had been killed by some of those dreaded guards. Probably the game guards who did that to me… Wincing, she pushed those thoughts from her mind, focusing on something else, anything else to take the pain away from there. Of course she still ached down where he had done that deep, de-flowering her and letting his buddies take turns touching and loving on her, while she was unconscious and later in constant memory, pretending to be asleep for her own sake. Gripping her fist, having stared down as those thoughts swirled about, she placed her orbs back to the girl again, only to see that she was laughing, yea, she was laughing.

"What's so funny! He's dead, isn't he?"

"Oh, Goddess know. You don't know Link, he has fought monsters, and a couple of amateur guards aren't any match for him. Malon-san, you really need to get out more, no two guards could take care of him, he already took out when I left, and now I am sure the other is dispatched." Really, Malon can be a little dense at times. At least that would be the message coming from her, it was hard for anyone who hadn't been around Link to think he was weak, it was so strong to her and so unfamiliar. Now no one had been by Link's side through so much danger as her, the danger seemed to get harder and harder as it came, and then these two puny guards show up who maybe physically stronger looking than him, but in anyway more powerful? Hell, no, that just wasn't going to happen, she saw to that it would never become true. Truth was the first one had run away, but why couldn't she spice it up for the effect of the drama, it was good to do that, let the legends of him from years to come maybe expanded further.

"Wow, h-he did?" She seemed to be a little starry-eyed, showing she was quite impressed.

"Yea, now we need to hide, Malon-san. Ingo is after you--shit! We need to go, the blindness is probably wearing off." Yanking her hair a little, the girl gave out a screech and followed her blandly as they went out the side wall, nearest away from the entrance, pushing through as Ingo slammed his body into the lock, crying out for some help. Proclaiming that he wouldn't harm her, that they had a problem, but she didn't hear it, the two were gone out in the field, soon took glance through the entire field. When they came to the center of the field, that was when they ran into the hilt of a sword pushing out of the ground, and Malon fell to her knees, groping the hilt and trying to get the blade out. Staring down at the black hilt, the girl was beginning to sob softly when Navi chirped in.

"Malon! That's not Link's sword, you may not have noticed since it was dark out, but the hilt of his new blade is violet and has the handles spread out like eagle wings." Chuckling a little, she pointed down at the sword with pity and described that that was the blade that the guards had owned, it seemed that something absorbed them into the earth, but Navi couldn't answer the question of who. When they had trained together and separate Link never said anything about this technique, it was if he knew nothing about it and just came to him. Maybe it did, that was a reasonable explanation, for when they trained together for most of the day the attack had nothing to do with the terran earth, this was just not working with the explanation with her describing it. Finally she just gave a shrugging shoulder, figuring this attack either blended the guard defenseless, or killed him (some blood was around the hilt.) Summoning up some voice, she called out loudly for Link.

A long neigh escaped to their right and when they stared over the horse appeared from the west, Epona the mare of Malon's escaped through atmosphere and road towards them, followed by another horse right behind it, gaining on its tail, yea, it was the one that made Navi shiver. Ganondorf's old horse was right on the tail of Epona, each of them bearing a rider while Epona had Link geared on, the now un-blinded Ingo mounted on the black stallion. All the armour was removed from the older horse, so it didn't quite look the same as before, but still the menacing yellow eyes penetrated through their marks, focusing on ramming the young mare out of her mind, taking down the young boy and finishing him off. Sitting on Epona, Link had his sword out, sitting backwards with the reins wrapped around his waist, the Master Sword bared out to take out the evil Ingo. Meanwhile the middle age had he a sword, trying to get ahead so they could rap swords, only being able to swing them at this time.

How this happened was the young man had been riding the horse, passing over the blinded Ingo unsusceptible over and over until the man awakened, caught wind of him and gave a long whistle for his horse to come. Epona took off in a gallop, leaving them in the dust, but soon the evil horse was there by his new master and caught up with them in time, racing on time and time to get out of range with each other. Ingo knew he didn't stand a chance if that teen had taken out those guards together, so he was prepared to try to stomp the boy instead of waiting for the sword to get close, it was better than going the other way and hoping he'd drop the sword. Taking the blade was something that he was unconscious of doing, grabbing it from the pile of swords that guards left whenever they left for the knight, or the quitters or executioners. The blade he wielded looked like the one in the ground, a black hilt, and a broadsword.

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"Navi! We need to get out of here!" He bellowed from the horse, passing her, but when Navi started to come towards him, he shook his hand and pointed to Malon. No, he needed her to guard the maiden so that he could take care of this problem, with her alone the evil Ingo could scoop her up and take her hostage. That just wasn't happy in his book, so as the horse and he passed them, the boy balanced himself on the saddle of the mare, holding the sword out towards the man named Ingo, pointing it at him with the left arm resting down at his side. Throwing it upward, resting both hands on the hilt of the blade, Link prepared himself, staring down at the man with determination washed in his eyes.

There was no stopping this, the true fact was that Ingo needed to die, there was no way to save his corrupted mind from this evil that was named Ganondorf, and he simply couldn't take the chance of leaving this farm with him on the loose. It's not like he could take Malon on his journey, if they headed to the Kokiirish forest, she would turn into a miniature Deku Tree like in the legends. She wouldn't want to come; anyway, I have to dispatch him. His heart did sadden at the thought of taking out a man who had been so sweet, but the simple fact was that man was dead, replaced by an evil abomination. Maybe he would have been cured once Ganon was dead, yet that too long to take the chance of keeping him along, and he knew his promise was being deflated. Simple fact was that stupid pact he made to himself was long dead, replaced by the courage to survive the determination to succeed.

"You have been tried by the court of the Gods, and the verdict is guilty!" Slashing the blade vertically from the left to the right, a small beam of energy emitted from the power of the sword, the lone technique he had been working on, this was indeed the Master Sword version of his Rhiu-Kiyto, an old technique he used as a child very much. Chuckling a little, this time it was a little different, direct Ki bounced off the sword, so it didn't even have to touch the man, a devilishly wicked long-range attack, showing off he knew what he was doing. As the beam hit the inside of Ingo, the man burst out in screams, crying out in pain, his flesh disappearing yet never leaving that horse. The determination in the man's eyes almost made him sigh out, maybe cover his ears, but he somehow thought that he needed to hear it, so experience death with his own eyes. Bowing his head down as nothing remained on the horse but a spurt of smoke, he slowly slid down off of Epona, approaching the horse.

Navi and Malon was quite a distance so by the time he was halfway to the horse, Navi was by his side in panting breaths. Looking up at her, he bowed his head sadly, she nodding with improvement and relenting herself on his shoulder, easily rubbing one of his shoulders with her little hands. The blade laid down in his hands, only retrieved in one of hands, the right one curling up and uncurling in tight embraces, rubbing the embedding off of his new gloves, and stopping those enlarged Kokiirish feet. The man-child looked up at the horse to see that the smoke hadn't yet cleared, it baffled him a little, giving him the chills that maybe it was still alive. Funny, it's not gone, he thought but dismissed it as maybe he hit the horse and it was dead and standing up, the skin maybe smoking.

"She's crying." Navi spoke out sadly, the horse coming in view over the mountain.

"I expected as much, but I had to do it."

"Oh, I agree, he would have been a nuisance, I know you had too." Smiling over towards him, the smile wasn't false, it wasn't disagreeing, because when he looked up to her with concern plaster on his face, he saw the look and nodded back, staring forward. It wasn't that she was saddened by his death, there were emotions there, just the mixed feelings of the arena. So weird that he was dead, so strange that he had been taken out by a young boy whom he hadn't really liked at first, not showing much concern for him at all. Malon would mourn, but she would get rid of it, there was nothing wrong with the mourning, it was necessary with all the closeness they had had. Navi was still amazed that no bitterness was between the two, why Malon didn't feel hate for the man who raped her.

"Did I…did I do wrong?" Link somberly spoke.

"No!" No hesitation was in her voice as she extremely diverted the question to an explanation. "Listen to me, Link, you did nothing wrong. Nothing at all, you are the Hero of Time and you were taking justice, and as you said think of yourself as the judge from the Court of Gods."

"Court of Gods? What are you talking about?" He didn't remember what she was talking about, that was strange, he remembered shooting the beam out and killing the man, but he did not remember yelling something out about the Gods. Why would he do that, he was far from religious with everything those accursed beings had done to him, you think he would ever worship something like them? Ha, that was a laugh, they weren't worthy to be worshipped, if they were so special they should have made better defense for the Sacred Realm or had a monster that guarded it so that Ganondorf wouldn't have been able to gain access to it. Shaking his head and muttering out lowly, the boy stared back to her with confusion, taking a look that she wasn't joking, her face was stern.

"Wha--you don't remember?"

"No…did I say that?"

"Yea, you said it. I heard if from all the way over there. You said 'you have been tried by the court of the Gods, and the verdict is guilty'. Then you shot out that beam, was that the technique you had been working on by yourself?" She guessed as much since she had been working on a technique of her own for such a situation, nothing was going on yet with that since there was no access, but she did happen to notice how he limped in his steps. Of course! His shoulder was still wounded, and with all the strain on his body he was probably ready to collapse, and giving out a whine, he searched through his satchel for something to heal himself with. Nope, all the healing elements had been removed that milk strengthened, but there was no way to stop the blood he had already lost. Looks like he had fixed it, but it still worried her that he was hurt, the pain he must of felt wasn't that much yet he would need some medical care before they left for the Forest Temple.

Breaking out into a run, the boy ran the rest of the distance to the horse, agitated that the smoke still hadn't dissipated out of the smoke, leaving around a thick gray smog cloud in his way whenever he trudged forward. Running into the smoke, he had to hold back the urge to cough and gag, but soon his dreams were realized as Navi turned on her aura. Watching the smoke disappear away from the aura, a smooth path led forward down the path, a cool little trick from his fairie, something they may need in future missions. Glancing a smile towards her, the boy ran the rest of the way, stopping dead in his tracks when a lump was still sitting on the horse.

The lump wasn't slumped at all, but still standing up in full stance. The blade should have severed him in half, he thought jumping back with the sword readied back up in both arms, and standing there he noticed that the creature wasn't moving, the creature was simply looking away from him, blackness turned away. Shaking those tendrils back and forth, he simply couldn't believe it, and so throwing the blade forward again another one of those beams went out and severed the figure again. Funny thing was the creature did split in half, reconnecting itself just as quick as possible, but it seemed he had gotten its attention this time, because it turned around, glaring at him with those reptilian eyes.

"I-it's a mutant!" Navi screeched, flying up and down, throwing Ki balls at the thing, it was definitely a mutant, the same structure on the same as the creature they had fought those few days ago. Only thing was that this creature didn't look like the other one, it wore the same black clothes as the man he had just killed, had the same height and bone structure as the man his blade had taken care of. I-is that Ingo? Yes! Ingo was back, he had been possessed by one of those mutants and when Link took out the first form he had awakened the host of the mutant, or that was his own theory. Gulping, he flipped back, moving out of the smoke and into the grassy fields, not taking the chance of stealth this time, his mind even caring if Malon saw.

Damnit, right when we were through! Looking up at the daemon, the boy sighed deeply and attacked with his sword, throwing it directly at the man's face, only to be blocked in an oh-so-familiar way. Maybe this thing had training from Shiek, because this one had real claws and used them to hold the sword down, both of them holding the blade down with little effort of letting go. Cursing his luck, the boy let go of the sword, surprising the villain and watching the sword fall off to the side, landing in the direct behind the man. That was bad, the mutant didn't attempt to go for it, but sort of winked an eye at Link, daring him to try something, daring him to get past those dreaded claws of his. The smirk was intense, showing off all the malice that Ingo had possessed over the years, this was something of a fixated ghost, the soul of Ingo couldn't part unless this monster was put to death.

Link didn't move for the blade, he simply grabbed a hold of his shield, strapping it to his stomach and looking much like a turtle with its armour. Nothing covering his back, though, which was bad for that was a very delicate spot to be rummaging through, but harder to reach than where his heard was located. Cursing his luck, wishing he had gone and retrieved that special took before coming here, the boy searched through his pockets for something, crazed to believe that the monster was allowing this. Halfway through the satchel he came upon the dagger, the Kokiiri Dagger he had so long treasured, holding it to his face and staring down solemly. Somehow it had lost its power over the years, even as he grew, the sword looking more and more like a projectile weapon everyday.

The monster couldn't talk, but it sure as hell could laugh and gasp with that sound it did when he held out to dagger to himself, the beast catching wind of it. Laughing that came out of it was hoarse and raspy, like the thing had a bad head cold that would never going away, age making it worse and worse. The monster turned back to glance at the hero, shaking his head softly (as if understanding) and scraping those claws together and the truth was Link couldn't help laugh too. Funny how he was supposed to be going against a monster with two claws with only a dagger at his disposal, there was no way the dagger would work against the monster if they attacked head-on. Luckily this tyrant wasn't all that smart, the intelligence went with Ingo, so it had no idea of any other way to attack, and holding the chuckles away from himself, Link shrugged a simple shoulder, holding his hand forward to form a sign for 'come get it.'

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Rebellious rage overwhelmed it as it charged towards the boy, claws raised in the air and ready to kill, and they would have killed if a sudden pain hadn't entered around its field of vision, blocking out all sensors in the left region of its brain. Seems the young boy trapped in the older form had decided to pick his luck by launching the dagger like a projectile, slicing down into the bottom of his eye and protruding all the way through until it stopped through his brain. Now half of him was numb, blood flowing down the left side of the face of it, clutching the dagger and trying to yank it out, seeing it was lodged in pretty deep. Roaring louder than ever, the right side of the creature turned towards to face that boy, only to find he wasn't there anymore. A trail of footprints led away from the scene, stretching forward five feet ahead of him and circling the entire three hundred and sixty length of him, leading right behind it. A spin of the structure revealed a slinky looking Link, sword in hand, grinning devilishly.

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It was quite a simple trick, the dagger he had been practicing as a projectile, loving the way Shiek threw those Shuriken and wanting to throw things just like him. This was his first shot on a living creature, the luck in mind when it got his eye, even though he aimed for the middle instead of the lower region. If it had hit the middle region it would have pierced the middle of the brain (if it had one) causing it to shut down for good. This was only a theory, the brain could have been not used, but when he saw the blood and deterioration of the left side from the monster Link knew he was right on the rubies. Sure it wasn't a sure thing, the bet had been if it didn't work that death was in store for him, if it worked luck was on his side and the other would face death. Looked like Lady Luck loved him all night long.

Going in a sphere pattern behind the monster, he couldn't help but laugh to see the thing dance around in pain and frustration of the place, taking a peek up to see his fairie wasn't with him. Groaning, he spun around the entire area to glance about for her, not inspecting an entire area where she was. She may have gone to comfort Malon that's good, I don't need any help in this battle, anyway. Resting his hands on the sword of banning evil, the boy broke out into a grin, slashing the blade in the air, awaiting the return to the thing from the underworld. His blade was embedded with the powers of Farore, so there was no way to pull the dagger out, it was stuck like that as long as it wanted to be, or until he pulled it out himself. Sometimes it seemed the dagger had taken on a master, so it would obey the Goddesses and the Hero of Time to command it down, and leaving it there, he awaited for it to spin around.

Finally when the monster spun around, the eye spit on him since the other one was out of commission, it charged at the young boy with claws raised in the air, ready for anything in the world. Thinking that no blow would land it out into a knockout, and that seemed to be the truth, for this was the time when the tables turned. This time Link aimed for the side, the monster claws catching the sword, throwing it up in the air and back a few hundred feet, while its eyes were set on the human. When Link took off for the sword, the monster had him on the ground in seconds, salivating over the creature while thinking what to eat it with, growling out softly and sitting upon his back. While it thought up the plans for dinner, or returning the creature to Ganondorf for some experimentation (after a few nibbles) the prey's thoughts drifted elsewhere, the spit from its mouth dripping down and falling upon the prey.

All right, so maybe he did need help with this, maybe he didn't have this in the bag, he was so scared though that crying out for help was useless, plus the fact that next a hand went forward and clasped his throat. Not in a strangling mode, just to stop him for crying out to his fairie, not that he thought that Navi was strong enough to perform an attack to kill this creature. Claws were so much, shoulda gone when its back was turn, gone for the neck…I was stupid. A stupid idiot was what he was, the cockiness of finishing this battle long and hard was ultimately his demise, the sadness of not being able to see Saria one last time drifted through his mine, hiding his face in the grass as water rained down. No, not water, because when he stared up he saw the creature dripping spit down on his head, the boy retching out in fear, knowing that in a few seconds it would all be over.

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Mutants were kind of like zombies, they had normal-sized mouths so if they wanted to eat flesh it would have to be in the old fashioned manner: cut it up! Now, however, it seemed this particular mutant wanted to just chew on the creature, putting it in extreme pain before returning it to where it was wanted, to Ganon's castle. Even though the creature had changed its appearance, it still feared Ganondorf, he was ultimately more powerful than him, but it had no impression of the new hero. Not really having the fashion of an it, rather throwing off the appearance of a male, he still had all the sexual parts in this form (that would be put to good use on that little wench when it was time to get her.) This was after the dreaded hero was dead, if he could have even be called a hero, from his impression the so-called Kokiiri was just some stupid Hylian in disguise, looking for a quick fuck.

Everything would be settled once the being was dead, once everything was back to normal of him having his way with the young maiden, deflowering her more and more each time, then using his powers to resurrect the pureness. Quite a beautiful power for him, loving the spaces he ripped open overtime he did it too her. He wasn't able to hurt her often because the mutation couldn't be triggered, barely received, but now since he had awakened the access was pure simplicity. Laughing at the fool's stupidity for coming here, according to his sources was no need in his travels, he would die for his foolishness, suffer for trying to stop them, the death being slow and painful. Why shouldn't it come that way, didn't he deserve it, this stupid hero with a sword thinking he could take him out. Oh, how he loved the surprise that filled the boy when the man had reawakened as not Ingo, but Ogni the daemon whose master struck down good. Ogni was a title the human form had deceived for him.

Granted it wasn't the best name to give to someone (it was Ingo's name spelled backwards), but it was the thought that counted, plus the name did have sort of a nice ring to it. For in the irony of it all, he was indeed someone reversed from his previous roles, giving out for good and pressing evil causes. Ogni was not the title that Ingo had presented for the daemon (he had no idea he was a mutant until just now), but the funny thing was it was what he called his alter ego. Something he wished he could be, something he hoped would happen to him, a sort of pact with himself that one day the wishes would come true. Oh, if that soul could only see it now, only view the terror stuck down the boy, from the immortal being that could not be stopped. How he would gloat along with him, how they would rejoice, but he was dead. This corpse belonging to the soul of a daemon, the original Ingo was lost in the darkness, never would it ever return to its original body.

Eating the creature was out of the question, Ganondorf wanted him to himself for all the time, plus he was rumored to be the Hero of Time. Wait, the great King had said he just needed his hand! Which hand was it, though? That was the question when he held down the struggling beast with one hand, the other yanking off the brown gloves a fury of light engulfing him in the eyes. Covering his eyes from the blinding light, he pressed the knees down in the boy so he wouldn't escape (he wasn't that stupid), glancing forward to catch a peek at the dreaded Triangles. Yea, that was the one that needed to be concealed, so first he would nibble the hand off, throw it aside and make work on them, who cared if Ganon got mad, it had been so long since he tasted flesh. Eating the girl was out of the question, she was too much trouble, and the guards were now infected with their own mutants, so attacking them was cannibalism.

Leaning his entire body weight on the boy--which wasn't that much but intensified by the dark energy--the man yanked up the arm with that Triforce upon it, taking it down into his mouth, licking upon it. While examining it, his eyes went down to the young ones fact, not speaking, just shrugging a pitiful shoulder before taking a huge bite. If that had happened, then the boy would be dead; the energy from the Triforce was his life force in this state, the fighting form. So he would have died a horrible death, fast and painless (to the Ogni's disgust.) Suddenly, however, a light came out of the anticipated darkness, the darkness in Ogni's mind crying out in pain for help. It would have been horrible if a beam of energy hadn't sliced down into the monster's skull, making it leap off and slump to the ground.

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Link recollected in his mind his memories, the memoirs of the past, what had happened in the adventures, the people the met and relationships that were built. Everything was on its own, nothing surviving if the bite had ensued, and somehow he knew if the monster sunk its feral teeth in he wouldn't just lose a limb. There was nothing he could do, however, it seemed his fairie had run off a coward or to get some help, either way their technique was useless with him paralyzed like that. No way to reach for a Deku Nut, his only regrets were that he never got to see his friend one last time, that Malon would be tortured for helping him, Navi be abandoned, Zelda (if alive) living in this hell. One last regret was larger than the others were. This regret was that he couldn't fulfill the promise of death to the Evil King, and yes it seemed weird this one was the largest, maybe that was how he worked?

Cockiness killed the kitten in this case; curiosity also had a factor since he wished they hadn't come to this place entirely. It had been his idea, so he couldn't blame Navi (as hard as he tried, his will told the subconscious's it was no one's fault.) Nobody being blamed was a good thing, so he blamed himself more than anything else did, not wishing to hate Navi when his dying day had come. Besides, she can't help me; her Ki balls didn't affect him. Ticking on with the power of the insanity, he saw the fangs draw in, getting ready to slam down and pierce, not even able to hide the shame and frustration that was blamed across his mind, hoping that it would be quick. Maybe it would, or maybe something strange would happen, what those people call miracles, they were rare in this day, but they came now and then. Always in a distant land so no one knew if they were real or not, most of the time ridiculed by critics for their existence and naturally labeled a fable or urban legend. A miracle is what I need, or some more power, whichever you want to give to Farore. Either you or your sisters, I don't mind whom.

"Fuii Jui!"

Lids fastened shut, Link gave out a squeal of angst when he felt the blades come down, the blades sinking down and himself imploding. Then twenty seconds later he was still there, the whole thing seeming to have happened in his mind the saliva a quick matter that it was not a dream. Blinking rapidly, the boy sat up with the realization that he had heard words that were fairish, something he didn't speak, but head heard. Jumping up to his feet, taking a quick peer around to find that the monster was twenty feet away, his hands placed on his head, blood gushing from where a wound was. Shaking those bangs stealthily, he checked his tights for some wetness (sighing with relief when none was there), but took no heed in glaring for his protector. There was no one standing on the ground next to him or for as far as the eye could see, yet someone was hovering over his shoulder, shaking a little.

"N-Navi!?" He capped out, seeing that most of her chi was gone, rags torn where her body was, the rips revealing tiny bits of flesh around her legs and abdomen areas. Sinking down with those gliding wings, he leapt forward and caught her in his arms, slinking south at the ground, grasping her down in his hands, fingers holding her gingerly. With a slight grin, the boy nodded to the semiconscious girl (who grinned a little, showing some signs of fatigue and chi-loss, a normal state when one is so depleted that defense isn't an option.) Instead of sticking her down in his hat, he bent down to retrieve his gloves, placing her right above her nose while he searched for his blade of truth and justice. Receiving the blade some distance away, the chi off of the monster was still active, meaning that breathe was still active in him, something that would have to be taken away.

His hypothesis, while he slowly walked to the beast in its final seconds, was that she had been working on a technique that was used as a last-resort. Where you concentrated all of your energy into one Ki ball (usually using small amounts when you fire a normal one) then blasting it forward with your spirit seeing somewhere else. The spirit having left the body, it purged the Ki ball not just forward, but seem into the belly of the beast (or head in this case.) A technique Link had no idea how to do couldn't guess how she herself did it, but was glad for it. After the technique is used a weak person would die within the hour, almost like a kamikaze, the strong surviving the attack after some bed-rest. Something like this surprised the boy, feeling shameful for not trusting her enough to think that she would be around, when intact she was summoning up the chi to attack.

Sliding her on the tip of his ear (shivering from the touch) the boy neared the body that had started to slump up, not yet able to rise. Another theory of his was that she hadn't been working on this technique at all--he had never seen this before, so he had no idea how it worked--so maybe it was based on emotions. For an explanation, there was the possibility that the emotions in her were so immense for some sort of power-up that her own adrenaline had caused herself to go into a trance. Into the state of mind, the emotions would have taken over, conjuring the power up from deep within the soul (not the spirit--the soul) giving out enough power to incinerate anything. The spirit was what guided the body through life and disappeared when the person died, but the soul was what kept the person on forever, existing in the life and after-life, something not yet explained by science. This was just a theory, however, there was no probability she would even remember doing it, let alone how it was preformed.

Stopping a few feet before the being, the pity of his own soul shown inside of the blacks in the monster's eyes as he turned him over with a foot placed on the thing's chest. Applying pressure to his chest, the monster began to tighten up, showing fear of suffocating, but that wasn't Link's plan, he was just toying. Placing the sword down onto the Ingo's chest, Link spotted that relief of being let go was inside of the creature's eyes (it could heal with medical attention, or a very special fairie.) That, however was not in his place either, the sin was unforgivable, he felt in the position as the judge of death, dealing out the cards and punishments as they came. He still didn't know if he really said that phrase only today, nor would he ever unless there was pure proof, but all he knew now was that the words were echoing from his throat. Words of the same meaning that had been repeated, something that was able to show himself off in full proportion.

"You have been tried by the court of the Gods, and the verdict is guilty!" Leaping up in the air, only four feet, he aimed with his foot right down for the side of his skull near the temple. Struggling to roll out of the way, the monster realized the sword was holding him down with some sort of barrier, showing that escape was not the option, death was the only answer. Grasping and curses in another language rung out of the hero's ears, the ears literally bleeding from the contents of the speech, hoping Malon wasn't around to hear the words. Did it hurt? Nope, the words had no harm, his mind didn't compute the idea of it, but it was like the ancient language of religious tongues, they were felt with feelings. Ignoring the pain from his hearing receivers, the boy planted the top of his foot straight into the temple, grasping out in desperation of the air when the sickening sweet crunch of the head exploded down into pieces, brain matter going in different directions. Shivering from top to bottom, the boy collapsed to his knees, braying over the death of the man until the maiden came to the crying man and soothed him.

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For the next four days the two heroes stayed at the ranch, Navi spending the following three days inside of the ranch base where as Link went on a little adventure of his own: something that would waste no time, but an essential that they needed. With strong protests from Navi, she was finally subdued to stay down as Link went on his own journey to look for the prize of the village, leaving Malon to attend to him. Link left the third day to get the Hookshot, staying the previous two days to attend from the well being of the village, or cope with himself in that way. After the incident, the village seemed to return back to normal, the carts didn't visit the place, none of the troops even came by to check on the late Ingo, it was if they had known this was happening and didn't care.

After he had been found by Malon, he spent the following day asleep in the bathe, alone for Navi was being attended, not listening to any sounds of the earth and loving the nightmares that followed the death. Not the normal ones he received, but images of an old person he knew as Ingo, the person crushed by the souls of his feet. He--himself--didn't know why he used his foot to smash the man's head, yet he remembered the words this time and they did seem familiar, showing that he had indeed caught remembrance of them. Crushing of the head still rung in his ears, hearing it every time he tried to crack something, like a top or a nut of that sort. The blindfolded Malon, hating the smell and sight of her former friend cleaned up the entire area where the battle for the horse had commenced (a name Link had mentally given the place, right near the old Cucco shacks.) Malon explained all the Cuccos had died out all over; the armies destroyed the feed, so there wasn't a single on in Hyrule anymore.

Finally by the time he got himself back to normal he and Malon went on a rampage to fix the sheds and wagons, her beginning to get trade in from the old Kakariko Village. The first route of business wagons was sent on Link and Navi's third day here, deciding to go there at that fast pace alone. During the days before he left the Kokiiri and Hylian went on and pained up the signs, planted a sign outside towards Kakariko that said the original people and back now owned Lon-Lon Ranch in business. Word of that was long and hard when a long runner warned the village that milk was back in business, the place overfilled with joy that things were getting to normal. Ganondorf didn't protest to this, it was as if he didn't care at all for Ingo, the horses. Not more encouraging was the matter of Ganon not giving a single care to anything that went on here. How the great leader hadn't a care for his people, thinking they were mere tools for his own well being, a thing not mattering.

As soon as the town was back in business, telegrams sent to the place (a burial laid for the late Ingo) and the horses let free on the fields for all days of the night, that was when Link made his leave. He wasn't leaving forever; of course; he was coming back on the following trip that came the same night so that he wouldn't be gone long. Then again he would be gone a total of two days, a day there and a day back, not much time to find out how to retrieve such a special item. Danpte' was his only clue to go on, that's what worried her that he wouldn't be back for another week when the next journey went on, delaying the medallion quest even more. What Link thought the real reason was that she didn't want to be separated from him for that long--the thought of her thinking that did make him weak in the knees and a little uncomfortable--but overall he liked the idea of someone caring that much. It was nice to be loved by so much, the feelings he had been getting from Malon not that encouraging while they worked, making him uncomfortable.

Truth was, Link still didn't care about the size of his faire and his own bodies, and he still adored Navi as much as he did Saria, saddened that they would never be able to bear children, but nevertheless still loving her. Did that mean he loved her in the other way or as just a friend, would he get to love someone else instead of her? These questions popped up when Malon began to request little nights out where they talked; she mostly talked about her life before the incident and what she had been doing these past seven years. Navi was always asleep so he talked about himself, what he had been doing the past seven years (sleeping) and what was in for the future. In some occasions she had sat down right beside him, resting those locks in the bundle upon his lap, or hugging him tightly for the night. One major occurrence was when she wanted to sleep by him, he didn't mind, except when she started to rub against him in her sleep.

No idea if it was intentional or just an accident, he knew that going to get the Hookshot was the thing that very next day. So after that night, he decided to take a ride on the milk car that was loaded with six mares ready for the ride of their lifetime, an adventure in the making. Usually on foot it took a few days to reach the Kakariko Village because of the bridge you had to cross, the river being so wide and steep, but for them it was a quick fix since the mares were so strong that they trudged against the river quickly. Reaching Kakariko in less than twelve hours at high speed, they reached the town just as it was closing down for the night, letting them in and handing them the gate key so they could let themselves out the night when they were done. A larger gate than before, the monsters that he had seen on the horses quite mysterious, and those ghosts that had appeared guarded Kakariko. There was also a charm on the gate so that the Poes couldn't enter the town, recognizing it as one of the same marks on the sign near the Lon Lon farm.

The people said that since they had made good time that he had a day to spare on his free time, from six o'clock this night until the following day at the same time, when they would venture back to Kakariko. That came the lad a full day to go get his Hookshot, visit an old friend and call it all on his own until he was ready to call it quits, gloat in glory, or simply walk off with happiness hidden. Quits was not an option, he would call for Navi if they didn't receive the Hookshot, and it was an essential element in their quest, the Forest Temple was needed to reach it unless he could fly. Since it was six o'clock that night, he decided that first thing to be accomplished tonight was to visit the gravedigger Danpte', since he slept during the day. Link snapped his fingers when he realized what Shiek had said when he mentioned the guy, he said the late Danpte'.

The Hylian people had visited the little Shiekian village, sprucing it up since there were none of that race around but two members. It did remind him of the Hylian market when he walked in, surprised at the low chatter of the people, no Cuccos around to cheer people up from their depressions. Poor Anju! Flushing deeply, he buried his hands at his sides, walking past the people who viewed him as some hick farmer from Lon Lon. When approached by a milk-buyer, he tried to explain who he was, finally after ten attempts directed them back to the truck until he was a distance away, where he pointed pack. After about a mile away from the cart was, he passed into the middle of the town, glancing forward at the tree where he had met the old man once before (Anju's father.) Sitting where the man had stood was a hideous human, disfigured and a pale white, bony abstractions were tainted around his body, obviously not given the beauty of normal people. Not even blessed with hair, the old man stared forward into space, ignoring all.

When Link came over and tapped the poor fellow on the shoulder, the man looked up at him, growled loudly, then stared back down. He wasn't old at all, he was a man about a few years older than him, the wise look that was on his face gave off the reflection that he was old, showing wisdom wise beyond his own years. Link peered at his hand for the Triforce of Wisdom, disappointed to see none, yea, he had been doing that to people he met everywhere. If a person was wise or just wore gloves he would ask for them to remove their gloves, if they refused, he would usually wait at that time when they slept to peek in, this was an occurrence with a guard in the buggy that he rode here. No one really wore gloves except maybe the Hylian guards (resistance groups) and himself, so it wasn't that big of a problem.

Leaving the muttering man alone, he walked up the left staircase of the town, seeing that the old empty houses to the left that led up to Death Mountain were now shops that sold weapons and medicine supplies. Closed for the night, he saw the Bazaar from Hylian town, a medicine shop, an accessory shop where one could buy supplies, and a tailor, which he may need before the night's end. Marking their locations, he fraught the urge forward, catching a glance at the entrance to Death Mountain that was pouring open, no guard present. At least there's that. Not getting a mask for a weirdo after seven years weighed heavy on his heard, glad the man was not here to comfort him, probably killed in the battle against Ganon and Hyrule. A really uncomfortable thought for him to die without receiving the mask for the kid, Link shrugged a simple shoulder and went down the stairs, leading down back into the middle of the town.

Back at the market place of town, noticing it was just not as full as Hyrule had been, his wandering led him to shops and houses he had seen before, not even bothering to follow the paths. Just noticing them all around, seeing that the well had dried up, Anju's house was still around but a candle was out for the night, and not wanting to disturb her he went on with his ways. Passing the empty Cucco pins, a shake to the head left the pity for the birds, seeing how they met their demise in his own imagination, a shrug to the shoulder all he could give. Staring up, the man caught a glance at the wind-mill, nodding at the sound that came out of the place, it was an ominous tune he couldn't quite think of, a tune he may have heard of before. Taking out his ocarina sheet, he jotted the song down, leaving a small question mark by the title. Placing the sheet-paper down in the familiar spot, he glanced down at the dark entrance to the graveyard.

Black as ever, his footsteps did echo on the way to the graveyard, keeping a hand on his blade for the reassurance he was all right in this place. Those Poes were around these areas, especially graveyards, so he would have to watch himself for any clues of them lurking about. Usually these were laughs, bright burning lanterns, or the shivering you feel as if something is right behind you, and then of course the sight of them. In the cart Link hadn't actually seen the Poe, only heard that one man saw it, he sort of shrugged his shoulder at the thought of a ghost. Having heard of them before, so it was no big deal with him, but combat with one seemed ridiculous. How could you hit something that wasn't solid, maybe magic? Poe was the term he created for it, hearing the knight say the same thing, or was it just something that went around that he had thought up on his own. Could be another language for ghost.

The graveyard path really wasn't as long as it had seemed the time when he was a kid, but that could be his legs were so much longer than before, and back then he wasn't moving at the incredible trampling speed as before. Glazing through the path of the graveyard in less than five minutes, he came up to the sign of the graveyard a few minutes after leaving the path. Poking up with notice that the sign up there hadn't been changed in at least six years, wood rotting and a stench of wood that made him gag. Going past the wood rotten sign, the boy caught wind of the graveyard, noticing there were twice as many graves about, so weird how so many people had died these past years, or how many had been found. His theory was that most of them were dead a long time ago, the newer ones added and the others turned to Stalchildren--ones not found in the limit of time, if there was one. It was like the entire Graveyard had expanded in size, but it was still the same size as ever, some of the graves only marked with sticks, no tombstones.

To his left he caught wind of the shack that the former Frankenstein had resigned in on the days that he spent sleeping, probably not allowed in town from his ugliness. Probably that idiot's father in town. Quite a possibility from the judges of their skin and crippled fingers that the man had had, remembering that Dampte' was the same way in finagles department. Finding the shed door unlocked, he ducked in the five foot high shed, squeezing in the cluttered seven feet it stretched across, staring across the place for any sort of clues. A clue of a strange smell might have been considered one, for when he smelt the scent he automatically gagged and slammed his hands on the dark for a way to calm his nerves. On impact, a small hole in the wall-slid opened, revealing a small book that was the size of any other book; this one was special because it was marked journal.

"Ho, if it is around here, it's in there!" Grabbing the diary, the boy came out of the house and slammed the shack door shut, a small tremor echoing through the house when he hit it, biting his lip and moving over to a tombstone to sit down. Sure it was rude but was there a place around to take a seat, any chairs or anything? No, there were none, so as he skimmed through the journal on for the next three hours (reading, really, not skimming), his brain tired at the babble this fool spilt out. First he talked about his dreaded childhood of being abandoned by civilization and raised by wolves, how he was never married but raped a young girl when he was fifteen and she was six. Shivering at all cost; he held back the bile around the part of being in love with a woman named Aiiu, guessing that may have been the man in town's mother. He did even mention the boy, saying he was a child that was as ugly as he was, never to be scoured by the beautiful Aiiu's door.

Slamming the journal shut at the last place, he came upon the back of the book and saw a small latch where you hid secret things. Clicking the device open, he found a small red button, clicking with eagerness, the ground below him giving off a screech of machinery, beginning to move. Gasping, he thought maybe he had ended the world, so he leapt upon the ground, seeing that the tombstone he had been sitting on was all in all the stone of Dampte', where he rested for all of eternity. The stone being barren and rotted, he took the small Kokiiri Dagger, writing his name on it and the title of 'Hero of Time' under it. It really wasn't defiling, just honouring the man with his presence. Trusting his look at the deep hole, the boy plunged himself down into the ground, holding his breath as the familiar warmth overcame his body, telling him the light of the rooms where he had gotten his shield were familiar here.

Stepping off the large step, he glanced around the completely white room, seeing a figure that was about ten feet away. Shadowed by some sort of mist, the boy walked the entire ten feet, no arm touching the blade, for he felt no malice in this spirit or whatever it was. Whenever he came within one foot of it, the being turned around, mist disappearing and revealing the clear image of Dampte' his ugliness was still there but shadowed by a white mask that looked like the Keaton character that everyone had been talking about was the rage those years ago. A probability was that maybe the mask that the guard had wanted, so maybe they were linked in some way. Whatever the case, the man removed the mask as if to show that he was the former gravedigger, although it wasn't necessary with the tatter clothes and messed up fingers.

"Greetings, young one. I guess you have received my notice in my journal, and you are here for the reward."

"Yes, sir. May I have it?"

"Of course, but first we shall play a little game. A game where the stakes are high and the rewards greater than you ever imagined. How about it?" The grin on his face showed that Link wasn't going to get out of her until he defeated this ghost in some magical way, or won his came. Feeling too tired from the fight with the evil spirit from before, the magic hadn't yet returned to him, so that option was out of the question. Running a quick hand through the ghost's body showed that he wasn't a Poe, but was indeed very clear for him to not even weaken his invulnerability. Sword strikes weren't going to work against this creature, so he would have to take the little bet against the man, besides, what was the worst he could do to him? Smirking a little, he took a seat in the air, being caught by a chair that appeared, and looking back towards the ghost, the gravedigger nodded and explained.

"You have heard of Janken, right?"

"Yea. Ja nk en, it's the old Hylian language for the game of rock, paper, scissors. Sure I've heard of it, we've been doing that for choosing in games since I was a kid. We're doing that?" No, the other boys had done it, he did it with Saria when they decided what to do for the day and disagreed.

"Precisely, and if you win you get the Hookshot, a free ride back to the village, and I shall rest in peace. But, if you lose!" His voice made Link tremble. "I shall claim your soul, resume your body and live out my days as a human, while you remain in this stupid palace waiting for a fool to challenge you, just as I have."

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"I don't see any right way to answer that. You do have a choice to forfeit, but I win automatically if you do."

"Thought so, all right, let's go." Dampte' counted to three, the both of them hitting knuckles the two times before the third call (well Link going through the other man's) shivering at the thought of someone on his shoulder. On the call of the third one, the boy slammed his fist down into a Ja, giving off the sign of the rock, the man calling out the same one at the exact same time. Gasping a little, they did the call once more, giving off another call for some other sign, knocking back the sign of nk, or paper. He must have been a mime because he also formed that again, the time before each of them doing 'en' performing the sign of scissors. Growling in humiliation at each other, they tried different variations of the signs, always coming in the same places no matter which modification they did, even doing it behind their backs once. Throwing his hands up in the air, Link looked at the man.

"Are you reading my mind and doing this to trick me?"

"No! Damnit, this is so frustration. All right, we do this one more time and if it is the same I'll give you the Hookshot." A deal of the lifetime, Link smiled a little and shrugged a simple shoulder, giving out that that was fine with him, he hadn't mentioned any strings attached so there were none present. Link was a real fool, because it came out that they did indeed match up again, Dampte' handing out a small puff of magic where another one of those large boxes from before appeared. Giggling with delight, the monster disappeared from the area, leaving the boy alone with the chest, but also a large slam appeared when Link went up to the chest. Ignoring his own demise, the boy presented up the lid, holding open the lid and peeking inside for his treasure, something he had thrived for.

"Look, Navi it--" Cutting off, he sighed a little in despair, wishing he listened to his companion and brought her along--it was just so hard to be alone like this when they were inseparable. The hookshot was from the bottom to top a small ring that one could place their hand too, made of steel that came up to a four inch base made of a pure sapphire, letting it most indestructible. Where one could place there hand was a silver trigger in the middle, probably what sent the spring-loaded machine going. The crooked base lead up into a small blade that rested at the top, attached just at the area of the top, where then he pulled the trigger and a blade shot out all the way, stretching a long link-chain thirty feet across the room. Cheering with pure relief of the weapon, he put it down inside the top of his side pack, moving supplies over so the new weapon could go there (not much to move with weapons so limited, though.)

Turning towards the beam of light to come back up the grave, his face locked in despair at the light. Where it once stood was now a large pillar of rock, stretching up as far as the eye could see and blocking him out of the room. Now he got it, the man gave him half of the deal, but also took half of it for himself; he was free now, and didn't have Link's soul, Link had a soul, the weapon. No way out what was he didn't have, so he was trapped her until he starved to death, when he would become a ghost and haunt this place like the man he had said. He was screwed over like a bitch in heat, screwed over like no one had ever done to him, this evil little idiot had molested children, committed adultery, and now messed him up bad. Stomping his foot on the ground, a single tile sunk in and down to his immediate south was where a wall began to slide back revealing another room in which something was contained. Not even bothering to grab a weapon, the boy jumped off the platform where the chest was, leaving the bright room alone and emerging in darkness.

The musical instruments from before echoed through his head as he waded past the darkness, covering his eyes as light surrounded his eyes seconds later, covering his face until they adjusted to the bight candles in the room. Taking a gander around, he came upon a room inside the windmill, the mill at the top where he was (near the roof, but still inside) stopped twirling like when the blades were moving around and around, creating water as they had years before. Link remember because he had commented on them on his first trip here, never having heard of this place before, let along those beautiful mills that rescued the place. So soon if the Zora river were to ever dry up they would die of thirsty, now only drinking water animals paraded in, the Zoras clean water miles and miles away. Maybe that's why some people are dead, besides from Ganondorf's battle, they had suffered the aftermath, much worse than dying quickly.

Catching wind of the blade that would normally turn; he tilted and shimmied down the wooden staff of the windmill's main room. Glancing around and seeing an angry man playing the song that he had heard from the outside of this room three hours ago, the strange tune he had caught off from the centerpiece of Kakariko. Nodding to himself, he didn't dare speak to the crazed person, but wrote down the title of the song as the 'Song of Storms' because it sounded like something you play when you were in the sad and depressed feeling, and plus it was just likable. Sneaking of the man's windmill without making too many ruckuses, the boy slid down the forty feet of stairs, landing down at the ends of the town's, his eyes gazing forward at the house of where Anju was. Nine o'clock was now around the corner, kind of tired from the journey he had made, and with his new found weapon in hand there was nothing to do but catch forty winks.

Would Anju even remember him, he barely visited her but one time, never ever speaking of his presence again. Well, he remembered only one time, maybe he visited her back when he came back from Death Mountain, it was sort of a blur even though he thought it happened less than a month ago. Maybe the realization that I am really seven years in the future is finally kicking him; he pondered as he went over the events of Anju. A pretty woman who had bathed him after he had been in the dirty grounds of the earth looking for the song of those composers and the shield, she was also a Cucco lady and her father a mean old man who ran a team of carpenters. Not much else was known about her, she played a small role in his quest, but she was overall a great person to be around, even though he knew hew less than three days (with the song's help, that is.) Approaching the house, he gave a loud knock to the door, watching the lights as a slim silhouette entered the door's place.

As the door peeked open, a woman he had known appeared before him. Age hadn't affected her at all, he had to guess she was in her mid or early twenties so nothing really had changed much able her, the same beautiful red hair he admired, even the same tone of voice and posture. Somehow her hair was different from Malon's maybe the fact hers was a tad shorter and the only person with long hair he liked was Navi. That could be true, but when he looked up at her, she about an inch taller than he did, she glanced down at the teenaged boy, a look of fear overwhelming her. Link stared at her with a confused look on his face, noticing the expression, but with no reason why she would feel that with an old friend. Grinning sweetly, he went forward and picked her up, burying his head into her shoulder, nuzzling softly when he received a whack upside the head, pushing his head back and muttering her name out sweetly.

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Poor little Link, he was just peeking at the door when a woman he had picked up bopped him upside the head, noticing that her name had been called out before he collapsed. Anju wasn't really one who dated; not many men went for the plain look anymore with makeup out and everything, so she wasn't used to attention. When a young boy appeared at her door--a handsome young man--dashing smile given off as he picked her up like a sack of potatoes, she couldn't help but cry out in fury and whap him upside the head. When he collapsed she called out his name, the words ringing through her mind as she sat down and checked him over; sure she had seen this face somewhere, just not this way.

If only she had a Pictograph, then she'd be able to see who it was that she could compare pictures too. Unfortunately, she had lost that machine a few years ago in the fire that burnt down he house, this new one a little later in town and this time she lived by herself, no pesky parents to peek on her now. Having dated a little, Anju was experienced a little in sex, more than this boy from the looks of it, but nothing of a master was, as some would call them. Dragging her down into her new house, she lifted him up with a grunt and threw him in the guest bedroom (conveniently the bed right next to hers, it was a cheesy one-room place just like her other one, but hidden away from most people. No one visited the windmill so it was hard to find her, especially how close it was to here, hidden by allies and all that, but sometimes gangs would try to use her house as a hide-out, resulting in herself being armed with that spatula. Yup, she had hit Link a good one with the old egg cooker--if it could be called that--no Cuccos were around so they weren't used for much else unless cooking up some bacon.

Saving one of the things from the fire--the pictograph album--she went through the pictures to spot someone who had worn clothes like these, she wasn't forgetful or anything, it was just so hard to place a face when you had gone through all this stuff in the world. All pictures were alphabetized, so when she was around the letter 'L' was when she spotted the person who she was looking for. No names were by the pictures so she could remember them, but the clothes sparked her up. Just some old ones of a little kid in green with a small blue dot by him (and her) some of them he was dressed as a little girl. Chuckling at the pictures, her mind flashed open, as if the memory had come back in no time, remember who it was who was sitting at her bed. B-But, he's supposed to be little, never growing up.

About the time she had put up all the albums, grabbing the pictures of Link as a child without the makeup on, she went over to the bed and was about to take a rest down next to him when he awakened. Almost on the ground when he sat up, a yawn escaping from his lips and coming out into the open. Growling silently in the process of awakening, he smacked his lips, grabbing where the pain was and cried out softly, eyes still shut and watering a little. When they watered, Anju couldn't help but put a hand on the bump, moving his hand away and kissing the bump sweetly. Weird doing this to such a sexy little, she flushed as the thoughts cut off, shaking her head at no one in particular, waiting for the young one to open his eyes. Obviously he remembered her, she was sorry she didn't remember her, he was one of the liveliest people she had ever met, staying good and heard in her house. Link and his little fairie Navi, the fairie wasn't with him, so she guessed that maybe she had died or at least moved on since he grew up.

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Moaning softly in his sleep, the boy was groping for a part of the pain when a large hand pushed his away and then a kiss was planted on the mark of where it hurt. No, the pain didn't cease, but he imagined he was still an infant where Saria cared for him, being much bigger than he at the time was. Grasping with reaching arms, he took a hold of the body, kissing the head a little, nuzzling the shoulder even softer and moaning out a name in the Kokiirish language, something only she would understand. Instead of being greeted by the cute voice of Saria, she was held by the feminine voice of a woman, breaking him away from her and slapping his cheek hardly. Shaking his head hardly, the corn silk brushing back and forth, he cleared his eyes and looked deep into the pools of blue of Anju's.

"Anju?" She looked sort of infuriated, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson, also looking down at the boy who sat on the bed, while she towered over him with arms crossed around her bulging chest. Bulging? Why did I never notice that before? Maybe it was just one of those things you learn in life…hee, bouncy! He knew touching there would result in a slap, being as it may have been cute as a kid, but now would be considered perversity, the boy held his tongue and looked onward to the girl. No, not a girl, she was more of a woman now, maybe a teenager when they met, but now having matured into a young woman as he went from a shrimp kid to a full-blown teenager--almost adult.

"Anju…"

"Link, why are you big?" She peered down at him, letting her guard down and sitting down right next to him, where his head laid down right on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck softly and glancing up at the woman. Mm, she had a fragrance Malon didn't have, a smell that Navi and Saria had, the complexion that they only had, something was weird about the way Malon had come. Because while Link was asleep the invention of make-up was created, being used throughout the world now, exploring the way females could look--actually it had existed years before by the Gerudos, since they took over it was introduced to the general public. From being so long with Malon, he was glad to have the smell back in his nostrils and took a deep whiff of her scent, gathering it down on him.

"I dunno, I think it was leaving the forest." Nothing really happened between the two of them that night, they slept together in the same room--Link on the floor while she slept in the bed--wondering why he didn't offer to come up here. Guys were so forward nowadays it bothered her that she may have not been beautiful enough for him, it was strange, but she did spend the entire night thinking up way to make herself beautiful without the horrible use of that dreaded makeup. Techniques she had read from those magazines were one, ways to make herself look younger for him, wanting to interest in his tastes, wanting to aim to please for him, not even sure why she was doing this, not even sure if this was possible.

During that night Link talked about how he left the forest, all what she had heard before, then when the recapping was over he went into great detail of what happened. Explaining the other nights when he traveled up the Death Mountain, Zora's River, the incidents that had happened so far, all the stuff at the Lon Lon Ranch and what had happened with the ghost. It took all night for the details he used in the stories, so when they finally did go to sleep at five o'clock that morning, he was happy to see that the day would be gone when it was all over. He loved every moment of that night, more than he admired the days he spent with both Malon and Zelda placed together. It seems he did like her very much, such a sweet woman, asking her how she had done these past few years.

He was filled in on her history of her mother, Aiiu, whom Link watched with fascination and some other emotions on his face that she couldn't describe. Her conscious was clean when Link explained how those weird smells that those people with shiny faces gave off, loving the fact that he didn't like makeup. It was a good thing because as she lay awake that night, her thought did come back to maybe makeup was the answer to her problems, not sure of what her problems were now that the makeup issue was. Thinking that he could be a shy guy and since she was older she would have to make the first move, which was logical since sometimes men married girls and women married boys and the older one was usually more dominant to the other, it was only common knowledge. In this day and age, even before Ganon's rule, there was no shame in marrying at eleven or twelve (usually whenever the girl hit her puberty, the guy sometimes married younger than eleven did since he needed nothing to start.)

If spent time with Link, Anju may have married the younger boy when he was smaller, but he was an adventurer and had the jealous fairie (whom she found out was injured in battle and resting at the milk factory.) So whenever he went to sleep that night, after her wanders, the slid off of the bed and down on the palette, laying her head down next to the boy and embracing him tightly, not wanting to do anything but stay with him forever. During the night she tease the young boy in his sleep, daring not to wake him for from his past he was so young as a child he wouldn't understand, nevertheless it didn't stop here from having her fun with him. No--not that fun, but more of a fun that involved her hands and mouth, while he just sat back and dreamed memories of this, probably having his first wet dream. When it was all over, she thought maybe she was a pervert, maybe a weirdo, but the fact was he needed this done too him. No one else would dare do it, and besides, it was high time that a pretty girl did make love to him (or at least get halfway there that was good enough for her.) No one could take his and her special time together, which was just for her to know, and if this crazy past ever got fixed then one day she would show him.

Redressing the young boy, she cleaned up and changed the sheers, pulling him up into the bed with her and slipping down around him, hugging him with such bountiful mess. A quick kiss to the lips was all she needed before she was back in the dreamland, wanting to tell him that in the morning she put him up here because it was too cold for him. Sure it was a lie, but the truth may have made him a little bitter at him, it was sort of rude to take young boys virginity without their permission. In the customs of marrying the young, the female that was older always did do it this way, or so she had read, her grandma had married a little one, so she explained the rules to Anju she was young. It really was the way she said it was, so soft and sweet--the kissing--and everything about him was so innocent. Falling down into sleep, she thought she had done a good thing for him.

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The next morning the groggy-looking Link was up around two o'clock, which where he showered for Anju's approval, dressing down in the tunic that she washed and received all his weapons. That is when they ate the supper at five thirty that afternoon, the young boy eating much more than he shoulder, but after all he was a hero and deserved a hearty meal every once in a while. Promising that he would be back eventually when they went searching for the Fire Medallion, the boy gave her a sweet hug and kiss on the cheek before running off towards the shadows where the milk cartons were. Where they kissed was the area where couples kissed, most thinking that Anju had something a much younger boy, none of them saying anything (probably green with envy), and some muttering madly.

Anju also ran into the man that Link was talking about, Talon, having seen him around here, advising him to return back his farm to reclaim his daughter. When the man explained what had happened, Anju told him simply that the boy Link had stopped the evil Ingo and ended the evilness in the land. No, she didn't mention the parts about the raping, which needed that, him in his depressed state, so she left it be, and just couldn't muster it out. Maybe it was because she felt like she raped him, not as severely as Ingo, but maybe a little more than she should of, flushing at what had been done was done. There was no changing the past, the mistakes was her own, no body knew besides her, and no body really cared if he had been seven or seventeen.

An area Link didn't know about was the couple's spot, so it was all right with him when whistles and chants came back from the outside as the milk carts took off. At exactly six o'clock, so that he slept through the trudging twelve hours of river-crossing, Poe dodging even though there was a curse on this cart, and rushing so the milk didn't spoil. Somehow the young one slept through the entire thing, always mustering a few words of wisdom to those that tried to awaken him to fend off the Poes. No one was killed so the semiconscious boy never interfered with the affairs that weren't his own, only happy that he had received a weapon and a ride back. Some of the resistance groups tried to get him to join, not for seeing his sword skills, but the fact they had no members. He replied he was his own resistance, getting ripped off in laugher, then leaving the side where he was to return to his sleep, not needing that anymore.

Six o'clock that morning rolled around the corner, the cart coming to a rest at the base of Lon Lon Ranch, reloading the place off and throwing him down onto the earth as when he was still asleep. The sun was what woke him up at ten past seven, the early sun rising in his eyes as he crawled up the hill that led to the Lon Lon, they were inside the ranch, but the hill led to the place. As soon as he entered the ranch, he caught wind of the make-up stuff again, it wasn't that he hated it or anything, the smell was sort of new to him so it would take him a while to get it introduced as normal. Being with Anju was quite a change, even surprised that he let her sleep by him that night, especially after the slap he got that same night before. Standing his ground, he saw that the tanks had already been loaded and unloaded, the place was gone from the milk people, already making another delivery somewhere else where people drank milk.

"Link!" Spinning around to meet the voice, he was slammed down into the ground and slid across the earth, looking down at the blue aura that was right at his chest, kissing and nuzzling the bruised marks. Giggling at his fairie, he picked her up and watched her continue to show her affection towards him by giving off all the signs that he needed, before he gave in and kissed back at the signs. It took a few minutes to calm her down back to speed, she explaining about her full recovery and how she had done on her way around her (only being up since last night) how she had devised a deal with Malon for a horse that they could have. When Link asked what the deal was, Navi shrugged a shoulder and said it was something at that would never happen, giggling a little at him and continuing to kiss him.

Sort of understanding what she meant, he nodded and explained on how he had met Anju, did the Janken with the evil ghost, the diary and that was all that went on in his time gone, which rewarded some more affections. Chuckling, he pulled himself up from the once-gloomy ranch, seeing that the entire area was sparkling with beauty, the grass back to its original colour while the sky around the place was a beautiful azure. Quite breathtaking were the right words for it, giving off the intense moment of silence, his fairie even calmed down to watch the uniqueness in it. Each of them was startled at the neigh of the horse when they both spun around to see that Epona was standing infront of them, Malon at her side and looking over to Navi. Navi nodded back at her, giving her a wink before Malon shrugged and shoulder and walked off, pointing to the fairie.

Link felt sort of better when Malon was gone, thanks to the winking and everything. Upon Epona was a saddle of the same kind from before, but in the center if was branded the name Link into the saddle, but also on Epona's foot were the branded words "Hero of Time." Shaking his head, he sort of watched the cruelty in his head of how that must of felt, seeing that Epona could feel the way he was feeling because she nipped at his nose, neighing at him too. Nodding his head understandably, the boy peered over to his fairie, the head going between his legs and yanking him up back on the saddle of Epona. When they were branched together, Link saddled him straight and looked over at Navi who now had a smaller bag that would connect somewhere. It was snapped onto the saddle, linked to the reigns to Link had easy access to the bag, containing a sweet source of food for someone.

"What are the conditions."

"Oh, she wants you to come visit more often, and well see her." Navi nodded, smiling.

"And I get Epona? Damn, I like that deal!" He flushed at the use of the bad word, Navi either ignoring it, not minding, or just not noticing. She didn't seem to care if he used bad words, but hey it was a good time to use a naughty word, was it not, I mean he had just received the horse of his dreams. Grabbing for the bag, he dug through and grabbed out a carrot in the bad. Actually there were carrots, some horseshoe repair kits and instructions, a bag for feeding her when on the run and a bowl that should be filled up with water. They didn't need supplies since Anju had filled up his canteen with water, giving him an extra one, loaded in some bread and dry meats for the trip, and fresh fruit that was all gone since it would have spoiled in the hours before he reached the ranch.

"Food for me?"

"No, dummy. Epona's food, she has to eat, y'know."

"Ah, yes." Reaching down below, he patted the white mane, which received another little squeal of joy before resting back down to a calm. Smiling towards the mare, he looked back up at the fairie. "We go now?" Eagerly he sat on the horse, like a tyke at a ride that was so much fun that they didn't want to go off, just ride again and again. Yea, the horse was a good treat for him, he knew it would be good, he would also take care of the horse, digging through the bag and finding what was a brush to take care of the horse and keep her pretty. Digging deep, he handed her a carrot, which she chopped up and licked him a little, letting her neigh loudly and begin to walk, answering the question he had asked Navi. Maybe she was eager to go too, maybe it was time to start the journey too, funny thing was she was headed for the back of the place, running at full speed.

"It's early, so yea." Navi smiled sweetly towards the boy, shrugging a mental shoulder at the other part of the deal, something that Malon just wasn't going to get from her boy and that was the simple truth, why did she want something like that anyway? Yea, the visits and everything were true, but she wanted him to take her out and probably take her hand in marriage, not that that was going to happen anytime soon. He was to return to his normal self when this was all over, and they would never leave the forest, so there were no worries to keep with her. Only problem was that Epona was charging at the back fence, herself moving at a chugging speed that would take her as fast as she could. Seeing the young boy put his hands over his eyes, the horse sailed over the top of the smaller gate (not really made of rock) moving down through the hills and across the landscape, letting out a neigh or triumph.

Both of them stared at her in utter amazement, feeding her three carrots a piece and then letting herself take them on the ride, it was as if she knew the way for when night-time would come. Around this time they all would have to feed her some carrots, brush her hair some, talk with her as they walked at night and only wait for the morning to come before they walked. Epona usually only slept a few hours a day, usually around five to seven o'clock, so it was all right as long as she didn't run at night, if she ran at night then she would tucker herself out. At this pace they figured Kokiiri forest was only a few days away. During the days Link showed off the Hookshot to Navi, they spoke of the future, played with the beautiful mare and did stuff that friends do. It was shorter than they expected, actually, for when they entered the temperate of the forest it had only been two and a half days, a day shorter than expected.

--------------------

It was so funny being placed in the same environment again, the forest spinning around him--making him dizzy with anticipation--as he stepped through the gate with the lone fairie by his side. Epona had protested to get inside the cart, so he laid some carrots and poured his canteen water down inside a little trench that was near the place where her reins were tied, telling her simply to make this last for a few days. That horse just nodded her head, no confusion in her face, then nipped at him sweetly and closed her eyes to rest…it was funny how smart she was sometimes. Almost like a human in so many ways than others, her appearance was that of a mare, but then again appearances weren't everything in this world--he was always intimidated by a large size, often discriminated for his own height as a child. Chuckling out loud, he looked around the area arms bound to chest, sniffing the forest air.

Exact area where is happened… Those cheeks brightened with colour, remembering the exact event as how it happened, he couldn't tell how many months or days (not counting those seven years), but he had stopped counting after so long. Link hadn't packed a calendar with him, nor did he feel like fooling with the days, all he knew was that it had been close to two months when he finished the belly of Jabu. Before that, however, was the area where he stood, the area where that beautiful and sweet kiss had done--one he still remembered. Other kisses he received were just innocent or being playful, this one throwing them off and showing him what he wanted: true passion. Yes, he could still feel the warm trickles of their tears mixing as she lashed her tongue in and out of his innocent mouth…how beautiful she radiated that day, how long he ached for the quest to end so he'd return for another one.

"…ink! Link!" Turning those eyes upward, he caught Navi looking at him strangely.

"W-wha?"

"You've been sitting here for like five minutes, let's go, sweetie."

"Hee, sorry, I was just reminiscing." She giggled a little, patting his head as he gave off a little nod and continued forward past the wooden bridge that stretched from the first tree hole right to the next that would enter the forest. Navi also knew how important this place was, this was their home after all, and a place that would remain in their hearts no matter how long they were away. Seven years without so much of a visit, a memory of the place, and now the place was in danger (according to that man), but the funny thing was that Navi felt she could trust him. Sure he was underhanded, looked like he was disgusted about his race having been killed off from before, and yet it was so easy to believe him, as if he knew it all. Well, it was natural that the forest had been affected, just like the time before when Link and she dispatched Gohma, Ganondorf had sent the creature.

Gripping onto his shirt as she came down, the girl placed her behind on the shoulder blade with a snap, gasping in the forest air as they tumbled inside of the tree hole, absolute darkness hitting her eyes, never feeling afraid in the least. This place had something about it, an energy that gave off friendliness to them a sort of satisfaction that nothing would ever hurt them, that the world was pure. Yet she knew enough to guess that this was false now, just a memory, the forest may have at one time been a place of purity, but now it had been defiled. Ridiculed by that bastard Ganon, the man whom she would see to it paid for his crimes, someone she detested even more than Milo. That man was the cause of everything; she still didn't understand his true purposes, why he would want to ruin this place, why to do something this evil. She could only guess that he had gone mad with power, nothing stopping him from achieving the true extent.

Out the hole they popped, the sparkles left by fairies moving around (they didn't disappear like in Hyrule, they remained around so long that the air always was full of dim sparks), but no fairies were about. The entire place was stone-deaf quiet, no chirping from the crickets, croaks from the toads near the waters, the humming of fairies working around or the children singing. Kokiiri loved to sing they even had a festival every year to celebrate their race, a festival where they played together with instruments made out of wood. Sometimes ocarinas, sometimes flutes, violins, even an occasional clarinet was around, and away they would played to the Deku Tree, pleasing him to produce seeds for more trees in the forest. The festival was a while off from now, but still there had to be some people about, it was only eight o'clock in the morning, the Kokiiri always arose with the sun (at least all except Link.)

"Why's it so quiet?" Link asked, tearing his glove from his hand and shining it forward, it was so dark for this time of night that they couldn't see, and the rule was you could always see in the forest. Sure it wasn't pitch-black, but Link was doing this as a precaution so that none of them tripped over each other, stepped in a hole that hadn't been there, or smashed a sleeping Kokiiri. The Triforce symbol lit up, allowing him to cut a square hole in the glove and pull the hand back in so a small thin beam stretched out like a lantern, without alerting too much trouble. Something about that leather was strange, it probably an abnormal material confined to hide the light of the Triforce, because he had tried other cloths to conceal the beams, failing in attempt. She had tried sitting on it, but that just came off as the beam passing through her--it was harmless light, not energy absorbent--although it was illuminating out towards here. She guesses it was because they were near a temple that had to be the case, or that the sage was trapped inside and it was reacting to him.

"I dunno, this place is so calm, it's never been like this."

"Wasn't it daytime when we came in!"

"Yea, it still is. I guess a black cloud is surrounding the forest, blocking out plant li--"

"The forest is going to die that way!"

"--fe. So that the forest and Kokiiri will surely die." She concluded, nodding and staring forward as he leaned his right palm forward so that the light could see forward.

"Damnit, there is no way we can go through the town, how about we just go straight to the woods, that's where the temple of the forest is, right?" It was a stupid question, Link knew what it was, and he was just reassuring himself.

"Mmhm, I would advise that too, I mean since the Deku Tree is gone enemies might be around, that is probably why all the Kokiiri are hiding, they aren't dead, I can sense their presence."

"Me too, but I can sense some have died, some of the minor ones." It was a cruel statement to say, the 'minor' ones as in no one was important, but he meant it to say those he knew well, like Saria for example. Saria's presence was alive and well, deep in the Forest Temple, he could only sense her because she was Kokiiri, anyone else like Hylians or monster were totally undetectable, this was because he'd been around them his whole life. Smiling over at her, she gave off a frown at his statement, automatically lowering his head and whispering out a simple sorry to her. When receiving a pat on the back, he craved at his sides, one arm leaping up still in the air, holding out the way towards the Lost Woods, turning from the north direction towards the left, where the vines stood.

"Link, don't be like that." But he was right, Mido and the triplets, those twins that he knew were all alive, some fairies had died too, a few of them associates of Navi. Navi really didn't have friends, you guess she could be considered just like friend, except in her case it was the girl without a Kokiiri instead of the boy without a Fairie. No one really liked her because she could be snobby at times, stubborn, and didn't really want a Fairie at first; she had been assigned a child, but declined and kept on the mission works. Having a child to guard was a special honor that no one but the select few were given (there were virtually more Fairies than Kokiiri) and when she declined it, she was rejected. It was like being knighted and not accepting the invitation, just giving up on an honorable condition that no one had ever turned down, a job so beautiful in its own way. That was when she was ignored, not teased like her boy, but ignored virtually on the verge of panic; he being her first partner, one she was glad she took.

With his back turned to the veins, about to head towards them, he never saw the thing coming, hidden so stealthily in the ground that no one could have seen it. Coming out of the earth was a Baka, a Deku Baka to be more exact, the creature looking a lot stranger than before, the monster looking like it had mutated. When he bared its sharp teeth and blundered forward, the monster slammed into the back of Link's shield throwing him forward--and saving his life--landing on the ground out of the Baka's reach. The shield had been hidden under the mass of satchel he had, not shown to the Deku so that it thought it was going for the back, an attack that would have wounded the boy. Quick thinking, hidden shields, and pure luck is what saved him from having his back torn open and being lunch food for a sadistic little plant that came out of the ground.

"Link!" Navi squealed as she saw him disappear from her side and throw himself down into the ground, a groan escaping his lungs. Her quick reflexes hadn't worked this time, spinning around only to be caught with a sight that size did indeed matter in some places, some mattered so much that is was scary. The regular Deku Baba would have come up to adult Link's chest, not very big and with a thin and weak body having been easily dispatched. This one was at least eight feet tall, the stems of it thickened with harden muscle and the chlorophyll added in for the colour of green. A giant drooping mouth of violet streamed over, teeth bared for them to be gobbled up in, the teeth sharper than ever, probably sharper than the blade of her boy's, too. It was much more larger, maybe to be dubbed a Giant Baba, instead of the Deku Baba, that name seemed to fit this one more so than the latter. No arms were kept out, that was a relief, but that mouth was enough to send more people running…then again, they weren't most people, were they?

Spinning to regain his strength, the boy stared down at the monster, being super-sized to the maximum, knocking all the limits away from what simply used to be a Deku Baba. Something had happened to this particular creature, more were hiding, as he suspected all of them were somewhat infected. His answer was knocked clear out of the park when four more Babas appeared out of reaching distance, and Deku Scrubs popped up for the adventure. The red ones, the ones that ran when hit, but they were unaffected by the dark magic of Ganondorf, or at least that is what Link guessed it was. Who else could produce a chi so powerful that he could barely stand the smell of the creature, sensing it he could not do, but the smell was enough to drive him up the wall. No, it didn't give off a bad odor or anything; the aroma must have been what he suspected as seeing the creature's dark energy, something that wasn't there seven years ago.

"Ganon's creatures?" He mumbled out loud, the sword prepared for the initial assault.

"Of course, the original Babas weren't his, but these seem like mutations of them." Either that or something very strange was occurring, a thing that frightened Navi, the power of this so-called King of Hyrule must have been spreading like a wildfire. Babas used to be much smaller than this, smaller than the ones he fought as a child, yet her theory was that when Ganondorf first cursed the Deku Tree his own powers made the Babas rise at a new level. Now with the Triforce of Power in his hands, the theory was blown out of proportion. By her calculations, the monster was now four times as big as the ones from when Link was a child, which meant that Ganondorf's power had multiplied by four. All she hoped was that these medallions they were collecting powered them up, or the sages, whichever ones had to do it. Shaking her head, the small fairie began to shake up a little, emitting a yellow light around her veil.

"Navi…a new attack, Eh?" He grinned, the sword prepared for the assault, but seeing the look on Navi's face made him loosen his grip upon the sword, like it were going to be all right and no need to fight. Even with the veil upon her, Link could now see through it, peering at the determination she emitted, and nodded pushing the steel back into its teeth. Eyes widened when the yellow light surrounded the Deku Baba, it turning a complete blue and sitting still in a state of paralysis, sort of like what the nuts did. Yet this was longer, because the nuts lasted for a few seconds, while now Navi didn't warn him to high-tale it or anything, she just sighed from the power drainage.

Link gripped the bag of Deku nuts on his right side, peering at them and launching all twenty in all directions, taking off in a leap for the vines while the rest of the monsters got in their small-second state of paralysis. Now with an empty bag, his load was more secure and if he ever picked up something new, he could stash it down into there. Pulling upon the hardened vines, the boy climbed the menacing twenty feet to the top, pushing himself on the new area and scanning around, dismay splashed on that face. All around were huts being burnt, or having been burnt (ashes smoking and simmering down), corpses slain all across some of the fields, blood matted in all the grass. Reaching back, he flicked the sword out, staring down as the monsters danced around the corpses, vowing that when he came back…they would pay.

Navi stood silent in the commotion, her own eyes aghast for the moment, not even realizing before that someone could do this to a town--no their home-town. Hometowns--no, places like this wasn't meant to be treated this way, why hurt the innocent children from them, why hurt two beautiful races. So what if they were ignored or teased in the place, this was still the place they were born and raised, and no one destroyed a hometown of theirs. While Link swore his own promise, she made one silently to herself, pushing the blue veil back on and resting upon his shoulder for support from the paralysis attack. Sure it wasn't hard to do, she would just have to practice it to get better and better at it, eventually she would be able to do it without hassle. Watching the boy turn around and head down inside of the tree trunk (having to duck now), she escaped with him from the carnage and into the unknown.

--------------------

The woods were the same as seven years ago, no monsters inhabited the areas leading up until the Sacred Forest Meadow, that was good, this scenery was so beautiful that he did not want it to be spoiled. Smiling at the scenery, he chuckled to himself when he had to duck under or climb through a small hole on his hands and knees, it was such a remembrance, he couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe he sounded crazy right then and there, hell, maybe he was crazy after going through so much, but now wasn't the time to go insane--not was the time to get revenge for those sweet children. Innocent souls, whom had never killed before, never would kill, and sure they could be a hateful bunch at most times, but that wasn't reasoning enough for them to die.

"What's funny?" Navi whispered, a little spooked out about this place, Saria's song wasn't playing anymore, so it wasn't as lively anymore. "I don't hear her."

"Probably too sad to play with all that's going on, the meadow is the safest place for her, glad she made it before the attacks started. Mm, I am laughing because I am afraid I might turn into stone or a Skull-kid, y'know, the legends?" An old Kokiiri urban legend was that children who got lost in the woods turned to Skull-kids (Hylian children, mind you) and adults would turn to stone. Link had no idea if he was considered an adult now, Kokiiri, or even a Hylian child, that gave him the feeling the Goddess of the Forest was watching him. Hell, maybe he was being watched and if he was, wells, by Goddess he was going to show that old hag what he was made of, no one was going to stop him from winning. Navi smiled at him, and fluttered up to his hat as he entered the last door.

"How come you didn't get lost, Link…this place changes every time."

"I can sense Saria…somehow, I don't know how, but I can."

Navi was about to speak up again, but the gates of the Sacred Meadow were locked shut, guarded by a single Kokiiri, one with the freckled face and the curly blonde hair. She heard the boy gasp out loud, as the Kokiiri came into the light and stared at him with a concerned look upon his face, the fairie fainting nearly herself as Mido's face showed the blessing of concern. Link, himself, was all right and dismissed it as just something that always happened, his former boss nodded a bit, his hands going to his chin and inspecting the man, seeing the fairie also. She had to admit that they did look weird to the Kokiiri, Link was still wearing their clothes, had a fairie, and would look like his former self to them. Of course last time they saw Mido, he was chasing them with a pitchfork.

"You wear our folkish clothes, but you are no Kokiiri. Who are you and why do you have a fairie?" No harshness was in his voice, just one of pure curiosity, he sure had changed over the past seven years, that was for sure.

"I am a Kokiiri, it's me L--" Navi slapped him on the cheek and shook her head with concern, it was just too weird to reveal his identity to them, so it would be best if they were left alone.

Link got the message from the slap and shrugged his shoulders a little bit, winking towards the little fairie, if she wanted them both a secret, then a secret she would get. Keeping his identity was a nice thing, for Ganondorf could be looking for him and happen to torture people he knew seven years ago. Of course they would squeal because they would be just innocent people, no harm would come to them this way, and everyone would win. Already Link regretted telling Malon of what was going on, yet he felt good of her safety since Talon was there with her, guarding her from harm. Clearing his throat softly, the boy began to think up and place and shot it out at the Kokiiri, the lie coming easily. "I am Leonardo, sorry for posing as one of your own, may I happen to pass by here?"

"Hell no! The great Saria told me to never let strangers in here, she has gone onto the Forest Temple to pray the Farore, hopefully she will help us in our peril, but I am not letting you in here. I bet you don't even no Saria, the clothes may have fooled another person, but it is very easily to get the colour green from other places, I bet. Luckily I am in charge, no one else would be suitable to get peasants like you away." Of course Mido was shaking in his knees, he saw the Master Shield and the arsenal that Link folded, hoping the man wouldn't resort to violence.

"Maybe this will refresh my presence." Mido's eyes squinted, waiting for the blows to come, but instead he heard the sound of an Ocarina, the beautiful instrument that Saria played. Gazing forward, expecting to see the girl, he only saw the man with a brown one, one of Saria's custom-made ones, and the tune that came out the her own tune that she named after herself. Saria's song was the name and beautifully he did master it, as if he had known it for years, releasing the fact that he didn't get it from a hidden Kokiiri. When the tune was finally finished the man slipped the rotting Ocarina back into his pocket, a blue one with some symbol on it was seen in his pack from the boy's eyes. The Boss' mind was made up then, there was no doubt about it.

"Y-you know Saria's song?!"

"Yup, and this Ocarina she made for me seven years ago, I think I can pass now?"

"Sure, sure." Slamming his hand into the wall, the gate-slid open with a slit, no need for Link to fight and Wolfos this time, the feeling of winning was pressured in his mind. It was what Mido said next that got the boy thinking, more about his true nature than anything else, a sort of surrounding sentence he repeated, something that couldn't he bought. Mido saddened his face, staring up at the man with gracious eyes, those hues watering with a few tears, trying to keep them away from the man's vision, so he looking at the trees, he did. Link was on his way to see Saria when Mido stopped him with a small little yell, something that seemed to foreign to him he could swear that he never sounded like that, but it was what was said that broke him.

"When I see you…I think of him, mister. If you ever see him, a boy with your colour hair and eyes and clothes, tell him--tell him I'm sorry, for everything that I ever did to him." Smiling softly, the boy was about to jump in the air for joy, telling him to go on and see Saria, but he couldn't, for his words were cut short. A long blade on a piece of wood sprang from the trees, sliding down into his head and killing him instantly, the brain matter pouring all around everywhere. Mido's eyes widened, then collapsed as the shock faded away, with his life leaving there was a long and merciless chuckle from the air, that of a Poe. Not one of the ones he head viewed on his travels, he never saw the monsters, but somehow he could tell that this Poe would be faced later on, a sort of foreshadowing in the back of his mind, the revenge for Mido would be extracted.

Navi gasped, her eyes not filling with tears, but compassion for the boy, while Link just stared down sadly at the young boy, wishing he could do more for him. There was no shovel, so burying him was out of the question, and the best thing he could think of was a ritual burning with his own Fire magic. Placing the body in the center of the room, Link slammed his fist down on the body, igniting it with the power of Din's fire, gasping as the fire tore through the body and reduced him to ashes. As soon as Mido was gone, he picked the ashes up and spread them across the Sacred Meadow, whispering a silent prayer in the Kokiirish language, before turning back to his fairie. Now she was in tears, trying her best to hide him, yet Link said nothing but held her within his hand, kissing those tears away and staring forward.

"We have a new mission."

"Yes, that ghost shall pay for killing him--so innocent, but are we to expect this." Navi whimpered as they walked past the gates of the Meadow and came to the old area where the maze went on and on with all those stupid Deku shrubs. Listening well for the shrubs, Link nodded to Navi and tucked her on top of his hat, leaping over the land of water that was a few feet across, landing on the other side. Never did he expect what he saw when turning around, because when he spun around the boy came face to face with a giant dog, clad in chains like a knight and wielding a spear pointed right at him. There was no time to do anything, no time to block, no time to jump over its head and knock it clean out, there was only two solutions and he was making the right one.

Navi screeched his named as he leapt back into the water back-first, the spear tearing around the front of his tunic and cutting through the material like ribbons, shedding some blood upon his new chest. Hitting the water stung the new scrape wound, but it was better than a gouging wound he would have expected from that stupid mongrel. While he contained the stinging, Navi flew around the monster and studied it, giving the information out to him as clean as a whistle. It took a while to calculate the data because it was so big, but by the time the dog was on its other route (or turned around) the boy pulled himself out of the water, grasping his blade when she shook her head.

"What, Navi?"

"They are called Moriblins, dog demons from the bowls of the Hades. Use your Hookshot, the sword is close range, but you can hit it now in the back and it'll die."

"Like, automatically?"

"A metal hook in your back really hurts, Link…" She smiled a little and nodded for the instant kill comment, fluttering over to the monster and throwing down another one of the paralysis spells, feeling a bit dizzy afterwards and wishing Link hadn't thrown all the nuts out. Link grinned back at her and walked within distance of the hookshot, aiming the beam and pulling the trigger upon the machine, the first time having been used in combat. A spring-loaded snap hit the air, the monster trying to turn around, but being so slow wasn't in time for the hook that sprayed into the Moriblin's back, it falling down on its back and squealing in pain. When it didn't die automatically, Link jumped in for a slice attack for the head, wiping the green gunk off both weapons when he was done.

"Thought it was automatic."

"You have to give it time, dummy!"

I am impatient, but instead of speaking his mind the boy smiled and raced through the courtyard, keeping his ears trained for the heavy breathing the Moriblins gave off, they looked more like mutated Bull-dogs than those demons from hell, something he couldn't believe. By the end of the maze they had faced three more of the mutants, each one becoming easier and easier, and they did die on their own when you hit them in the back. Or in Link's case, the back of the head was one of the most tender spots he aimed with the Hookshot, making sure his aim never missed. Such good aim he had with that thing, he could maybe become a lead archer in the army, and that hand-eye coordination was what could make him such a great warrior.

At long last the last Moriblin was finished, and just so be it he was at the foot of the stairwell that lead down a long highway, opening up into the part of the meadow that was most sacred (the area Saria was.) Getting ready to give a skip and a jump, the boy's happiness was interrupted with a girl's scream of terror, a fierce calling of the Moriblin, except ten time's louder, and the smash of what sounded like a tree. Link and Navi exchanged glances recognizing the voice as Saria's and before she could protest or say anything Link was out like the wind, racing down the hall way and seeing at the entrance was a buffed up Moriblin. This time was twice as tall, had twice as many muscles with those chain link around it stretching more than enough to pop off at any second. The ugly beast was turned towards the area Saria was in, not being able to fit through the doorway, but using his hammer to stir some shit up.

"Hey, ugly!" Link bellowed out, Navi slapping her head in dismay, the creature spinning around in confusion, anger for the resentment to his face, and sour from the spoil of his fun. Just like the Moriblin it looked the same in the body-wise, wearing a high piercing armour, where the other one just wore a chain-link. This one had it on too, just some golden armour was protecting its shoulders and chest area, and the back area was clean, though. Getting behind the creature was the hard part; it took up the entire space, so no one could get around it unless they went up in the air. That gave Link an idea and he dove right for the monster.

--------------------

Navi's approach was a sneak-attack, from her data this thing was called a Monblin, this creature the father or higher species of Dog demons, and when Link called out to it, she just could have slapped him. Its back would have taken three attacks, it had a stronger support system, but it wouldn't have been able to turn around. Goddess knows how it turned around this time, but the marks in the walls where its muscles had been were a pretty good way to guess the power of this monster. Too weak to muster up any kind of paralysis attack, the really did wish he would have kept the nuts, seeing him dive for the legs, she got the idea right away and nodded with approval, coming infront of the monster and buzzing infront of its eyes.

The monster did take the to the bait, swinging at her profusely, which she could dodge it easily, and when she was ready, she shot a clean chi shot right in-between its eyes. The Dog demon grabbed its face and cried out, falling upon its back, but that was the last breath it had, for when it fell, Link left his sword right where it fell. Taking out his entire rib cage, the sword struck right in the area where his heart was, taking the need of three slashes away and eliminating the boss from extinction in a matter of seconds. Link's biggest problem was the bloody sword which he retrieved from the guts, wiping all the gore off upon the matted grass until his sword was clean, not sheathing it until it was cleaned properly. Turning towards Navi, she was staring at him with eyes a wide.

"Didn't expect that, huh? You just planned on me going for the head, well, I know where the heart is and its calculations from the distance of his height, how he falls and where he lands. Fighting takes arithmetic, or you can't calculate how to land the blow."

"T-that was good, Link. No, that was awesome! U-unfortunately I don't seem able to exert myself anymore…tell Saria I said hello." Then and there the girl passed out on his shoulder, he picking her up and laying down inside of his hat with a small pat on her before he let her inside of her bed for the night. As soon as she was secure, the man ran from the stairs and deep down into the middle of the room, dropping the sword when he didn't see Saria. Where could she be, he pondered to himself, but he figured out that she must be hiding from the monster, since she hadn't heard him, but the monster's cries and rampaging outside. Leaving his sword where it was, he wandered to the tree near the platform that looked the same as the one in the Temple of Time. Imprinted in the center of the Triforce was a leaf, symbolizing the Temple of the Forest. Getting on his hands and knees, the older boy stuck his head in a hole, feeling a knot replacing the sense of relief in the tree, instantly. Sticking his head out, he gave out a long cry, passing out.

--------------------

Who was this? Tendrils pushed back in confusion as the Deku nut she used to hit the young man lay at her side, already regretting acting before she thought. What Saria thought was that was some sort of monster, and so she hit it, but what it turned out to be was her protector, whoever it was. A young boy about seventeen clad in their Kokiirish clothes, wearing their boots, some weird undershirt, and carrying a long sword with a Hylian shield. Not wanting to be very nosy, the girl went through his pockets anyway finding some materials she had never run into, inventions that weren't really around in these forests. Setting all the weird extensions aside, the young girl picked all the pockets clean until just one of them remained, one secured with a big snap that took quite a few minutes to clean off. Finally, she snapped the lock off, groaning in pain at the physical strength she had to do (it was quite hard for a young girl) and peered inside. Clad inside of the pocket was a solid blue ocarina, made of a cremation material, something of glass or what not, but behind that was another one, so she moved it.

What in Farore? My Ocarina…how can it be! Saria shook her head in a confused manner, looking over at the older boy with concern plastered in his face. Just who in the world was this boy, he wore their clothes, but he sure wasn't a Kokiiri, they never grew (even after seven years.) Confusion plastered the young girl, wandering just what in the Hyrule was going on around here, and why all these terrible things were happening to them. Mido was guarding the post, thank Goddess for him, but most of the other of her race was hiding under trees, under the ground, or dead from the monster's reign. Before they could have taken care of them with their Deku sticks, but now they couldn't and what's worse, Link had taken the Kokiiri sword with him! Mentioning that, she opened the boys' eyes, peering into the blue hues, her face breaking out into a blush, shaking her head in confusion once more.

"Just who are you, older boy?" Taking his hat off, a sparkle admitted and the fairie sunk down inside the cap, making Saria drop it and cry out in confusion. How could this boy have a fairie? That just wasn't possible, for this to happen--sure you can dress up like the race, but the fairie is what separated the fakes from the real ones, yet this one wasn't running away since the man was asleep. No, this creature was sleeping under his hat, a weird gesture, for Fairies never did that, so it couldn't have been held against its will or anything like that. Poking at the veil, it released and a fairie like she had never seen appeared, it was much longer than before, almost four inches while their regulars were in the two-inch department. So the fairie had grown up a little too, so the fairies were children just like the Kokiiri, which meant this must have been a Kokiiri. It was silly, but a Kokiiri must have left the forest and the Deku Magic must have worn off of them, meaning that they started growing like the regular people, but who could it be?

--------------------

The muffled voices echoed through his head, feeling himself being searched and searched over and over, until finally his hat was removed, which he spent a few minutes trying to wake himself up and remember where he was. After destroying that stupid Inu-warrior, the boy had gone to search for Saria and stuck his head in a tree trunk, which turned out to be a mistake. Whatever the hell was hiding in the tree conked him out with something hard, then he heard a flash and passed out, probably one of those damned Deku nuts. Now the paralysis had disappeared and here he was laying on some soft material (like the grass) with his head propped up on some hard material, probably a stump.

"Just whose there…" His voice whispered out, pulling his lanky body up from the ground and peering those eyes open all the way, glancing in all directions. Well, there was nothing around, he was still in the Sacred Forest Meadow, found his armour and arsenal all on the ground, and growled out loud. Flinching, when he heard a small girlish whimper, he turned all directions, looked up, then when looking down he caught view of that girl. The green-haired girl he had always loved, fright sprayed in her beautiful brown eyes, she was looking in all directions, trying to look away from him, yet all the more intrigued. Link looked down at the ground, seeing the reflection of this body in the gleam of his Master Sword, flushing with content, collapsing down on his knees. As he fell to the ground, she fell down on her behind, screaming out in fear and began to back away from him, as he landed down on his knees and stared at her.

Why is she so scared--oh, the blood! Yes, he had blood sprayed all over his body, from the fight with the Monblin and Moriblins he had taken care of, that was why she was so scared. Looking down at her, he reached around for his hat, picking it up and settling it back on, pulling the Ocarina she gave him, and blew a small tune, her own tune. The tune floated out like on air, letting it blow from his lips, while watching her expression over and over with eyes, as it changed from confusion, to surprise, to utter delight. Somehow she knew who he was, because once he put the instrument down, he was tackled and thrown across the ground, Saria's small body thrown up against him, the boy letting out a long laugh, wrapping her up in a tight embrace.

"Link? Link, it's you!" When he nodded, again he was awarded another shriek, this one of pleasure and those hands wrapped around his neck tightly, pulling him into a long and hard hug. Letting his own hands run over her, afraid he might hurt her fragile body at first, he did eventually pull her into a long embrace like her, hugging her to him as tight as he could. Mm, it was so nice when she pressed her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck sweetly, while he ran those fingers throughout her hair, proving in advance that he truly was the one named Link. There was no doubt in her mind now, this just had to be the boy who kissed her all those years ago, grown up into a handsome young man.

"You've changed…" She pulled back away from him, sitting in his lap, but no longer lying her head on him.

"Y-yea, and you haven't." He smiled nervously at her, flushing and examining her over again. The young girl had changed her attire a little, going from the shorts to a beautiful short skirt, which quite surprised the boy; she used to be so modest. Now the skirt revealed more of her legs than he had ever seen before and even though he was seven years her senior, which didn't hesitate to cause a blush to form from ear-to-ear. Taking his attention back to her, he noticed she was looking at his changes, which he didn't mind, for she never expected him to grow like this. What she expected him was to be the same size he was seven years ago, yet that just wasn't going to be, it was the exact opposite. Staring at her now, he just couldn't help himself, leaning forward and pressing his nose against hers, watching her deeply, and then taking a breath, kissing her cheek.

Saria's own little cheeks went back in response, and she kissed his cheek, yet looked off to the side as if something was bothering her. The truth was it was bothering her about their age, they were just too different together to do anything at all, kissing was all right, well sort of all right (if anyone was watching they would gasp and point.) The funny thing was that no one was watching now, so she didn't feel as bad as she would, yet there her hands wrapped around his neck tighter and pulling the older boy into a deep kiss. Yes, just like the one from before, he let his body be pulled into another kiss like before, causing himself to break out and kiss back. It was weird, the kiss, the lips were different sizes and all, for it was just so strange, yet at the same time both of them felt it was right. Link hoping his fairie didn't pick this time to wake up and come out, for she would be steaming mad at him for this act, even if it were right.

Saria was the one who broke the kiss, letting her blush show all the more, those arms stayed wrapped around the older boy's neck, just staring lovingly into those eyes, so beautifully it was almost sick. Well, it was beautiful that they were reunited for the first time, time and space had kept them apart, yet now with all odds against them, and they triumphed and met again. Nothing could ruin this moment, nothing could spoil their fun together, and nothing would ever separate them from this place. Sure the world was scarier now, the monsters coming out were all the more frightening than the ones from years past, yet that didn't stop the fact of her feelings, how she felt in the small beating heart. How this boy turned into a man was beyond her, she thought Kokiiri grew up to be the size of her and stopped, yet the case had been broken with him. Maybe the fact of leaving the forest made him grow, that was a good possibility, one that made the most sense, really, one that didn't shame anyone.

"Why are you so big?"

"I dunno, I was trapped for seven years, they possibly could have made me grow." Chuckling lightly, the young boy's smile disappeared when the body of Saria disappeared from his arms, appearing above in the air with two long shrieks appearing. Glancing up in fear, his worst fears were answered when a giant Poe, adorned in a purple scarf began to waver the little girl in its arms, tempting to drop it. Link picked up the Hookshot, aiming and firing the hook for the thing's head, which went through the abomination, another shriek of laughter erupting from it. The other shriek had belonged to Saria, whom was now muffled by the claws upon the Poe, holding her against her will, the slime.

"Prove thyself, and the child shall be saved…" It's voice wavered on in a monotone voice, the shrieks disappearing as the ghost disappeared inside of a purplish-black portal, disappearing after only a few seconds, the screams still in on his mind.

"P-prove myself? Beat the temple, they mean." He began to laugh, the laugh disappearing after a few seconds and turning into a stifled little chortle, the tears rolling down his eyes. H-how dare they take her, how dare they take a hostage, when they knew he was coming anyway, it wasn't just wrong, it was his personal feelings that involved the situation. Now he was all right with the situation before, Mido being killed was not so great, his hometown being burned really ticked off, but now they put her in the middle of it. Curse them for getting smarter, the Temples were obviously run by Ganondorf himself, so they wouldn't at all be like the dungeons, he would have to deal with that slime even when he physically wasn't there. It just made no sense in this needless torture, why did that idiot destroy the land he ruled, why does he want so much destruction in the land he owns!

"T-those bastards! Those fucking bastards!" Well, the words came from his mouth, yet he didn't know whom they were from. A slight sound made him jolt around, the sword ready for that Poe who had come back, yet it wasn't him, it wasn't him at all, just that stupid Shiekah from the other day. Dropping the sword upon the ground, the young boy collapsed upon his knees, waving for Shiek to come back, he just was not in the mood for any of this now. It was so unfair how this all happened, they hadn't even gotten the chance to take, not the chance to re-communicate again, and something separated them again. It was everyone else's fault, first he was sealed away, and now something dealing with the sealing away kept them apart, why couldn't it just leave them alone. Fate!

"…I know you are upset, I haven't come to train you, I have come to teach you a song. With the passage of time, things come and go memories are so sweet to the children, so sweet to the flow. Listen well, young warrior, for the song I am about to teach you, the Minute of Forest." Shiek could understand the boy's pain, he knew exactly what he was going through, the loss of a loved one was very hard, yet there was no time to grieve, there was only time to learn the song. Pulling the harp from its strings, the older boy began to play the Minute of Forest out from the harp, stringing a beautiful melody, soft and slow. Knocking Saria's Song away from the upbeat pattern, this song gave out a nice loss to it, it threw the peace from losing someone and Shiek hoped it would heal him, help him.

Link gulped, hearing the tune, barely able to retrieve his Ocarina from the satchel, he opened it up and blew out the tune incorrectly the first time. Not wanting to be scolded by the older boy, Link quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, recomposing himself back and blowing the tune out once more, this time just as beautifully as the harp played. Retrieving his paper, he wrote down the title of the song, pulling the notes down, and stared up at Shiek who smiled and pointed up at the sky. Pulling the sheet and the Ocarina back in the satchel, he looked at the place he was pointing, seeing that the long tree extended up all the way to a sort of area he'd never seen. From up there, he could see the branch led up to a hole that led in somewhere, maybe the Forest Temple, or maybe just another one of those holes.

"Shiek--I--" But when he looked down, Shiek threw one of those little things that made the air dissipate in a cloud of dust picked up in the air, the Shinobi staring at him with that one red eye only glistening, a tear running down the cheek. Before Link could pick up anymore to say or do, the dust cleared, the young boy disappearing like the wind, not even sure how they did it, for he should have seen him running off. Heading for the area over where the dead Monblin was, he saw nothing and looked around for his sword, retrieving it back to its place, pulling it back in the sheath, blowing a deep breath of air before going back towards the temple. Whatever the song was, it did make him feel better, gave him some courage to fight on, some sort of healing song, it may have been.

--------------------

Navi awoke a few minutes later, curious for the dry tears upon the young boy's eyes, he just explained that Saria had been taken from them for the time being, the same person who did this had killed Mido. It was a sad fate they suffered, hostages being taken and people being killed for no good reason at all, or better yet just to get to them. How could they be responsible for so many lives, how could they know people, if they were just going to be knocked down when it was his time to face that specific monster. Who knew how far Ganondorf's powers extended, who the hell knew how long it could possibly go on with out a calm of peace, a time for healing. Had they no mercy on each other, and if not, who would show it to them.

Well, it turned out once more that they were actually after his own fairie too, for as soon as he told her the news, something came streaming at the both of them. Link heard first, his ears bigger and hearing a bit sharper, so he threw her across the floor, an arrow zipping right where she had been. Preparing the offensive, he stood infront of her with the Hylian shield pumped up, ricocheting the arrows off of there until, the fifteenth one that hit the shield, spotted back and slammed in the shadows to the carrier. A screech and a few curses in a weird language went into the air, the thing disappearing in another one of those portals, Link knowing just by the scent and sound of it. Checking to see if his own fairie was hurt, the boy sighed deeply, letting her stay in his hat while he searched around for a way out of here.

As it turned out, Shiek was pointing at a branch that could have been linked with the Hookshot, and with a deep breath, the boy aimed for it and let the spring-loaded shot go. For the first time that day, it went his way and hooked up in the wood, dragging him up the thirty feet, then throwing him on the solid path that led into the darkened hole. Above the hole was that symbol of the leaf, letting both of them believed that it was seriously time to go in, to venture in the first temple of Ganondorf. Where the tricks were different, the rewards were all the sweeter and the stakes were much higher than before, the area where people would die just to get out of this place. Blowing some of that blonde hair back, the boy raced for the darkness, not caring what came up, only caring that the beautiful Saria was all right.

--------------------

"Link, we must be prepared for this place, we have to be on our guard." Navi instructed the boy as they wandered in the first part; the long hole that was leading to the temple entrance, yet Link wasn't really paying attention. Nodding his head that he heard it, he didn't let it go inside and comprehend, and the words were just there, floating between his elven ears. The temple would be hard; he knew this, yet he was prepared for it, his body had been asleep for seven years, but it wasn't like he was rusty in battle. Sure he had been asleep but maybe his mind was being trained in the art of tactics and battle skills, for he felt himself being smarter in fighting than ever before. Brushing those blonde tresses back, the young boy turned to his faire, the words whispering out on his tongue, trying to hold back the harshness as he asked.

"Navi, can you be quiet, I need to think."

"Hrm, sorry, I am babbling on here. So, I know you are sad that she's gone, but don't let it affect your power."

"I won't, I know that my feelings could mean my doom in the battle." He felt the hurt in his fairy's eyes, flushing a deep crimson from frustration, yet there was nothing he could do at the time, there was no time for comfort. This place had to be taken care of, the sage had to be awoken, and then he was to extract revenge for his homeland and take Saria back to this place. Nothing could stop him now, and as the light peered open out of the cave, his eyes widened as the place was transformed into a garden of some sort. Trees were thrown all around the place, vineyards leading up tens of feet into the larger, dead trees, the grass all around giving a blooming feeling to it. Right ahead of the pair was a large stone structure; the door made of the Deku wood, with another insignia of Forest above the head, probably the temple.

Two long howls escaped the air, breaking the silence, and causing fear to panic both ways: left and right, but it was too late when Link dodged to the left. A slash tore at the shoulder of his tunic and sent him flying up against the wall this boxed room was in, the large place seeming smaller and smaller. Blurred vision picked up, the boy looking forward to see two Wolvos were around now, dancing in all directions, their claws headed for his pretty head. Picking up the shield now, he launched the Hylian protector at one of the beasts, it knocking it right in the head and sending it off into unconsciousness. When it was time to grab his blade, his realization went into panic, realizing it was on the other side of the room and with that it somehow his Hookshot slipped out, so he covered his face.

This was the time whenever Navi came into save him, a giant ball of Ki energy frying at the Wolvo's face, the one whom tried to attack Link. Cries of pain escaped the creature, it clawing at the air, the fairie already over at Link's side, whom had realized his predicament and rolled for the Blade of Evil's bane. As soon as he went to attack the monster, she turned her attention back towards the monster whom was out, that seemed to have woken up again. The beasts had no honour, which she didn't approve of, so a yellow light erupted from her, the girl sending out another one of those energy-draining paralysis attacks, feeling the aftereffects for now. Slinking down to the ground, the veil disappearing so she wouldn't be easily discovered, she watched the Wolvo battle it out with Link.

Link was no amateur in the fighting manner, not even waiting for the poor creature to get its balance back, he hacked at the rib cage, the blade sliding through the monster at an excruciating slow rate. Wincing at the shrieks and cries, the boy turned around, ready to be slashes or defend, when he saw his fairie lying upon the ground, her opponent trying to move, only the tail wagging. Smiling down at her, he couldn't help but cheer up having her for a partner, learning skills that fairies just didn't learn, all to help him on the quest of his. No-no, it was their quest, he was the Hero of Time, and she was the Heroine of Time, that was the way it would stand--if only in his eyes, then so be it. Clinking the blade handily, the boy dashed right at the monster, whose paralysis had just given up, waiting for it so a hack-and-slash appearance occurred.

The claws of the creature went up when the Master Sword slammed into the blade, feeling the toughness of his enemy, as they faced each other, snout to nose. Giving a yell of fury, he sent his foot into the wolf's stomach, sending it back and letting it's guard down, the mistake that would cost it the battle. So what if it was dirty, if they survived then that was all that mattered was what he told himself as he hacked away at the beast, slicing it in half just like its own brother. The blade stank of wolf now, his weapon dripping in blood, so he launched it forward at the small pond in the right-hand corner, so it could wash it's self off, looking upon his old prey. Wrapped upon the Wolvo's neck was a small necklace; attached to that necklace was a link that led down to a key, a small silver key. Ripping the neck-lace off, it put it around his own neck, inspecting the key for a few more seconds, before he blinked in surprise and came back to Navi, but retrieved his sword back, drying it upon the grass.

"Navi, you okay?" When she didn't awaken from the exhaustion, he shrugged a shoulder innocently, placing her back in her current residence: his hat. Checking the small patterned door of the front entrance, he saw there was no key-lock, wiping his brow with relief that he would have to use his newfound key so quickly. Pulling the door open, a faint stench penetrated his nostrils, causing them and his eyes to burn with perspiration, almost gagging from the exposure. Thank Goddess Navi was in the hat or she would have felt it also, glad that the smell couldn't penetrate his little friend's nostrils. Walking through the door, as he got two feet from the entrance, it slammed shut, revealing that this just wasn't his lucky day, especially when try as he might; the door was locked.

No keyhole meant no way to unlock it, so he kept down the long entrance, enticed how the inside had vines and small little bugs scurrying around, almost reminding him of the Kokiiri Forest. In the middle of the commotion, he heard a scuttling, sliding to the left as an old friend of his, the Skulltulla, came down to play. Yup, the beast was back (the same size though) and now not as scary as he had thought those many years ago, the spider sort of annoying when it turned around. Giving him such an easy target, the boy almost felt sorry for it when unlinking the Hookshot down into it's soft belly, the hookshot actually easier to reach and much quicker than using the sword. Keeping the Hookshot right down at his side, cupped in the easily held handle, not letting the thing go for a second, he kept on walking until another unlocked door appeared, sliding it open and taking a way inside.

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The screech of laughter sent Navi out of his hat, scurrying by his side as the boy sat staring in complete fear, the room around him shaped in an octagonal shape. A small square at the north entrance, but besides that the brick place was as normal as this place could get, having the vines spread in all directions. In the center of the room was a large fifty-foot square, insignias all around it and four torches upon each side, and then in the center of the square was a long hollow rectangle, that resembled an elevator. Each torch was lit with the colours red, orange, purple and blue, well they had been until the laughter came out and each of them disappeared, a Poe of the matching colour appearing in its place, holding a torch of the colour.

Navi fluttered above the boy's head, trying to hold her composure, but it let out that both of them were afraid of ghosts, especially ones that attacked you with torches. Shivering a little, the Poes didn't say a thing, they disappeared one after another, the last one looking at both of them, screeching out loud before it spun around into nothingness. It also seemed with the torches unlit that the elevator was going down towards the bottom, already too small for them to slide into, even if they got there at that moment. Sighing with depression, she sort of knew that they were gonna have to search each room for the specific Poe, destroy it, take the torch and re-light it so that they could go down there, possibly the boss' lair. Her attention turned towards the Link around his neck, looking over at the key and the necklace, amazed at what happened while she slept.

"What's that key for?" Navi questioned.

"Wolvo had it, thought we might need it, so where do we start?"

"I say the front entrance, I mean it's better than checking from left to right, if we try north we can at least have conquered that way. Ah, you see we are gonna have to kill each Poe, get the lamp from it and then re-light the torches, I have a feeling that leads down to the boss, whomever that is."

"Kill a Poe, but my sword goes through them!" He imitated using his sword with his finger, making a swishing sound when it stopped at a certain point.

"Link…something in the temple will help, remember that since we are in temples they have ancient items to help kill the enemy, like maybe a projectile weapon or something, I dunno, maybe a magical power. Yea, if you run into a Poe you can just use Den's Fire on them."

"Wait, what about using the fire now?"

"Din only produces red fire, the fires are orange, purple, blue and purple." With a smile, she patted his back, taking a glance around the room at the different structures around here; like that they were sitting on a pair of stairs that led down to the platform. All around the room were four different rooms, five counting the north one, each one blocked with a few things like from what she could see was that one held a blue block, something she'd never seen before. Another of them was held by one of those eyes that used to use a slingshot, but now he couldn't hit it since his sling was back at the Temple of Time, too big for him. The other two were covered with keys, one that they could use now, yet it would be bad to use it at this time, not until they got another to replace it.

"On, northward then! Come, my partner, let's venture out and kill these ghosts!" Letting out a small childish giggle, the boy hopped down from the small two-feet jump and ran across through the square, stepping upon the elevator that had once been there, seeing that it was a maroon colour, while the rest of the stone was a grayish-tan. Easy to tell them apart, he ran onward past the center of the room and up another flight of ten stairs, leading straight up to a door that was unlocked. Smiling towards his fairie, they nodded at each other, already getting used to the new smell, so opening the door and getting another whiff was already in good hands. Slipping back into more darkness, he ran forward, his sword prepared for anything, incase something attacked them while they were onward.

"Link, crouch and cover!" Navi screamed when they entered the next room (which was exactly just another hallway that led to the next room), yet when he crouched down on his knees, pushing the shield against something, the impact pushed him back a few feet. Getting adjusted to the dim light, the candles were burning out in the top left and right corners of the room, the boy looked over to see what looked like a skull, this thing wearing some black wings around its head. The giant skull was gnashing its teeth at no one in particular, laying upon its back and trying to get those red eyes to look at Link, whom simply walked up to it, smashing the skull in. A pillar of smoke appeared, puffing the small creature to ashes, his fairie flying up to him with the information stored in her data bank.

"Called a Blue Bubble."

"But it's just a skull."

"It had a blue aura around it earlier, but when you blocked it you exploited its weakness, that when touched the barrier disappears, if it is on, you can't do damage to it, you see."

"Ah, I see, so I had better watch out for those little runts, they could run right into my shin." Navi huffed at the remark of something bigger than her being a runt, the boy walking the rest of the dim corridor with nervousness raised on his face, the shield not raised as high. Exploring the dark so much, as if to get on his hands and knees, the boy followed the trail of the Bubble, making sure that nothing else would surprise him. There seemed to be nothing else, the carcass of the old enemy wasn't getting back up, either, so he decided to stand back up for the time. When at last it was safe that nothing else was in here, for the Blue Bubble made a barking sound, as if it was a dog's skull or something, the boy rested against the door with hand on knob. Nodding to the fairie, preparing his sword since they knew this couldn't have been a hall, the shield was infront of him when he jumped forward into the first room of the Forest Temple.

A fierce roaring sound entered his sound waves as he stepped in, standing in another octagonal room, this one seeming to consist of nothing but four pots at each corner or so. There was another surprise, indeed, for when he took a step forward, something fell form the sky, maybe a higher room, but something did indeed crash to the ground infront of him. Spinning around in a panic, the room seemed to get brighter, probably the works of the Poe, and which gave the entire room a burst of light, letting him see just what was infront of him. Curled in a ball, the creature began to unchain itself from whatever it was in, the chains breaking with easy power given to it, the monster spinning towards prey.

"A…a Redead?"

"Nope, those are zombies, this is something else!"

Reminds me of the Stalchildren. The boy looked up at the monster that measured in for a full six feet, the size of a regular human, yet this was no human at all, for there was no skin, flesh or muscle on it. A pure white skeleton, it was, dressed in some armour on its shoulder blades, while the matching metal aligned with red metal was on the shield it held in its right hand. Deep piercing red eyes were staring at him, the droopy little cap was assigned on its head as some stupid little amount of protection, only the size of Link's fist, yet it was more than his hat. Where the monster's waist was, seemed to be a ragged pair of shorts, since cut up when its time through the great beyond, the matching socks were down there too. Well, iron boots were upon its feet, seeming to give it a slower look than more warriors, a big disadvantage do when against the Hero of Time.

"Stalfos, the grownup version of Stalchildren, that must be why they aren't in Hyrule Field anymore, Ganondorf has corrupted the souls and turned them into warriors, skilled ones, also. Be careful against them, Link, they don't seem to have a weak-spot, except that they do have honour and won't attack you in packs, it is against their code."

A stupid soldier, Eh? He smirked a little, nodding at Navi's warnings, when the thing with the sword, a jagged red sword that was several times larger than the Master Sword was coming at him. His own sword rose in the air, the evil's bane blocking that stupid sword back into the owner's hand and baffling the monster, whom didn't seem mad, but interested. A sword fight was what it wanted, after so much search, so why not give the monster something to have some fun about, so the shield went back behind his back, the monster throwing his aside. Smiling towards the monster, he nodded, flipping back away from the monster, moving against a wall, so he easily repelled off in a tornado fashion.

Buckle-slashes were all right with Link, just not as good as winning, so the monster was quite surprised and defenseless when the Master Sword (and Link) came crashing through the rib-cage of the Stalfos, the monster falling to pieces in a matter of seconds. Before the creature could rebuild itself, which he heard skeletons could, he smashed the Stalfos' head with his sword, the jewel glowing when he did so, not even noticing. Shrugging a small shoulder at the applauding Navi, he took himself a bow, taking out his own shield and preparing it, in case anything else decided to join.

"How did you get it to do that!" Navi flew up to the boy, her eyes glistening with amazement, the veil since off from the incident with the Wolvos. Yes, she was all right now, just keeping the veil on for now seemed kind of pointless, only monsters around to see her anyway, and they were gonna die! Peering at the remains of the monster, which seemed to disappear into dust of bones, just like old bones would after being dismembered. Seeing this, she just stood in amazement at how the boy got the monster to throw down the shield, which it could have easily blocked Link's torpedo attack and gone ahead and slashed him in mid-air. It was some sort of warrior's code that they were doing, Link cheated and won the battle, but he wasn't a knight anyway, he was a hero.

"I told him a real sword-play…not told, but put my shield up to show it. These guys used to be old Hylian guards, I guessed and that means they are from Ganondorf, died that way, at least some, so they were very honored to find a true swordsman, kind of stupid it you ask me, yet it was a good plan." He just smiled a little, looking over at the admiring Navi with a sort of gushing feeling coming out of her, liking how this hero thing went when you won, or did something cool. Cheers were knocked aside when another thump hit, next to where the previous one was, this time it a bit heavier, the chains snapping off in more directions at a more frantic speed. Spinning around with the already weapons adjusted, he saw the Stalfos was looking at him, this one obviously a husky man, where the other one was just a normal man. Carrying the same armour and sword, it let out a roar, pointing for it to join him, yet that wasn't what made him come, he had another one of those keys around his neck, just like the Wolvo.

"Wanna fight?"

The monster seemed to understand, or at least get the message form the way Link's words rung out in a sort of determined manner, one that just couldn't be broken. So, yes the thing roared with excitement, slamming its sword down into the ground, before yanking it up, this time catching a small worm by the spine. Sticking the meal into its mouth, the boy looked away as it chewed the thing up and spit it out a few seconds later, the remains crawling back into the dirt. Shivering at this act of manners, the boy looked over at the monster, his shield raised into the air, the sword drawing low for an attack at the rear, the monster seeming to understand and went for the movement as well.

You'd think that was Link's plan, but it wasn't for as soon as the thing came up to block the upper region where Link was supposed to strike. The cunning hero threw the shield in that direction disgruntling the fellow, giving Link an area for the head, which he took and in one quick slash, his blade went into the monster's head. Now in pure pain and fury, he threw the boy aside; grabbing onto its head, yanking the sword out and throwing it into the metal wall, yet it was too late to do a thing. Already too late was faster than expected, because the monster spread into a blue fire, all the bones disappearing from the scene (along with the other warrior's) the remains no where to be found. Yet the key did appear there, with a hook ready for him to pick up and secure on the link, having two of them now in his collection.

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Link did claim the key of the monster's now; clinking it upon the necklace to add two keys to his collection now and with glee the young boy left the lonely room. Before leaving, the boy checked the pots on the sides, to make sure that there weren't anything that he may have needed for the room. Smashing each pot, he came up with a small little magic pot, two heart containers and a few bombs, stashing each one in a slot he had established was easily done. With that part done, the young boy kept his hands at his sides, blowing a sigh out, maybe of compassion for the young warriors, whomever they were. They now were resting in peace in heaven, they were with the Three Gods and not in the reign of hell, not having to deal with this torture.

"You ready?" Navi spoke, fluttering near his face.

"Mmhm, let's do it." Turning his eyes away from the area, the young boy did leave the place entering back in the hall he had dubbed the name 'The Great Hall.' In the Great Hall he decided to go to the nearest place to his right, the block which he had seen in the old grave-keeper's hall, one that could be moved with a song. Making his way fully over to it, sliding down the stairs in a swift motion, he couldn't help but shrug a shoulder at this dungeon, it didn't seem to be hard. Nope, it sure wasn't as he entered the hall where the block was, nothing there was something in the way of the block, another insignia of the block, an equal's sign was on there. Shrugging a small shoulder, he was interrupted by the fairie, whom pondered a question.

"Link, what is this block?"

"Saw it where I got the Hookshot, it is a sacred block that goes with a song."

"A song?" She whispered, as if it was secret.

"Yup, now watch." Pulling the Ocarina of Time out of his pocket, since this was a magical song, the boy began to blow out the Song of Time into it, the chiming melody causing a blue light to emit from the block, yet it didn't disappear. Goddess, it wasn't like last time, the boy wandering out of the room, remembering the equal's sign and trying to make some sense of it. What could that sign have meant, maybe it meant that he had to do two things at once or play the song again at another pace. Well, it was weird, yet when he turned back in the Great Hall, he looked to his left, seeing that the block was in another place: on the left this time.

"N-navi it's on the left also, now!"

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"No, when I did it in the graveyard the thing disappeared out of thin air, but there is an equals sign now."

"On the block, oh I did see that. There is this new block, so maybe we should play the Song of Time on the second one also, that might make them both disappear and show us a door?" Link let out a sigh of relief, pushing his fairie towards her and kissing her forehead for a reason of a thank-you for clearing his mind. Smiling, he raced over towards the other block with the ocarina at hand, stopping right before it with his instrument in hand and a nod at the song. Having mastered the Song of Time was good, for he wasn't a master of the ocarina yet, but he was getting there, only messing up once more this time, playing it once more. When the tune was played again, this block disappeared, but there was no door behind it, no door was behind it at all, well maybe the other one?

Navi was way ahead of him, fluttering over when he played the tune, seeing that they disappeared, she went to the other block that was covered with no door. A gasp of confusion hit her voice, causing the boy to turn around in frustration, racing for the middle of the Great Hall, right in between the block-holders. The middle he was still in when he turned towards his fairie, looking at her with eyes ajar, those eyes glancing in all directions for something. Nothing was coming; nothing was going to happen, they just wasted the few precious minutes that they could have spent searching. Not that it was their fault, searching behind the blocks was so impossible, and falling to his knees, the boy slammed his gauntlets fist into the ground.

"Link…it's not your fault, it was worth a try, I mean, I didn't even know what those stupid things were for." He nodded along with her, he knew this, he knew that it wasn't anyone's fault, but who the hell were they to blame, then? Just as he sat there with his hands open, something fell from the top, the boy feeling the clinking in his hand, turning towards it and gasping out loud. Blinking at what was in his hand, he let out a small little scream of joy, jolting Navi's attention towards him, eyes ajar also.

"Navi, look!" A key was standing there, plain as day in the reason where his hand had been, looking up to catch the blur of something, whatever had dropped the key. Link had an idea that it was, and as he got up, looking at Navi and showing her the key, he said his own silent thanks to the Shiekah.

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Heading for the right, not the near right, but the right way that was secured with a lock, the young boy took the recent key he had just received, sticking it in the lock. The lock was wrapped around the entire door, with a giant lock sticking in the middle, so finding the lock wasn't one of the hardest things. As it sank inside of the hole, the metal upon the door disappeared, sucking the key from the boy's fingers as it melted away into nothing. Looking at his fairie, the boy shrugged a shoulder and grabbed upon the knob, seeing that it wasn't hot at all, given the fiery temperatures and the circumstances. Pulling the door all the way open, he peered inside of the next room, seeing no hall at all, which meant no more nasty Blue Bubbles to deal with.

Navi was at his side as they explored the room, seemingly empty from the beginning; it seemed to move up to a second floor, the first part of the floor very bare. As they walked into the center of the bare floor, she floated around and started to explore finding that just ahead was sort of a maze, where there were arrows all around. Following the arrows, the yellow ones painted upon the ground, she ran into a giant block, squeezing behind it and continuing onto it until she saw that there was a slot for it to be pushed into. Having the same sign as the blocks in the dungeons, she thought that if punched it would move automatically, so this was some sort of block maze. Fluttering back towards her partner, she discovered that to get the block in the deep slot he had to move around the area, some areas were covered with walls, so that they had to maneuver past them.

Before she turned back, she followed the area up all the way, finding another block maze where the block was blue now, before it had been a maroon colour. Yes, and above that was even another floor, this one wasn't a block maze, but she saw some Blue Bubbles (two of them) guarding a locked door. Blue Bubbles were a problem when they were in pairs, not at all like the skeleton-warriors, they would attack him if he were to take one out. Since the door was locked she couldn't go on anymore and flew back down towards the ground, heading back to him now. Moving back to Link now, she could hardly contain the information she had burst down inside of her, the information that would be valuable.

"Navi, where were you? I turned around and you disappeared!"

"Ah, well I was exploring. Anyway, the place up ahead is like a block maze, you have to push the blocks following the letters and then you have to go around another way. Push it another way until it slides into a slot, then you climb a level and find the similar block and another maze. When that is over I found that there is a door on the third floor, this one guarded by two Blue Bubbles, we might be able to take them out if we work together." Taking a deep breath before, she had to catch it, spilling out all that information, watching the boy's eyes light up again.

"Man, you are good, don't know where I'd be without you."

"…Lost, that's where."

Chuckling a little, he shrugged a simple shoulder and took off for the entrance, making his way into the deep maze, while she was ahead of him, guiding him. The maze wasn't that hard to figure out, especially with all the arrows to help him out, the place not really wanting him to fail at this, it seemed. Well, he punched the rock with the crescent moon one time and it slid ahead until it reached the end of the area, stopping before it smashed. Leaning upon the maroon rock, viewing the black letters of the moon and other insignias, he couldn't help but feel how easy this was. Viewing this, he was looking around for somewhere to go, finding that each passage had another place to slide through and find a new way through here.

Slipping through a few more passageways, he found the other sides of the rock, slamming his fist into the middle, loving the painless feel as a mechanized whirl began to go off. The thing pushing back until it stopped yet sunk down a few feet before it stopped completely, giving off the feeling that it had sunk in the hole. Running the few feet to the hole, his fairie was letting out some nods and remarks of joy as he reached the end of the run and stared up. Standing onto of the brick gave him room to jump the few feet, hands latching onto the stone ground and yank himself up to another area. This time he walked a few minutes more, the arrows reappearing in the same colour and another block of the blue colour was replacing the red one.

"Mm, and after this the Blue Bubbles?"

"Yup, and then there is a locked door so you can use your second key and we can see what happens."

Giving a wink of approval, the boy slammed his fist down into the area again, this time it slid another distance, the room flipped in a way. It was turned around to confuse the person, yet he just followed the same path as before, in another direction and ended up at the other end of the block. Punching it once more, it slid again and slumped down as it sunk in, Link's own mind going off in pleasure, he had done it with his own thinking. Leaning over the block, he sat upon it, catching his breath from the while he had gone off, it had been a while since he had taken a break. Leaning on the block, sensing the Bubbles weren't gonna go after him, the boy reached for his satchel, pulling the canteen and a few salted crackers out, beginning to munch upon them.

"A break….Link, you are lazy." That didn't stop her from gulping down some water and grabbing a single cracker, beginning to munch on it.

"I know this sounds cruel, but Saria is their bargaining chip and they won't harm her, besides if I am out of energy when I reach the exit, then I won't stand a chance against the spirit of the Forest Temple."

"You have a point there." She remained quiet for a little bit, not wanting to talk about anything, there were a few things like the deaths of their fellow races and the kidnapping thing to speak of. No, she didn't want to depress the boy anymore, he had that entire burden on his shoulders, they didn't expect anything out of her, but they did Link. If they didn't, no one would be relying on him, hell no one even knew of him yet, he would get famous among the Kokiiri and whatever races he were to save next, if any. She gulped down the rest of her cracker, not beating Link, but eating a lot for her size, washing it down with the water, glad they got some supplies earlier. In Lon Lon was when they got them, well and Link picked up some meat from the town of Kakariko when he visited there to get his weapon.

Speaking of the meats, he just happened to pull them out at this moment, making himself a sandwich with a slice of meat, some crackers in-between. "Link, stop being so selfish! Gimme some!" She grabbed a slice from him, getting only a little bit, yet gulping it down with the crackers, while Link spilt the crackers down on his shirt, eating it all together. With the meal finished, the boy reached inside of his satchel and yanked out an apple, cutting a large slice off for the fairie, handing it to her while he ate all the rest of it. Within a few minutes the boy was finished with the fruit, sitting the core down, before throwing it off to the side, leaning against the wall and watching her.

"Littering? This is a sacred temple."

"Navi…don't start, or I think I might nap…" He shrugged a shoulder, just a gesturing look on his face, as she finished her meal and rested on her shoulder, a little too full to fly. Scraping the scraps aside, the boy picked up the satchel, strapping it back around his side now, where it had remained all this time. All through his journey he carried all his weapons that were for handy use in the side pack that was strapped to his waist while now in the satchel he carried his supplies to be survive. Y'know, the materials to sleep, eat, wash himself off, and just the places to make camp inside, yet now was not the time to be fooling along. Link had only been in this place for less than an hour, maybe going on an hour, but already he felt the chills of the place, detesting it.

Securing the pack on his waist, the boy climbed back up the final entrance, taking a glance around to find out that the maze wasn't there at all. Nope, there was no maze on the third and final floor of this place, there was nothing to do here, and he was secure with walking around and fighting the Blue Bubbles. The enemies were why he wanted to rest for at least ten minutes, in this condition he was too full to fight now, too full to wield around a sword and crouching down, he watched them. Fighting was out of the question, so he just slipped the key off of his neck and looked around, watching the enemies run around. The Bubbles were around the door, they seemed to be asleep of some kind, no they didn't, and they were just drifting off after a while.

"Now we wait, we could have rested back on the thing, but now we wait in crouch."

"Oh, be quiet, I didn't know we would be too full to fight."

A few minutes passed, the things jolting awake when Link threw a single stone out in the right direction, hitting the thing on the head. The right Blue Bubble took off in the right direction, barking out loud, awakening its mate when the thing took off, the other monster following it. Keeping in a crouch, the fairie hiding in his hat so not to be left before, the boy began to crouch and walk, keeping the sounds at a minimum. When he was at the door, a small three stairs down, the boy tripped forward and slammed down against the wall, averting them to him now. Gnashing jaws began to rush at him, the boy grabbing the handle as the key sank in and the locks began to melt, hearing the barking getting louder.

When it finally happened, he felt something sink into his thigh, giving out a scream of pain and jumping into the next hall, slamming the door shut behind him. Navi came out of the hat when it was shut, the boy falling upon the ground, inspecting the carpet that he fell on, a long hall that had no enemies at all, looking sort of like a palace. Watching for any enemies, he saw none, staring down at his leg and growling in frustration, the area where his calf was bleeding a little, anything taken out. He was bit by one of those bastards, them not taking a chunk out (Thank Goddess) but hurting him for the time being, making him lean against a wall. Pulling out his heart container, the only one that he had, the other one had gotten lost somehow, he sprayed it on the wound, causing the pain not to heal or go away, yet causing him to be able to walk for at least a little while.

"In thirty minutes that thing will start hurting, we had better hurry up, Link." Navi was concerned, but before she had the time to do anything, he did it himself, ripping some of his tunic off and tying it around the wound.

"We have to hurry, Navi, I do want to finish this before the wound starts aching."

"Of course, let's hurry on." It was beautiful; the room was something out of a grand ball, what he imagined the Hyrule Castle would look like today, if Ganon's plan weren't in motion. Shivering at the thought of the man, he continued to run down the hall, not concerned with his own well being, or his health, he just ran on until they entered another room. Yes, another room was here, him retiring of this room, yet sort of happy because there was a treasure chest in this room, the chest right in his way. Only problem was that the chest was upside down, in a way, it seemed he wasn't going to get it, so he sulked for a few seconds, looking around.

It was just a plain stone room, with tan stones all around, three pillars to hop across until you reached the final one that led into another room. The room was eerie, so silent with a ladder that was connected on the side of the wall, making him feel he was in a crazy world or something. Peeking forward, the boy kept his distance, afraid to fall off of the edge of the platform, it was quite a long drop down there, not that easy to get back up. Throwing his hands in the air, his mind was blank for a few more seconds, remembering the Hookshot, the Hookshot maybe able to do it. With some aiming, he could get the chest, this chest a different colour than the others, it was entirely gold with blue brimming on the sides, giving it a royalty look.

"Navi, could we hook that chest? Navi?" Turning towards her, he saw that no one was there, and glanced in all the directions, finally hearing a clinking sound, turning up towards the chest and seeing Navi. There she was, blasting the chest with one of her energy balls, opening the chest and getting whatever was inside of it, keeping him safe. There was a possibility that if he linked to it, he might not grab the thing and go tumbling down more than a seven feet drop, or get dizzy and fall. This didn't seem to affect her as she went inside the large box, blowing the hatch off so that she didn't have to lift it up, since it was too heavy. On her way back, she threw the thing at him, examining the key; it was sort of like the others, except in a solid gold colour, the shape of a bull's head with a ruby placed in the center.

"Wow, you did it!"

"Hee, I saw you reaching for the hookshot, we can't waste anymore time, we have to finish this." She was cut off, as he took her into an embrace, the heavy key linked on the necklace just like the remaining silver key was. Not wasting any time, the boy leapt on the second platform, scaling the second one and stomping on the last one, running down into the darkness. Scaling out into another carpeted room, the boy ran into more trouble, the Blue Bubbles were packing, only one, yet this one was wearing a green aura. Having no time for them, Navi blasted the thing in the head, taking off past it and slipping the last key inside of the lock, watching it melt. This time he got out before he was bitten, luckily saving himself the trouble of having more pain, the newest room was something different.

No enemies around, only a staircase he roamed up with quick fashion, with on top of that he saw a few paintings of the ghosts as he passed through. Paying no heed to them as he came across another staircase and another one of those paintings, making that three in all of the same stupid pictures. Disgust flowed through him, passing the picture of the orange Poe, a small giggle entering his field of vision; paying no heed and dashing up the stairs. He didn't want to mess with the Poe if it was behind him, spinning around when he got to the top, seeing nothing that was threatening. Where the door was, unlocked, he pushed himself inside of it, finding himself in a new room that seemed all the more familiar than before.

"Octagon? Oh, no!" Prayers were almost answered now, as in the center of the room was a plain solid hole, the blackness not a familiar thing, until the slot slid up like an elevator. Two Stalfos were onto it, not chained up at all, but staring down at him with those bleeding red eyes, glancing up at him now. He didn't know if those were the some ones, hating the fact of wasting even more time, the pain would run out soon, he needed to take care of them seen. No need for games now, the boy turned to his fairy, making a signal with his hands, bursting flames, the girl looked at him for a few seconds, nodding quickly. A fire was in their eyes, so they wanted a fire, well he was going to give them the fire of their lives, or afterlives in this case.

"Din's fire, eh?" Navi commented as he got in position.

"Of course, let's burn them all." Two was too much, even if they did have the so-called honour, something he just didn't care for as long as he won, so what better way. Bone is so brittle that it will burn, he thought as he flipped onto the platform they came up on, waiting until the noticed and started to close in. "Too late, time for hell!" Rubbing his hands together in a beautiful manner, the boy called upon the powers of Din to guide him, the powers that went through his hands. Slamming those into the ground, the gloves on him heated up, never burning up, yet the fire spread in all the directions (Navi glad she was right by Link now.) The bones of them never stood a chance, for they erupted in red flames, making the blue seem almost nice, the long screams disappearing once he was through with it.

His pyromaniac sense was gone; the boy blowing a breath from the draining of magic disappeared from his body, making him all the more a little weaker. Looking around the area, he felt something drop, jumping out of the way as a chest came from above, something that fell out of no where. Both ways he examined incase it was a trap, seeing nothing was in the way, then he kicked the large chest open all the way, staring inside of it, his hands incasing something. As it incased the picture, he pulled out a long bow that was made of wood, with the ends of it painted a bright red. In the center of the bow was a small blue markings, the string made of a strong material, looking unbreakable from the looks of it, and also inside was a quiver and arrows.

"The fairie bow, Link! You can kill the Poes with that."

"P-Poes! I remember, the painting, they were hiding in the paintings, that is why I heard the laugh!"

"Wow, if you are right, you have to shoot the painting, it'll extract the Poe from there." Grabbing the quiver of thirty arrows for him, she went and connected it right at his side, strapped down inside the side pack so he could get to an arrow easily. When that was done, she handed the bow to him, letting him test it out, without an arrow at first, and then shooting an arrow, the aim being pretty much good. Retrieving the arrow, the boy ran back in the room he came from, forgetting the pain and worrying more about the Poe that he had encountered before. Yes, back in that room he would find that stupid ghost, take care of it with the new weapon, take the other three down and would be able to take the boss out. Man, thirty minutes was going have to go by very slow!

Into the next room gave him a few surprises, like the fact that there were two different Poes in the paintings, the red one and the blue one were sitting in a painting together. Hiding behind a corner, the boy jumped across, the arrow prepared and shot one right into the head of the painting, the Poes hoping out of the picture in disgrace. The monsters were awfully angry with the boy, charging at him with their fangs bared. Link jumped back from them, aiming an arrow and firing down at one of the Poe's drowning it down in the eye, dodging the other one that jumped at him. Blue Poe was shot right in the face, crying out in terror and beginning to run around, while Link shot it back into the head once more, this time it slowing down.

"Get the other one, Link, I can get it." So slow now, Navi had no problem shooting a charged up Ki ball at the blue Poe, it crying out in pain before collapsing on the ground. Yet it wasn't dead yet, for it was still in physical form, so she shot a super-charged arrow at the ghost now, this one going through its body and sending the ashes flying. Spinning around to her partner, she saw that he already had three arrows into the slowing down red Poe, the thing beginning to sulk as he fired the last arrow. This one didn't stick like the other ones had, this one seemed to go right through it, the thing falling to the ground and receiving a final blow. The blow was when Navi had been charging up right when Link fired the fourth shot, the ball of Ki going through it and turning it to ashes.

"Teamwork!" Link spun around, grabbing his fairie and giving a V for victory sign, his fairie doing the same.

Letting her go he looked at the torches they were carrying, disappointed that they had gone out when they had died, but nevertheless he gathered them up and stuck them inside of his satchel. Keeping them meant they might fire up whenever he had all four of them together, which meant getting the entrance to the final area. Slipping back up the stairs and running through once again, the boy found that the room across from where he got the Fairy Bow was empty (yet he did down another heart container, giving him forty-five minutes as of now.) With that in tow, he scaled the familiar room; he was a replica of the room he fought the Poes in, except there were no painting. Moving past that part, he found another one of those doors, this one also unlocked and gave it a tug, moving through this one.

"It's like the place is remodeled after itself, Navi."

"Yea, another stone room." Indeed it was a matching stone room, a few modifications like there was a hole in the ground, no way out of the place except down and there were no pillars to climb down from. Sliding down, the boy made his way to the ground, inspecting the hole, before he pulled his shield off, stepping upon it and falling down the necessary feet. Sort of stupid to do, but when he landed back on his feet, with any scratches and a perfect shield, it exactly wasn't a very bad move either. The room around him now was larger than ever, sort of reminding him of a chess table, the colours matching exactly to the endeavor.

"Mm, the place must be some sort of puzzle also, eh, Navi?"

"I dunno Link, but--" Her words were cut off when the ceiling they were a few feet away from collapsed into the ground, only a few holes were blocked out as if something would be safe from there. Turning towards Link, he was on the ground, holding his heart as if he had had a heart attack, grasping out in precious breaths. Pushing back up, he looked at the land as it came back up, falling back down every two minutes or so, which gave him just enough time. With the time on the line he waited until it first raised up, making a jump-start forward and running up until the land came crashing down, stopping right infront of a treasure chest. The chest had reminded him that it hadn't been squashed so when the area came down, he was right there, secure as a hole was, not minding at all the area, Navi panting to catch up.

"T-that was stupid Link, Goddess you could have been killed!"

"I know, but there is no other way around." Peeking into the chest, he pulled out seven arrows, just enough to fill his quiver back up to thirty.

"Just be careful this time, head for the door now, there is nothing else of interest now." When she finished her sentence, she zipped under his hat as the floor raised itself, the timer counting back down as he dashed across for the two minutes. Time had given itself up when a dodge was thrown forward, grabbing the handle of the door and pushing himself up against it, slamming face-first into it. Wow, it was a lucky throw, that was for sure, the time had been on his side this time, keeping with the good and thanking Farore that she decided to spare him. Yes, the way he went just barely saved himself, he could have just shot the Hookshot and avoided the pain, yet it was safer to jump instead of wasting seconds doing that. His fairie was none to happy with what he did, not scolding him, just having the hurt look in her eyes, like she expected that not to happen.

"Wasn't my--" he began.

"I know…come on."

Throwing his arms up in defeat, the boy followed the trail through the door, coming to another one of those familiar hallways, following it through until another door came through. Link was struck with an eerie feeling, the same he felt around the paintings, but right before the door so it was sort of a reminder. Pushing the door open, the boy came into a similar room as the ceiling one, except the floor didn't fall and there were five large blocks right infront of them. The blocks each stood about seven feet, each seeming to fit together when pushed together, except the one that was completely black. What was even more funny was that when he shut the door, a timer sounded out of no where, knowing what his next alternative was.

"Put the puzzle together?"

"Yea, I'll fly up and make sure you put it together." Navi muttered out, fluttering up to the top and looking at the pieces as Link punched the middle of the black one, sending it slamming up against the wall. When that one was out of the way, he looked over to her, the girl's mind racing, as the thing seemed to make up a picture of something. It was green with a black face, whatever it was, just too unclear at this minute, they had to connect it together, and as the puzzle was put it wouldn't be too difficult. Whatever it was, it seemed all too familiar and with the jolt that Link had felt, Navi feeling it too, yet keeping it to herself, it was hard to deny it might be a Poe. Thinking with her brain on the fritz, the girl pointed over at the farthest right block, pointing for him to leave it alone, making a fist open-palm at him.

"What?" He scratched his head; the signal wasn't a stop sign.

"Leave that one alone, push the one across from it against that one, pull the one right under it right near it and the one on the far right you just push up."

After some explanations, very confusing and seeming right down possible at first, yet with some heavy instructing and the stupid timer getting even faster, he did it. It was easy the second time she explained it, the second time she explained it vocally, so he was able to slide it in with no problems. Sliding the final block against it, from above his fairie called down to him in an excited, bewildered and frightened little voice. "It's a Poe!" A Poe, that seems sort of strange, his thoughts rushed onward, as the blocks began to slide down into the ground until they disappeared. When they were gone, the young boy had a feeling what was coming, the bow aimed up at the area right where the center of the puzzle had been.

A shrieking laughter came out of the puzzle, smoke brisling where it was, then a portal appearing where another one of those sisters came out, green torch held in its hand. The Green Poe was staring at him with those white, pupil-less eyes, just a grinning from under the hood, Link knew in his mind she was. Maybe it was a sense, maybe some sort of power he had picked up, or the sensual aroma he picked up from them, yet there was no denying the gender. Yes, this Poe and the other two had been girls, he didn't know how he could tell, and they just looked a little more feminine looking, if anything. The bow was aimed right for the head, wasting no time since it was shrinking each second after second, so he fired a shot right at the head.

"Navi, that's a girl Poe, right."

"I think so--don't tell me you have something against fighting girls?"

"Ha! Not a thing!" If they took Saria the thing would pay, even if it were a hermaphrodite, there was nothing to escape the wrath of the Hero of Time. Arrows flew from the quiver as he let out two more into the monster's head, she screaming out in pain and fury, trying to come at him with the green torch. The torch was coming right at him, as he dodged out of the way, holding onto the bow and arrow for all his might, knowing if he lost it that it was all over. That didn't save her, for as soon as she got close, he shot an arrow clean at the torch, knocking it aside as it went out on its own. Cursing his luck, another one was going out, the boy was aiming one right for the head when a familiar beam penetrated the Poe's head, a beam of energy.

"Navi?" He turned around, seeing she was smoking a little, her hands held up and taking deep breaths.

"Hm?" A grin came upon her face, shrugging a small shoulder at him. "You get to have the pleasure of destroying these wicked ghosts? I don't think so, besides you waste arrows doing that, if you just hit them with two I can kill them with a might charged up blast."

"It's draining you, I might need you if my leg goes out."

"All right, we have one more left, so you can take her." Scooping up the unlit torch, he threw it at the boy, who caught it in the middle of the air, sticking it in the satchel with the others, praying they re-lit. If they didn't, they would have to bust a hole in the floor, which his bombs didn't seem to be able to do they; they only blew weakened walls. Now he did not have the tools for that, his magic may have been strong enough, but with only a weak little magic-pot left, he needed to conserve all the energy he wanted. Speaking of which, he grabbed the pot from his pouch and slipped it down his throat, hating the bitter feeling of it, yet liking the idea of him being more empowered. Shutting the satchel back, the young boy ran out of the room, towards what was next and what was beyond that totally surprised him.

"Link, the Grand Hall!"

"You call it that, too?" Surprised as he was, the boy stared forward, as if almost expecting them to come back here, that other door had been sealed by bars, so it must of led to the other room.

"Wait, where in Hyrule is the fourth sister?"

"Right here, hee!" The giggles surprised the both of them, having no childish feel to them, they weren't how the Kokiiri giggled, and it was an evil sort of laugh. A kind that made you feel the back of your stomach turn over, the kind that that made you forget anything and just look away in horror. The only problem was that there was no where to look away from, the voice had come from right above of them, so when they looked over there they saw nothing. It could possibly have been a trap to divert their attention away; she was probably the oldest of the sisters, yet it was too late for they had looked into the area. Traps were set, the bait pulled and when he looked over there, as his eyes slid down to stare somewhere else, a burning sensation hit him in the stomach area.

"Link, watch out!" It was too late, the sensation got hotter and hotter, and then a pressure pushed up against him, throwing him into the air, sliding through until something hard broke his fell. One of the lanterns he was supposed to light had broken his fall, the satchel falling open, all three of the monster's dead siblings lanterns falling out. With eyes a bit blurry, he stared ahead at the monster, the Poe of purple colour, her hands extended as the three torches appeared at her sides. When they were near the monster, the boy's eyes widening as her own torch went out, the three connected together and seemed to form a larger torch, this one a purple fire burning brightly. What's worse was that the thing was aimed at him, seeming to take on the feel of a gun because a handle had appeared on the side, a trigger hanging for her to pull at.

"Oh, Goddess, Navi, what is that?"

"Don't block, dodge now!" The boy couldn't, though; he seemed to be locked to the ground, as if in some sort of Paralysis State, pulling at his feet with no avail. Gasping out, the fire began to come towards him as Meg pulled the trigger, her voice screaming out in a sudden shrill of noises, the boy's ears beginning to bleed. Grabbing his hands, which were still in use, the young boy reached for the Master Sword, knowing he couldn't swing or deflect, but tried to never the less. Fires of purple burst out into more flames, the purple on the outside while yellow, orange and green swirled on the inside, showing the combined powers of the sisters. There he sat, the sword beginning to meditate with a colour he hadn't seen, those eyes widened a little, the slash of his was not going to do it. He was inside of a Farore Temple, the Hero of Time could improvise on this place, and it just had to be full of special powers of the Goddesses.

That was when Navi appeared infront of him, pulling her barrier and stretching it out, yes she was going to save him with her own powers, or die in the process. Her plans were interrupted when he smacked her with the hilt of the Master Sword, shaking his head in disgust, slamming the end of the blade into the ground. There was no way he was going to let his fairie die, the hurt shown in her eyes, as he pointed the sword at her, winking a little. No, he wouldn't die now, he had himself a plan, a plan that would work, and he had summoned Naryu before, now it was Farore's turn. With the powers of Farore had to be saturating into the ground, the boy's voice began to rise out of his voice, in harsh words indeed.

"From the Power of the Goddess of my home, with the power of the sun of Din, I call upon thee!" Raising the legendary sword into the air, the glow from before had been just an invisible aura, yet now it was illuminating a bright green. The green mixed in with the red, the red in the center while a wind surrounded the green aura, giving it a feel that it was indeed from the Goddess Din and Naryu, the center seeming to burn at the sword. Reaching the sword forward, the boy let out his sword, swinging a beautiful swing, yet not letting it go he just held the sword, pushing against it. While pushing, the sword gave some new light, streaming its own (and his) magic power into the shot, boosting the power up. Yes, with that power up, the fire went against the powers and even if it was four against four, we spoke of two Goddesses, the Hero of Time and a sword.

Navi watched, transfixed in amazement at the power of this, the majesty of the powers of red for fire, green for the forest, the yellow for the sword of evil's bane and a light white for Link's. Powers were strong, yet it seemed that the Poe's were winning, even though they were only ghost, they were backed by the evil Ganondorf's power. Ganondorf wasn't here at all, yet his presence was well deep within the ghost, them pushed at its limits out and never able to achieve this power in the normal state. This probably wasn't the full power of the Gods, he wasn't able to withstand all that, and needed some help or the powers would engulf them. Backing up right infront of her partner, surrounding herself inside of the powers of them, the good powers so that she was unharmed, the girl let out a scream before transferring her own powers to that of his, mixing in with the others.

Doing that boosted up the power, a line of blue mixed in with his own powers, somehow the little fairie had just enough juice, maybe the power of love had something to do with it. Whatever the case, the light of white began to grow larger, engulfing the yellow light, then moving and grabbing a hold of the Din and Farore. With all of that absorbed into the white light, it maneuvered inside of the Master Sword, signaling inside of the yellow jewel (that had turned white now.) Aiming the sword out all the way, the boy let out a scream of power, yanking back and slashing the air, as he slashed a giant wind-curve coming out and absorbing all of the Poe's powers. Screams of pain hit his ears, more powerful than her shrieks from before, the other shrieks of the souls being absorbed in the white light.

Emitting light began to disappear, the powers returning back to their owners, and the light of the Gods going back inside of the sword, maybe where it came from. Finally ashes from the Poe named Meg disappeared, beginning to slide all around, four torches were unlit now, them beginning to glow. Almost reaching for the torch, Navi patted his shoulder with her hand, already sitting on it from all the loss of energy, it was returning, just little by little. Before Link could grab onto them without her permission, they all drifted up into the air, moving over to a special torch and going inside the larger torch, lighting the shape with the designated colour. A giant screech caused Link to spin around, the unsheathed sword ready for what was next, but nothing was coming, the only thing that was there seemed to be the elevator, raising up to its full height and awaiting them.

"N-navi, what was that?" He spoke as they walked towards the elevator, Link had waited a full three minutes when both of them felt back up to power, looking down and counting to himself how much time he had left.

"You have about twenty-five minutes, Link, I think we can do this. I…I don't know what happened, was it like the times from before, you didn't say the phrase." She saw him trying to calculate, they were outside, so there was no way to judge by the sun, but somehow she knew the time.

"N-no, I remember this, I remember it all." It scared him how much power was inside of him, or better yet how much was inside of this little knight's sword, it really was legendary if it was capable of that. Not even keeping it sheathed, he knew they were going to have to face the master of this place soon, the boy stepped onto the elevator watching as if judged by weight, it began to slide down into the next room. They slid about twenty feet down, the room opening up in another octagon shape; so many shapes were the same that he was sickened of it. Carpets were spread in eight different directions, matching in a pattern of red, blue and then back to red. Across each room was blocked, a giant block in the middle that had another sign on it, the same one as on the puzzles and the dungeons before.

"Link, there is a switch at the side." She went over towards it, waiting for him to jump on it, which he ran for it, stomping his foot down on it with some anger sprayed in him. As good as the victory was he never got the chance to pin Meg down and tell him where the hell Saria was, which didn't make her the boss. The boss had to be down here, so when he stomped on the switch, a small mechanical whirling began to go around, the room--no the walls were rotating. Yes, moving in a clock-wise manner, the thing stopped when one hole was open to them, inside the first hole had been a simple hole with the switch. Now before him was a giant door, at least ten feet tall, with a large lock on it, matching the same figurehead as that of the key he found in the golden chest.

"Boss…key?" Link whispered, scared because he knew this was the end, grabbing upon the shiny key, rubbing the jewel in the middle, nervousness was shown.

"Yea, that must be it, the temples use keys because they are so ancient. Which means we are at the end, you have about twenty minutes now, it should be enough."

"W-we've never faced a boss from a temple from before, twenty may not be enough…if…if it isn't, Navi, I want you to promise me something."

"What's that?" His voice was calm, wavering a little as if he were about to cry.

Lowering his head to the ground, no tears dripping, but acting as if they were about to, he whispered. "Get out of here, if it goes out and I am unable to fight, I WANT YOU TO LEAVE!"

Leave? She couldn't believe he was saying that, letting her eyes fall, she grabbed the key around his neck and stuck it down inside of the key. Leaving the chain upon his neck so that they could link it there on the next dungeon, when they beat this monster and went after the newest one. No, she wouldn't leave; she wouldn't leave him if her dear life depended upon it, just like she wanted to sacrifice herself to stop the blast from hitting him. Although she would have to say something to give him confidence, yet she didn't want to lie to him if something did indeed happen. It stuck in just like all the rest, the gold metal disappearing upon the lock, the door not having a knob, but just extending open, like the mouth of a shark, the jaws ready.

"I will leave…when I feel need too."

"When I am dead, don't die needlessly."

"O-okay, Linky, don't worry." I won't ever leave you, she wanted to speak through those lips, her own eyes beginning to water, as she looked over and saw his do the same. Wavering to her, the boy looked up, shaking the tears aside and kissed her upon the lips, pecking them so he didn't get her face. There was love in there, she knew it and he knew it, there was no mistaking it, they did love each other, even if in a different way than most. Her own cheeks flushed as she looked back at him, leaning forward and kissing the lips back, his face stopping the tears and breaking into a chuckle. The chuckle went from that to a laugh, not spreading into a guffaw, but with her confused expression, he wiped the tears away, speaking.

"I love you, I hope you know that. I never say it, because I know it's impossible for us to be together, you get jealous when I am around others. Before now I didn't know why, I thought you were just an over-protective bigger sister or something, but I realize that you love me. I love Saria too, but I don't think we can ever be together either, she maybe older than me physically, but I am not---I am doubting the origin of me, I mean. No, we will talk about this when we get out, because I know we will get out of here." Spinning around at her, that smile plastered on there, the boy nodded to her and tapped the door with the sword, it sliding open and leading into another room.

"You ready to face some evil?"

"Yup." She didn't tell him what she felt, a feeling that she had felt when they were right outside the castle with the three spiritual stone, the feeling back seven years ago. Right when the drawbridge let down, the boy's eyes widening when a steed that they had seen was racing after them, the steed that carried Ganondorf. Whatever this feeling was, she felt that Ganondorf had to be behind that hall waiting for them, not so sure they were ready for him. Why would he be in the first temple, why in Hyrule would he be here when he had the Hyrule Castle all for himself, all ready and waiting? Maybe it was an illusion, maybe a trick of some sort, well she hoped so, yet the sensing she was feeling couldn't be fooled by illusions, and she felt it. As they stepped through that long hall, walking into the new room, her eyes couldn't help look in different directions for the enemy of Ganondorf.

--------------------

"Something is up, they aren't here!" It was true, the enemy was no where to be found, whatever room they had entered was the last one of the bunch, yet no where to go. Peering around the room, which was lined in another octagon, eight paintings on each corner, them of the same scenery at the same time. The picture was of a an old trail, the trail lined with a wooden carriage, horsed pulling it, except those were off to the side, along with a small town. In the center was a long road nothing on each road of the painting, that was duplicated seven times, making the room creepy. Made entirely out of stone, the entire room was like the inside of a castle, nothing around but the paintings, yet surrounding the paintings were sharp, brass ends. Bright red ropes stuck out of the sides of the ends, circling around the entire room, except where he was the area open for him to pass.

"It's weird, Navi, there isn't anyone here."

"Yea, I know and I sensed a presence, I don't feel it any more." Speaking the words, something came up right behind Link, clinking so loud that he spun around, slashing those metal rinks as they rode up, three in a row. These weren't roped together, though, they were pressed against each other so close that he couldn't slip through them and moving over them was crazy. Those spikes on the top of each rink trapped him in this place; afraid they might decide to pop up and hit him like other things he had run into. It was just too risky to jump over, it reminded him of what happened inside the Deku Tree, the black spike and he just couldn't help but shiver there. With all this stuff, the minutes were ticking down, the boy slamming the his boot into the ground, a long and bellowing neigh made the back of his hair stand up.

Cringing for what came next, the damned enemies were always sneaking up on him, and the boy spun around, the sword dropping on the ground when he saw whom it was. Ganondorf was sitting right there; well he was sitting upon his great black steed, the one that they had seen in Lon Lon Ranch a few days ago. That wasn't that surprising, the horse seemed to be wild, mean and would probably take the other horses without their permission. Castrating would be out of Malon's agenda, never wanting to hurt the creature like that, so she would just as soon let it run free in the wild. Link guessed that Malon had let the horse go, Ganondorf had taken the old horse back and really built it back up into its former self, making it a king on the horses.

"Oh, Goddess. Oh, no…Ganondorf!" Navi let out a shriek, hiding on his side, as he shuddered at the though, leaning back up against the railing he had been afraid to jump a few moments ago. That idea didn't seem so bad now, the boy reaching down for his sword, seeing that Ganondorf allowed him to get the sword of his, yet Ganon was armed now. Yes the man was armed with a spear now, a spear that was so much better than what the Monblins and Moriblins carried, their own weapon seeming like a play-toy. At least as long as the horse, the steel end he held it on held no special qualifications, the jewel in the center of the spear was a jewel incased in steel, it was yellow. Something matching the jewel in his Master Sword, the thing curved out into a sai, having three blades held out in the left, right and upward.

The horse was built up different too; the horses hair had been dyed with some berry juice on the mane and the back tail so that it was pure red. Also being covered in armour from the neck all the way down to his tail, the thighs exposed for him to hack at, if need be. Cloths of red hang under the metal armour that the horse wore, and even a helmet was covering the face of horse to prevent a strike to blind it, those orange pupils staring out in evil. Upon his feet were some boots, the boots were made of chain links, the feet covered in a hard metal to improve the kicking ability. A small shield with a small insignia, the symbol that Link found on the carts belonging to Ganondorf, was down on both sides of him, giving the steed a better protection ability than his own master.

"No…no, this isn't Ganondorf, you aren't Ganondorf, stop fooling around and face me, you coward!"

Kid, you aren't ready for me yet. The voice of which Link wanted to see was there, ringing through his ears. Good precision to notice it wasn't me, your little friend noticed that I was here, but she was sensing the steed. Yup, it's the same one from all those years ago. You seem to have grown up, Kokiiri, let's see owe your skills have matched against my phantom. A long chuckle began to scream through the room, turning into a long guffaw of pleasure, the voice disappearing from both of their ears. Checking to see if they both heard it, both nodded and turned back to the man who wasn't Ganondorf, the man pulled off the face of his, actually it was only a mask. Throwing he thing aside, his face was revealed, a sort of skull was there, except it wasn't a skull, it was some sort of mask again with jewels at the top and near the eyes. Maybe it was just the third eye of his, a weird combination, although he had two giant horns sticking out of his head, like bulls.

"Yoooou've gooooot that right, nooooow face me! I am the Evil Spirit from Beyoooond, Phantooom Ganoooon!" Long on the O's, the monster began to levitate into the air, the horse moving around with him, but what he did next was just plain confusing. Thinking he was going to smash his head in, the horse just went around him harmlessly, as if he was no big deal and ran out towards the wall. The creature took off for the painting, Link thinking that maybe he was going to disappear, until the painting turned a bright purple, the phantom going inside and disappearing inside. Into the painting he went, yes, and Link saw as the picture came to life, riding up fast down the long road of the painting, disappearing into the distance. Wow, that sure was a mind-trip, to see that a monster went into the painting was enough for him, yet now it was gone, probably hiding in one of the paintings.

"Link, check left, I'll check right, he's in one of them!"

Link looked off to the left, his fairie looked off to right and for the first minute or so, they sensed nothing at all, and saw nothing with their eyes. Until at last about three minutes later both of them called out in joy that they saw Ganondorf flying towards them on the horse. Wait--both of them? Turning around to see each other's paintings, both of them stared in disbelief, the phantom had split himself up in two different directions, both heading at them. One was behind the other, but they were both coming at him, grinning with the spear aimed in a sort of jousting position. It was confusing, so the boy looked after the one that wasn't the closest, seeing that it was a bit darker than the other, sometimes giving away the true self. Navi called out.

"Good choice, Link, the other one turned around." Turned around and went back, so it was just an after-image, or a before-image in this case, because it was coming before the thing. Aiming out his bow, not feeling like trusting his luck with that sword he sheathed back into the slot now, the boy took some aim at something. Another purple aura appeared the portal that he was coming out, turning a deep white before he would come out and impale him. Link was ready for this, aiming the bow, he didn't go after Ganon, he knew the man would block, instead shooting the Phantom's horse right in the eye. It let out a screech of pain, releasing another one into the eye, guessing that was the source of his transportation between dimensions. Link wasn't done there, aiming at all the open parts with the arrows, thinking he'd use his sword on the Phantom, so he released thirty of them into the horse.

Slinking down to the ground, throwing the monster off as it went, the phantom catching him into the air, the horse slunk to the ground, letting out a gasping breath before a beam of energy hit it. This was Navi's way of keeping it from being healed and hopping the paintings again, he didn't feel like dealing with that sort of crap again. It was just too annoying to do that; the phantom had his fun now, so he was through with the games, welding the spear infront of the boy. Maybe he doubted the power of the boy, the skills of him and his fairie that could have been true, that very much could have been the worst part of this mission. No one was to ever underestimate the power of the enemy, if you did that, then they could spring out with a surprise so nasty that it was instantly taken.

"Navi, we've almost got it, but I think you miscalculated time!" He was yelling for the beast was growling, the wind howling through this room.

"Are you aching?"

"No, but it feels like I will be soon, we are in the second part of the battle now, we have to finish within the time limit or I am done for!"

"Yoooou will never make it, fooool! I'll kill the faire and the Kooookiiri at the same time!" Swinging out the spear, a small energy ball formed in the center of it and lashed out at Link, his fairie was going to be next when it reflected back. Link saw the ball coming, seeing the sword was resonating to it, the blade glowing back, so he retrieving it out and held it like he was bunting something back at the person. Reflecting back, the energy ball did, throwing back to the surprised phantom, which took another swing at it and reflecting it back at Link. So, it's like baseball, is it? This would be easier than he thought, so instead of bunting the ball back this time, he leapt forward and slashed the sword with all his might. Maybe the phantom wasn't expecting that, or the speed that he could hit, for the ball of energy came flying back at him, having no time to deflect as it coursed through his body.

"Now, Link!" She appeared over the monster, turning a complete yellow to keep him down for the count, doing this did take a lot of energy, so she hoped the boy did this all in one slash. Indeed when he leapt on the phantom, the things orange eyes were gasping, the third one trying to pull away when the boy went at it. Yes, it was incredible how this boy got so violent now, he was more angered than ever for kidnapping Saria, so that was a bonus in battle. Master Sword in hand, the young boy began to hack away at the thing, knocking off a few limbs with the sword, yet it didn't bleed any. Not that it was in any pain, the monster was screaming as the limbs fell to the ground, disappearing into the dust when it hit, the screams echoing through the dried bloody ears.

The phantom slumped down to the ground, his spear dropping at his side and falling down to his side, while the boy turned around, his leg finally giving out. Crying out in pain, he dropped the sword, collapsing to one knee, holding it tightly as the bite marks were starting to ache. As much as it hurt him, he was glad it was over, letting out a cry of triumph, he, not hearing Navi at his side celebrated the cry. Wondering where she was, he turned a head back to look at her, seeing the deep shock in her eyes, point over to where the phantom was. Well, he looked back behind him, seeing the cape of the phantom was thrown aside, the monster grabbing his spear, breaking it in half and taking the jewel from there, absorbing it into his hands.

"I toooold yoooou that it woooould never woooork!" A long cackling entered his mouth, the boy jumping around; the sword prepared to depend, when a foot slammed into his face, throwing him back up against the wall. Crying out for Navi, the fairie was stuck with a simple bolt of energy, collapsing on top of him, giving a small smile and shrugging a shoulder. Looking down, the boy slipped the fairie beneath him as the bolts began to strum through him, tinting his tunic with a fiery smell, making his own skin smell worse than he ever imagined. Long cries of pain echoed in the silent room, the wind having shut down since before they started throwing balls of energy around, the only other sound was the cackling powers of the monster. She was under him so protected from the lightning she was, him trying to reach for the power to deflect, seeing he wasn't throwing balls, just streams that he would never be able to deflect.

"Oooooh, what abooout a memeoory ooof what I did befooore the fight, just foooor yooou, Koookiri!" No matter how much he fought it, the boy did have his mind blanked out, the pain stopping so that the phantom could generate the memory inside of him. What followed was weird, it was a black room, with nothing on top of it but a single girl, he couldn't see who the girl was, but she was as tall as a child was and covered by a glow. The glow disappeared, the girl looking deep into his eyes and whispering his name, the name Link was on her lips, the green-haired girl crying. All on her beautiful, naked body were slaps, marks where she had been sliced with claw marks, bite marks and now there she lay down. Being tied with hands spread, feet spread even more, a single door opened in the place, the Phantom walking in, dressed with the Ganondorf mask on.

Link was the only one witnessing this, back in the real world he twitched around, the unconscious fairie still out of commission and Phantom Ganon in a trance. Back into the dream world, the boy was looking at the Phantom as some dialogue going on, silent of course, until he slapped the girl across the facing starting to curse at her. Dialogue went on, but there were no words now, only the cries as the man stripped himself down to nothing, being as naked as could be. Looking towards the dream that Link was looking into, the man smiled a deep grin, ripping the mask off, where he began to rape her. Rape her, he did, as hard as he could, as fast as he could, the screams and pants of pleasure were filling Link's mind, beating upon the glass to get at her.

Finally the deed was done, the girl on the table, still strapped down as he whistled at the door and more and more men came in, some of them even monsters. What happened next Link couldn't describe, it was just so horrible what they were doing to her, so strange, that he felt even angrier than what happened to Malon. No, what happened to Malon didn't compare to this, this was just too much, watching this and beating as hard as he could, with no avail to breaking the glass. All of them finished up and leaving except the Phantom, who took Saria one last time, getting right up infront of the camera, or whatever they were looking into. Staring at him with those fierce skull-eyes, the man took out a sword from no where, actually it was more like a dagger and slit the throat quickly, throwing the body aside and bursting out in laughter.

The dream ended abruptly, the young boy reverting back to his old world, but before the man could muster up the energy to start shocking him again, Link was upon him, the sword held to his throat. The boy was staring at the phantom with hate in his eyes, the eyes that were beaming a bright blue, not at all the lovely colour they had been before. Staring deeply at the boy scared the phantom, it scared him so much that he wanted to be away from this boy, and he wanted to be back home. How the boy was so much faster and quicker than him surprised him, gasping in realization of what was happening, something he shouldn't have done. He should not have abrupt the boy, he should have finished him off without the sequence, yet he didn't and maybe that would be his down fall.

"Y-you fucking b-bastard! H-how dare you do that, how dare you kill her! I was going to show mercy on you, I truly was, but that shit went out the window after what I just saw!" Enflamed eyes were staring down at the phantom, holding him by the neck, while pushing his head up against the blade, the curses he spoke made no sense.

"It's not real! It was an illusion, I swear it was an illusion, please! Please have mercy!"

The boy stared him for a few seconds, the arms that he had cut off were back, proving that this really was some sort of phantom, it could regenerate the arms. Maybe it could regenerate some parts, yet there was a specific part that he wanted to get rid of, the part that he would love loping off. Reaching below, the boy whose sadism was higher than ever, reached inside the pants and pulled out a specific tool, taking the sword and sending a blow right down there. When the screams reigned through, the boy reached for the sword, loping off the arms and legs of the man once more, but this time shoved his sword in each hole, making sure they didn't come back. With that gone, he stared down in his eyes, looking deeply at them for the longest time, before speaking a few words to him, some final words. "I don't believe you."

Throwing the body up into the air, no way of regenerating and floating away, but even so he made sure of no escape by jumping up in the air beside him. Pulling the blade out, touching the beautiful jewel, he pushed against it and began to slice, harder and harder as the corpse began to fall apart. He only did the torso, though, loping the head off and throwing it aside into a wall, which it broke in half and began to release black ink. The ink was maybe it's brain, or the spirit that inhabited its body, going away, well maybe it wasn't for it would have been a smoke, not a liquid. As the torso fell upon the ground, the boy let the torso dropped and fell towards the skull, slamming his foot down into it and breaking the rest of the horned skull to pieces, before falling down on the ground.

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A few hours passed before the fairie awoke to such a bloody scene, seeing the sword was still in his palm, gutted with some black liquid and the phantom was gone. Checking him, she saw that the only thing wrong was he was kind of charred from the energy attacks, wondering why she wasn't hurt at all. The blue light was there, it had been there and stayed ever since the battle ended, the boy probably too tired to pick himself up and crawl over there. How he bared the pain and took care of the Phantom was beyond her, but now she had learned never to underestimate those Temple monsters. These creatures had twice or even three times the power of a regular dungeon monster, the light awaited them, but she was too tired to even think about it. Fluttering over to the boy, she kissed his forehead and slipped back under the hat to fall back asleep where the more hours remained.

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Pulling himself from the slumber, the boy awakened, but not on the floor of the Forest Temple, he was back inside of the Sage's temple, the place where he had awoken before. Was it seven years later, Goddess he hoped not, and looked down into the water to reveal that he was all right, maybe this was where you got the medallion. Turning towards where Rauru was, he didn't see the man there, the place was empty, but since he wasn't getting a gift from him, there was no need to be around. Hell, he didn't even like the man anyway, and now checking under his hat, he felt Navi, a sigh of relief with her heartbeat was still there.

Ignoring the pain all through his body, not the mention the even more unbearable down on his thigh, where the pain was even doubling from two wounds, the boy looked where he was standing. He wasn't facing towards the Light Medallion symbol, like he had been before, he was facing towards the Forest Temple, and it all came back to him. After what he had seen happen to Saria, he remembered the parts, vaguely, remembering what he did and understanding that why it was to happen, yet disgust he was so mean. Yes, acting like the enemy was not the answer here, yet he had been just as sadistic as the dream had been, if it was real or not, he still didn't know. His prayers were answered, the dreams came true when he glanced forward, seeing no one at first, before glancing down and finding the eyes of Saria.

"S-saria?!" He got down upon his knees, looking down at her and extending a hand, surprised when an invisible barrier kept them from touching each other.

"Link…Link, I wish we could have been together…" She trailed off, looking down to the side, her eyes seeming to water up and release a few tears, before looking back to his face, smiling. It didn't work though, she couldn't compose herself, or her feelings like she was able to so long ago, because back then it had been childish. Yes, so childish the love had been, thinking of him as a friend had, never as a lover until the time was too late, after his visits had stopped. At first she had thought he had died, denying it in her heart that he wasn't dead, maybe just trapped somewhere, unable to communicate with them. That was when she started to feel something for him, although she had always felt it, it was just so weird to feel that for him that she hid it as an innocent crush.

"What are…why are you crying?" Leaning forward, he pushed his face against the barrier, seeing that she pressed her own face and pressed them together, hands lining up with each other.

"Y…you are the Sage of the Forest?" As Link spoke this, she nodded miserably.

"But I can be of so much use to you now, I am safe here from Ganondorf and then I can even add my own power to yours so that you will be able to defeat him."

"Rauru, let me through…let me through, you bastard--I don't care about the rules, please!" Tears began to stream down his face, shrugging a shoulder violently, before slamming his first into the barrier, causing her to gasp out and look away, crying silently. He touched the area gently, and felt it didn't move, crying out in frustration, slamming his fist against the wall this time once more hardly. Nothing was happening now; nothing was going to happen, he was stuck with never touching her, never feeling her lovely lips ever again. Tears were streaming harder, touching the glass softly, where her lips were, when suddenly he felt something move, or jolt just a little. Interrupted by a cracking sound, the barrier was let loose, or maybe he was following the last request of a boy in love, it could be that. Glass shattered in all directions, the glass going through his body and hers, not harming them, though; it was barrier glass that touched them.

Leaning forward, he was let into the area, his arms around her they went, pulling her into an embrace, as it seemed Rauru did grant a last request. Tears were streaming from both of them, the harshness of the battle moving onto him, not caring about the pain, at least the physical pain. Mental pains were echoing through his heart as hands stroked those green tresses, the beautiful hair that was so weird, it was different, she was different from the rest. As weird as they both were, they didn't seem to care at this moment, or Rauru was watching them with gleaming eyes, teary eyes from the moment of display. Just like him, they were both different freaks, and so the weird child and the weird teenager, separated by the physical age, though not giving a care in the world, locked lips in an ultimate passion.

He somehow knew that they would never be together, for when he saved the world, she would always guard the Temple of the Forest. Visiting her now was out of the question, needing to feel the love and warmth of her so that he could wait until the journey was over to talk to her. The locked lips were bound together by passion, pulling her into a deeper kiss with his tongue using it to the fullest, more full than her little thing. Just like seven years ago when they cried and kissed, it was like a reincarnation of the same scene, yet they would not be seeing each other in a few weeks. Arms locked harder around her when he felt a tugging on him, not wanting to break the kiss, not wanting to break it away now.

Eventually he did break the kiss, well the tugging was too intense for him to bare, pulling back while Rauru yanked him back through the hole, Saria throwing something at him when he fell back on the platform. Catching the item, he looked at it, another ocarina, this one the one that she played, since she hadn't made that many, even baring her name. Smiling brightly, he pushed the new ocarina to his lips, taking out his old one, throwing it through the portal at her, Rauru letting the little item slide through, before he opened his arms, leaning against the barrier, hugging it tightly, seeing her do the same exact thing. When he pulled back from that, he felt pretty sure of himself, that he was going to be all right now, yes, he would get over this in a few days.

"Link, please take this medallion, it is a source of my forest powers and gives you the ability to call upon the wind of Farore whenever need be." Again the portal was opened, the medallion sliding through, a green one this time, but matching the size and weight of the yellow one, the boy catching it while he slipped his ocarina away. As he turned towards Rauru, waving towards him, the fairie of his came out, seeing the surrounding scene, waving a sleepy hand at the young Kokiiri. A new sage was born, and so she waved back at the fairie and her Kokiiri as Link put the Forest Medallion around on the necklace he found in the temple. There it would stay; the yellow one would stay in his pouch since he had no sentimental value to it, but something from Saria he did have attachment too. While it was put up, the boy was transported from the Temple of Sages back to the forest, not infront of the temple, but right infront of the Deku Tree.

"It hasn't changed." Navi whispered, sliding over towards the area, but her eyes lit up when she saw what was infront of the Deku Tree, a small branch was growing right by it. "Oh, a sprout!"

"A sprout?" Leaning down on his knees, the boy looked up at the thing, but as he did this, the thing rose up four feet tall, throwing Link back in surprise and physically. Peeking up from where he fell, there as clear as day, was a small four feet sprout, the thing even had little eyes in a mouth, almost looking cute. Hands went down at his sides, almost grabbing the sword, but seeing that it was okay now, for this thing wasn't going to hurt him. Two or three leaves resided on the branches of the small little sprout, thicker than tall; it was about four feet thick, along with the short height. Navi peeked from behind Link's shoulder as he walked a little closer, seeing if the thing would speak to him, it was just a baby, after all.

"Thank you, Hero of Time!"

"Y-you know me?"

"Yes, I know you, I should have been growing quite some time, but the spirits from the Forest Temple were keeping me out. Thank you for awakening the Sage of the Forest so that the Deku Tree shall regain some more power and become the second Spirit of the Forest. I thank you, hero."

"Ahh, it's…it's okay, I mean, I only got myself hurt and all."

"Oh, don't worry, you can rest within the Kokiiri Forest, you maybe a Hylian, but I wouldn't turn one of my own former children into one of those trees, or a statue."

"A Hylian!" Both Navi and Link blurted out, their eyes bewildered.

"Yes, as you can see from your form, you are a Hylian, but not just any Hylian, a very special one. Seventeen years ago, before you were born, the place was at war; the races were against each other. No one was safe, except the Kokiiri, which were sealed within the forest, asked to fight; yet they were all children and refused. One day throughout the battles, a young woman entered the forest, going to the Deku Tree and praying for her to take care of her son, she was mortally wounded. The former Deku Tree saw that this child was a child of destiny and decided to raise him among the Kokiiri, and so the woman died, being buried within the soil. That Hylian baby was you, Hero of Time."

"Wow, that explains my height, but what about Navi?"

"Oh, don't worry, she can still be your guardian, your race doesn't change the fact between you. I have never seen a bond so strong, I watched both of you fight, it was one of the most beautiful displays of friendship I have ever seen. Don't worry, she will be with you until the end of time." Smiling towards them, the tree could see that they were each in deep pain, the Hylian more than the fairie, so he nodded towards them.

"Go and rest now, we will have a celebration in a few days, I will tell the children I am now back, but go on, and go sleep in the forest, you can sleep as long as you want." That was all they needed, so they headed out of the forest, all the equipment becoming more and more serious, it was harder to walk. Well, he bared it, going through the forest, where he finally reached the end of the trail and came upon the Kokiiri forest, peering around for any signs of life. Life was indeed in the forest, the children noticing that there were no more monsters to be afraid of, cheering for whoever killed them, not really seeing him, since he stealthily headed up on the hills. His old tree house was in the distance, so he climbed up the little ladder, going to the top of the stairs and passing out, on the outside of the place, not even waiting for him to hit the small bed, dead to the world.

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Over the next four days Link slumbered up there, the Deku Tree announcing himself and announcing that this was the hero whom had saved everyone. It took a lot of Kokiiri, but they got Link down to a small river, bathed him and his clothes, dressing him up in a tunic that was repaired, not as charred as the rest had been. While asleep his fairie was also prepared in better clothing, keeping the same she had from before, just making it a bit neater, as well as her. By the fourth night, when they awoken, the armour was cleaned, the weapons were cleaned, while they were fed every day so that the power of them would return. It was nice to be pampered, even though none of them enjoyed it; the new bow of his was even stringed tighter than ever, getting better-looking arrows.

On the fourth night he was awoken, or woke up by Navi to hear that there was a party in the name of the Hero of Time, not in Link's name. As he stayed there the next week partying with the children in the festival, he told of how he had met a boy named Link, and how he collected some stones, the adventures that this Link had told him. When they asked what had happened to the Kokiiri named Link, the Hero of Time just smiled and said that he had died seven years ago, a sad, but quick death. Each was so saddened over that, even the boys and even sadder to hear that Saria and Mido had been killed in the battle. The reason he kept everything so silent was the Deku Tree didn't want them knowing that they could leave the forest and explore the world were just too dangerous for them.

Finally after the celebrations, they were saddened to see that he was going to be leaving, but he told them that he was avenging their previous father, which got more applause. Overall the time with Kokiiri was fun, it was even better than he was a kid, he doubted they believed that Link had died, why you ask? Because they knew Navi and saw her hanging around a man who looked just like Link, he probably knew that they knew the truth, but he didn't care. It was best for them to know the truth, they might one-day want to leave the forest, and if so it would all is the Hero of Time's fault. As he passed through the wooden branches to leave, they wished him well and wished he would come back, the Deku Tree said he would be honored if he returned, just with no one else, that too risky.

"You ready?" He said to Navi, shuffling the supplies they had received from the Kokiiri, in the larger satchel.

"Yea, I am ready, where shall we go?"

"I saw a giant swirl around Death Mountain, that maybe the next temple."

"Oh, Goddess, that is a while away." She spoke as he mounted Epona, patting the girl from her days of rest, she was allowed in the forest and treated just as good as they had been, even while he was in the temple.

"I know, I know." Shaking his head, he slightly kicked Epona, feeding her a carrot so that kept him from seeming too cruel, and so they took off for the village of Kakariko again…Goddess it was like a reincarnation.