Saving Hyrule

Aerie Elf

To Dream or Not To Dream

Author's Notes: This is just a story that came to me while I was playing the latest Zelda game. I'm hoping it has turned out as I had intended, but I'm a bit worried about the length of the chapter and possible lack of attention-grabbing ability. I hope you can sit through it for long enough to find out what it's about, enjoy it, and feel free to give constructive critism.

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, any of it's characters, or any other trademark characters or places mentioned or to be mentioned in future chapters.

Zelda could already feel her eyes forcing themselves closed while her professor droned on about the coming end of year exams and their ever-present importance

Zelda could already feel her eyes forcing themselves closed while her professor droned on about the coming end of year exams and their ever-present importance. She sighed heavily; everyone seemed to be getting very melodramatic over them lately. From the way they went on anyone would think that the Fate of the World hung in the balance; it all came down to the exams.

Maths was one of her better subjects, but that didn't change the fact that the teacher was extremely old and entirely the opposite of engaging all on his own. A slim, balding man of about fifty six years, Professor Hughnen was a very mono-toned being who only ever got enthusiastic about his single life's passion; Maths. Zelda couldn't help but wish she were in Professor Forgon's class at that very moment…

Dark burgundy hair, defined and chiselled features, standing almost a head taller than most of the boys and built like a boxer; Professor Forgon was the desire of all female students, and teachers, at Hylia High. He wasn't quite so melodramatic, and his studies in ancient history were always fascinating and engaging, not to mention the fact that being in his class meant that Zelda could watch him pacing from one side of the classroom to the other with that serious look on his face while he conveyed the depth of their studies. Those piercing eyes… It felt like they could delve right into Zelda's soul, without her permission.

They were fantasies for another day however, it was after all illegal for them to ever be together. Perhaps after she went to University however... No. She wouldn't allow herself to entertain such wild fantasies, especially while Professor Hughnen was explaining a key aspect of Loan Repayments and Interest. This probably wasn't going to stick, already she could feel the confusion dawning on her.

"Thank god there are only two minutes left until last bell huh Zelda?" Maron's fine red hair swished past Zelda as Maron delved into her bag to retrieve her pencil case and folder. Zelda could really emphasise; she couldn't wait to be out of maths right now; it felt like it went on forever.

"Earth to Zelda!" Maron giggled to herself. She was a very warm and soft hearted girl, not to mention dependable and optimistic about everything… except maths. Zelda looked at her in awe, people often spoke of Zelda's beauty; her soft blonde hair, arresting blue eyes, milky complexion and her slender figure, but when Zelda looked at Maron she could see no comparison. She was shorter than Zelda, and a little on the plump side, but her fiery red hair and light green eyes with small mouth gave her a look of kindness and beauty that Zelda was sure she would never be able to compete with.

"Do I have something on my face Zel?" The look of genuine worry made Zelda laugh, she shook her head and smiled at her friend. Maron was her only friend, jealousy had created a gulf between Zelda and the mainstream girls, but Maron had always stuck by her.

"3… 2… 1… FINALLY!" Maron exclaimed as she counted down the final seconds until the weekend. Bag on her back and folder in her hand she was ready to escape out the door as though something was chasing her. Zelda grabbed all of her stuff together and followed the ever enthusiastic Maron out to the school gates.

"Have a nice weekend ladies" The lyrical voice of Professor Forgon chimed as he bored into Zelda's mind and infiltrated all her deepest and darkest secrets.

"You too sir" Maron whispered timidly. That was the thing about Maron, she was the sweetest person in the world, but she was also the shyest. Zelda had made efforts to bring the real Maron to the world, but unless it was just the two of them, it wasn't going to happen.

"See you on Monday Sir, can't wait!" She sang enthusiastically back to him. Zelda was much more outgoing than Maron, but she enjoyed peace and quiet as much as the next person… when it suited her.

"Well this is where we part, I'll probably call you tomorrow or something. Ok Mar?" Maron nodded enthusiastically, flashed one of her winning smiles, and bound off in the direction of her home. Zelda spun on her heel and headed off towards her house. She hummed to herself as she got onto her street; it was going to be a great weekend to lay back and relax a little bit after a long week. Mrs Thompson's usually quiet dog Tipsy eyed her suspiciously, and then curiously started barking manically at Zelda. She wasn't frightened, it was after all a very small dog, but she did flinch a little bit when the rest of the dogs in the neighbourhood began barking loudly and almost… urgently.

Zelda shook herself to cleanse herself of such nonsense, but she walked a little bit faster towards her house. Two houses away Miss Josie's cat perched on the brick fences seemed to watch Zelda for the long and drawn out walk to her house. Zelda purposefully tried to keep her walking at a walk, as apposed to the sprint her legs were attempting to force her into, she had to stop watching those documentaries on the Discovery Channel.

Regardless, she took the front steps two at a time, and slammed the door behind her, pressing herself hard against it for support. Her breath was unnecessarily fast and her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest… she really had to relax.

The sofa gave beneath her as it always did, and Zelda sunk into it thankfully. She flipped on the television and began surfing the channels, perusing the network for something interesting to watch. But despite her earlier self-lecture she ended up watching a television documentary about wolves, their keen sense of smell, and ferocity in the wild. The cushy sensation of the couch soon closed her eyes for her and led her into a somewhat restless sleep.

Zelda could feel it coming, a strong sadness that she didn't really understand. She stepped forward, closer to the steps leading to the sadness she would face. They were stone steps, they looked ancient. A red carpet laid out neatly, creaseless at her feet, led her eyes down the steps in front of her to the sadness and danger.

A lone wolf stood at the base of the steps, glaring at her with unexplainable anger and rage. Zelda felt like reaching out to him – how did she know it was a him?- and… soothing him? She felt compelled to 'help' in some way, but how?

He looked dangerous, ready to pounce… ready to bite. He placed one paw in front of the other, cautiously, but without any hesitation. Zelda could almost feel the soft fur of his coat beneath her fingers, hear the soft howl of the wolf as he called to her in the night, see straight through the wild and furious eyes into a warm heart; intimate details she couldn't explain her knowledge of.

His anger only seemed fuelled by her lack of response, but she didn't know what she was supposed to do, she knew he intended to kill her. She knew that this was the end. But she was, somehow, happy that it would end like this for her, but she couldn't at all understand why. It was as though she was feeling things that she didn't feel, or wouldn't feel, and feelings she couldn't control. She should have been terrified, and she almost was, but a far more dominating emotion prevailed; loss. Tears glistened on her soft cheeks as the wolf picked up speed, and she could feel the end drawing ever closer. Her arms began to move automatically, rising in front of her with her palms facing each other an inch apart – what was she doing?

It was all instinctive, or was it something else? Regardless, she didn't understand what she was doing, she couldn't comprehend the tears that streaked her cheeks as she let her arms fall to her sides and her head drop to one side. She couldn't explain her lack of response as the wolf let out a snarl and began to race towards her with every intention of ending her life, she couldn't explain the tearing feeling inside her heart as the tears continued to flow seemingly endlessly from her eyes. But it was all there, and more real than most of her life experiences. Especially the pain, not physically as the wolf's teeth sunk into her exposed neck, but the pain that shred her heart the millisecond before the teeth connected.

The teeth clamped shut with a vicious ripping and snarling…

Zelda threw herself forward from the sofa gasping for air, her eyes threatening to fall out of her head if she opened them any wider. She tried to calm herself, relax her heartbeat a little bit, but it was still aching a little bit, not enough that she would notice if she wasn't paying attention, but enough for her to panic over the reality of her dream. She had read all those emails on the internet about near death experiences in dreams and the human ability to die in their sleep; not that she believed any of it at all.

That was absolutely THE last time she watched the discovery channel. Looking at the time she could have hit herself for falling asleep, it was already eleven o'clock in the evening, she had already wasted half of her weekend time. Somehow though, despite being asleep long enough to endure that horrible dream, she still felt exhausted beyond her normal standards.

Staring down at the state of herself, Zelda could see that she had drooled on herself a little bit during her sleep, and the ruffled pattern of her school blouse and her bed hair informed her that she was in no presentable state; she liked to feel clean and tidy before she went to bed, it seemed to sooth her into a deeper slumber.

She was considering going to get changed, then thought better of it when she couldn't bring her legs to help her out of the couch. Laying back into the couch she continued trying to catch her breath, when suddenly an eerie chill filled the room. The air conditioner remote was too far away to reach from her spot on the couch, but the chill that sank into her bones gave her the strength she needed to get herself off the couch. Lazily she slunk over to the coffee table to get the remote, a sudden gust of wind increasing the chill, but a far more chilling fact became obvious to her. There was someone else in the room with her.

A shadow was cast over her, and she could hear the footsteps advancing, they were soft footsteps; a burglar. Her mind raced with panic as her eyes searched ravenously for something – anything – that she could use to defend herself or render the stalking threat unconscious. Hands grabbed her and pulled her roughly backwards, and though she kicked and screamed for help, no one would be there to save her. Since her sixteenth birthday almost two years ago she had lived on her own through monthly payments made by her long-distance father. Now she almost wished that he was here, that anyone was here, to save from the tortures she was about to endure.

The attacker clasped his hand across her mouth and growled at her angrily; what did he expect? A welcome! She tried to bite, but her teeth couldn't penetrate the tough leather gloves he was wearing. Her arms pried to get his away from her, but he simple held on tight and refused to let her go.

" I have no time to explain princess but you have to come with me" He commanded her harshly. She kicked and wriggled harder, but to no avail.

"Look I don't have time to explain all of this to you, you just have to trust me, you have to come with me" He released her mouth, and she spun and spat at him before dashing for the kitchen. There were knives in the kitchen, sharp ones. But he glided across the room to her and restrained her with his rough arms.

"You always have to make everything so god damn difficult don't you? Geez, just listen to me!" He let her go again, but panic overrode all of her other brain processes and she bolted again for the kitchen. Just three more quick legs to the bench where the sharp meat knife handles would be easily accessible. She reached and grabbed roughly at one, twirling around ungracefully and pointing it uneasily at him. She was banking on the fact that it would scare him off, praying that he would take her terror stricken face for psychotic rage, but he seemed mildly amused.

"Stupid girl!" He growled after he composed himself. "As always you leave me with not other choice…" He paced towards her briskly, unperturbed by the knife she had forced in his direction. Disregarding her 'threat' completely, he continued towards her.

"I'll stab you!" She screeched at him. He didn't stop. His hands took both shoulders in his arms securely and held them in place, far enough away so that her arms couldn't reach far enough to penetrate with the short kitchen knife.

"You're all talk. Let's both be realistic, you aren't going to stab me, you have no intention of using the knife at all; it's a deterent" Her mouth dropped open before she could compose herself and keep it together. "Don't look so surprised, you're predictable, and not to mention rash, stupid and a waste of my friggen time!" His hands began to tighten. A howling in the night made him start, then curse underneath his breathe.

"Argh! No time. This is your fault, if you had of just listened this would have been easier, but Noooooooo! You just can't help yourself, well guess what, that means we are doing this the hard way, now COME ON!" He barked at her before her world started to spin before her eyes and her surroundings became a blur that she couldn't keep up with. She couldn't even see him, all she could see was the rapid 'speed' that flew past her, moulding around her body without losing any momentum.

SMACK

It was like being smacked hard in the face with a netball while you weren't expecting it, it left you reeling and breathless. Zelda found herself, for the third time today, gasping for air and panicing. If she wasn't careful she would induce herself with asthma!

The man – no – the boy? That had brought her here stared at her with a look she would have almost identified as anxiousness. He dash to the door made it quite evident what he was anxious for though; to get away from her. How odd, he kidnapped her and raced off like she carried the bubonic plague. He slammed to door shut behind him, bolting it shut from the outside. But Zelda's panic had finally subsided enough for her to react to what was happening around her; she raced to the large wooden door and pounded her fists against in angrily demanding that he come back and let her out this instant.

There was no reply.

After what felt like an eternity, Zelda's voice was gone and her fists were beginning to bruise. She decided that escaping instantly wasn't likely, and the panic wasn't worth the pain it seemed to be causing her. She couldn't really escape like this anyway, she hadn't even worked out where he had taken her, not to mention how.

Glancing around she suddenly felt like she was in one of the ancient castles of Professor Forgon's lectures. It was amazingly crafting and dazzling to look at, all the hand crafted stone that made up the walls and the smooth floor, the embroidered carpet of red with gold inlay, and an extravagant hand crafted bed with gosimer netting made Zelda's eyes light up with enthusiasm. She wasn't particularly happy about being here, but it at least seemed like an experience before this villain did whatever horrible and tormenting things he had planned for her.

Zelda lifted herself up and walked softly over to a large stone fireplace with wooden mantel. The fireplace was large and breathtaking, with its genuine stone outline and intrically carved wooden mantel, it was beyond almost any beauty that the twenty first century had to offer. The fire wasn't lit, and the room was rather cold from the draft; but that was one of the prices she would have to pay for this lovely parting experience.

She took in all of the small carved figures along the mantel: women, children, horses, men and even funny looking goats with antelope horns. Compelled to touch them, Zelda reached out cautiously with her hand, careful not to knock any down or move them too far from their original position. A large gust of wind shocked her, and she dropped the figurine to the floor, breaking it into pieces on the stone floor; it was obviously very fragile and carved a very long time ago.

"Argh! Stupid girl! Don't touch!" Her kidnapper snapped at her as he came across the room and collected the pieces of the broken figurines, gingerly placing them into a small satchel at his waste. "Collin will be furious with you, he worked years to get that one JUST right… perhaps Maron can fix it… Stupid Girl!" Half talking to himself and half reprimanding her, the kidnapper stormed out of the room locking the door behind him again.

Zelda was beyond confused, why would a kidnapper care about some stupid figurines? Granted they were beautiful, but they wouldn't fetch as high a price as ransom payments. She rubbed her arms to bring some feeling back to them, even though her mind was working overtime and distracting her from the cold, she still felt the need to prevent herself from getting pneumonia. 'Maron' could it be he had kidnapped her too? Did he have her as a slave working for him? That bastard!

The rage she felt at discovering that her friend had been taken when she had done nothing wrong was beyond her rage threshold. She didn't know what to do with any of it, bottling it up inside was becoming harder and harder the more she thought about the other evil things he could be doing to dear, sweet, innocent, HARMLESS Maron.

Just as she was about to send all of the figurines flying across the room he burst in again and grabbed her. She tried to fight back, but he just kept his arms locked around her. "Leave them alone, Collin worked his arse off to make them for you you ungrateful…" He practically spat.

"For me?" She squeaked. She had meant to sound firm and demanding, but her fear and rage had made her voice crack as it came out.

"So you do know how to speak then? For a while there I was concerned as to whether or not you were a mute when you weren't frantically panicing and trying to save yourself from a force that wouldn't harm you" She tried hard to process what he was saying. He wouldn't harm her. She had to trust him, it was the only thing that made sense, she couldn't get out of here without him, and she needed him to tell her where Maron was.

"What have you done with Maron?!" Another crackling squeak.

"What do you mean 'done'? What would I DO to Maron?"

She glared at him with disgust, however his outrage was far more intimidating.

"Don't be sick you pervert! Maron is a dear friend to me, I would never violate her in that way, what kind of pig do you take me for?" A rhetorical question, but her angled glare was answer enough. "Look, Maron is fine, but you can't see her at the moment, there are urgent matters that need attending to, and it would be putting you in danger to let you leave this room. Just stay in here and be a good little princess" Any other time she would have assumed mockery, but he seemed to be perfectly serious about every single word he pronounced. She didn't reply, she couldn't believe him, and when this became evident he sighed heavily, growled and turned on his heel to leave the room again. He slammed the large wooden door, a feat in itself since it was twice his height, as Zelda pounded against it again.

"Take me home! I don't know what you want, I'll give you money, my father would pay you…" her voice trailed off as her exhaustion and emotional rollercoaster ride finally caught up to her and she began to sob uncontrollably. "It's cold!" She screamed at no one in particular. Glancing back to the bed through rivers of her tears, Zelda thought if she could get herself over there then at least she would be warmer.

Trying to pick herself up, she could feel the lack of energy bringing her straight back to the floor, and decided that she would have a better chance crawling. One hand at a time, she slowly dragged herself closer to the bed. She expanded her energy quickly though, and settled for curling up on the rug into the foetal position in an attempt to keep herself warm. The rug provided some warmth, while the rhythmic spasms of her chilled shuddering slowly rocked her to sleep.

She was woken by the whistling of someone else in the room with her. That someone seemed to just notice her there, and they chuckled to themselves; a low rumble like a small tremor in the earth. She couldn't move her body to see who, or what, it was, and lay there helpless and limp.

"Why are you laying there little sister?" A rough male voice with a constant rumble in it enquired of her. Another chuckle escaped his lips when she didn't react; he thought she was still asleep there. The young Goron examined the sleeping form of his princess, his 'little sister' from the Goron's honourable link to the royal family of Hyrule. He placed the firewood he had been bringing in for her on the ground and tried to walk quietly over to her. Naturally, he made a commotion trying to be quiet, and eventually decided that walking how he normally did was going to make less noise. Baffled that she could still be asleep after his klutzy attempt at sneaking over to her, the young Goron scratched his head and then looked back at her.

She looked so small and fragile; he had to be extremely careful with her as he shifted her into his arms and began walking her to the bed where she should be sleeping. She was lighter than a feather; he was scared he might sneeze and she would blow clean out the window (not to mention the fact that she wouldn't be exactly appreciative of the sorts of matter that come out of a Goron's nose when he sneezes, especially if he grew up in the mines of Death Mountain.

He rocked her lightly as he carried her to her bed. It was long after she had grown past her baby and toddler years that he had gotten to meet her, but since she became his little sister, he couldn't help treat her like the baby she always seemed to be. She was a strong girl, but so gentle and so, well… small! Placing her carefully on the bed, he pulled the covers over her, tucking her in, and walked back over to the pile of firewood with the intention of getting the fire going; little sister had been covered in those little bumps humans got when they were suffering from temperature changes.

Zelda watched him from her comfortable position on the bed. She couldn't help but stare in amazement, this… thing, was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was larger than her kidnapper by at least a head and a half, yellow in colour, with large silver scales all down its back. It reminded her somewhat of a large armadillo cross cave man. It seemed to comprehend a great deal however, even though she had first taken him for a servant, she noticed the way he did everything with care and chuckled to himself as though it was all a big private joke that only he was in on, made her think otherwise.

Then he did something quite odd; he sat in front of the fire with his back to it and just watched her where she was. He must have noticed by now that she was awake, but he didn't say anything to her, he just sat there watching her smiling that euphoric smile she had only ever seen on humans on special occasions. After a very long staring competition, the yellow armadillo picked himself up, and walked towards to bed. Zelda's eyes followed him on their own as he the curled up right next to the side of the bed she was sleeping on and seemed to go to sleep. She didn't understand what was going on really, or why an accomplice to her kidnapping was curled up right near her on a bed fit for a queen, but she was grateful for his warmth. The scales on his back conducted the heat from the fire and radiated it close to the bed, warming it up immediately and placing Zelda in an even more immediate sleep.

Before she could finally get the sleep she needed she muttered to him without thinking "Thank you Brother". She had no idea why she called him brother, and went to correct herself quickly before he took her for a complete psychopath, but before she could get it in he poked his head out of the ball of scales and chuckled.

"Find shade little Sister" Though it seemed entirely cheerful at first, Zelda could swear she could hear a hint of sorrow in the parting farewell.

Zelda awoke suddenly and threw herself forwards to wake herself up and find out what was going on. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat when she realised she was back at her house, sleeping on her couch.

"It was just a dream" She smiled to herself ecstatically, but part of her felt the despair of the dream creature's farewell, felt as though she was being broken apart from something; a part of herself.

That was an impossible notion, it was all just a dream, no need to get all carried away about it, she thought dismissingly. Fixed on distracting herself from the weird dream, Zelda set off to the kitchen to fetch herself some Saturday morning breakfast. The kitchen looked in good order and suitable for cooking. It really was a dream. As she went about getting herself busy Zelda was too distracted to notice one of the vital differences in her kitchen since the night before.

One of the knives was missing.

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading my story and I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review nad let me know what you thought and how I could improve it for you. Hope to hear from you :)

Aerie Elf