Okay, guys, I'm sorry but I couldn't resist! This idea has been building up for a while, and I dare say that it's a real shame to keep it hidden away for any longer. So, now I present to you The Legend of Zelda; Hero of Woods!
MINOR EDIT okay people, for some reason, this story doesn't want to do my normal 'breaks' for me, so this time around I'll be using lines and Xs.
Since ancient times, Hyrule has always been protected by a hero. However, evil has again begun to fall upon this holy land, and a new problem has presented itself.
Just where is the hero?
x x x x x x x x
A group of travellers gazed warily at the forest surrounding them. Trees obscured the light shining down on horses, wagons and people alike. Various objects were hidden in sheaths and beside saddles. A mare reared its head, snorting worriedly. A stray gust of wind shot through a branch, rattling the leaves.
A woman around the age of forty glanced at the offending limb. Its actions died down immediately, as if it feared her cold gaze. The sentiment was shared by many of the occupants of the Caravan.
The woman was a Sheikah by the name of Impa. She was, by royal decree, the guardian and nurse of the young princess she now turned her vision to. Seeing nothing wrong, she looked ahead. Her long silver bangs, split down the middle to fall to either side of her face, followed her, with the exception of the small, untamed ones that curled at the top of her forehead.
At the front of the convoy, a man regal beyond imagination raised his hand, stopping the convoy.
"Impa!" he commanded.
The Sheikah kicked the sides of her horse, urging it past the two-score soldiers between the back of the column and the king. She stopped at the king's side, giving a small, strict bow of her head to show her respect.
"Your majesty..."
"Impah," he asked, gazing around the woods, "something is wrong with this forest. Would you agree?"
Impa nodded her head. "Yes, sire. We are in the heart of the Lost Woods."
An audible whimper arose from one of the guards, "The Lost Woods!? The home of monsters!?"
Impa gave the man a harsh glare for his insolence. He quieted immediately. It was a rumour among the soldiers that she'd sent an entire squad of bokoblins running with her trademark gaze. Just beyond the range of the Sheikah's sharp hearing, the other soldiers had begun to gossip in earnest.
"The Lost Woods? I've heard that anyone who enters is lost forever!"
"There are supposed to be enough monsters in here to cover the entirety of Hyrule field! And they attack without warning!"
"There are supposed to be countless Deku Scrubs here, so many that every single bush is actually a Deku!"
The babbling continued. A small, strong voice suddenly picked up, hushing the crowd once again.
"I heard there are Kokiri!"
The king, Impah, and the queen, who rode quietly at the king's side, all looked back to the source of the noise. Princess Zelda, no older than three, stood boldly beside her maid's horse.
Impa shook her head, smiling ever-so-faintly. "Dear Zelda, there are no such things as Kokiri. They are, I am afraid, just a fairytale. A good one at that, though. And speaking of fairy tales..." Impa suddenly turned to the troop behind her, frowning, "What is with all your idle chatter! It's true that the Lost Woods has monsters, but there's no need to be so afraid of it! Like little children, all of you! Stay to the path, and you will not be lost. Do not attack the monsters, and they will not attack you. Do I need to make myself any clearer?!"
The soldiers sat bolt upright, saluting and yes ma'aming her. The king smiled, waving for his men to continue.
"You heard the Sheikah, men. Onward!"
x x x
Later on, the group had set up camp for the night. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves, the thick trunks of the woods providing cover at the clearing's perimeter. Tents were set up, fires were lit, and men sat around in circles telling wild tales and ghost stories about the woods they were currently in. Darkness pervaded the majority of the small view of the sky allowed by the clearing, grass trampled flat by the horses who currently fed upon it. A ring of thick bushes surrounded the clearing.
Hidden by the thick foliage, a pair of bright, gleaming eyes stared curiously at the proceedings of the men. These people did not come from the forest, and a sight like this was rare indeed.
The blue eyes, more intense than the clearest of skies, swept the camp, eager for information about the newcomers. He'd followed them from beside the path, always out of sight. He knew he really shouldn't have, but... the new people were so exciting!
The boy shuffled in his position. He stretched out a bit further, his stomach flat against the thick branch of the tree. He grinned, giggling ever so slightly. This was fun!
Laughter erupted from a group of men nearby. The boy ducked his head quickly, slowly raising it again. Seeing that they had not spotted him, he continued his surveillance of the camp.
Then he spotted her. Beyond the sight of the "scary lady", as he'd so dubbed the woman with white hair, was a little girl who looked barely the age of three. She was the youngest of the party, it seemed, and she had somehow escaped from the scary lady's watchful gaze. The eyes scanned the camp. Ah, that's how she'd done it; the lady was preoccupied with the overly dressed man, talking about something in that weird, gibberish language. How they understood each other when they talked like that was beyond him. But, whatever the red-robed man was saying must have been quite important, since the scary lady was listening quite intently.
The boy looked back at the girl. She had moved on from sneaking away from the lady, and was now playing with a bush at the edge of the clearing. The boy squinted. Wait... that bush had berries! And not the good kind!
Dropping down from the tree, the boy ran to where the girl was, not making a sound. Any other person might have made a terrible racket running like that, but for some reason there wasn't even the snapping of a twig or the crunch of a leaf to betray his presence. He arrived unnaturally quickly at the spot where the girl was. He was on the other side of the bush, and with a quick inspection proved his fear; these were poisonous berries. At best, you would get a horrible tummy-ache from these, but he had a sinking feeling that the girl on the other side of the bush would receive much, much worse.
"Hey, don't eat those, they're icky," he whispered to her. It startled the girl into dropping a handful of the berries.
"Huh? Who said that?" she asked, searching for the source of the voice.
"Shh! Not so loud, the grown-ups will hear!"
Zelda blinked, looking at the bush. Too young to know any better, she began to talk to it, "Oh? I'm sorry Mr. Bush, are you shy? I'll be quiet!"
He smirked, "No, I'm not a bush! Anyways, you don't want to eat those berries, they're gross. Bleh."
"Are they? How would you know?"
The boy popped his head through the bush, "Cause I have a friend who ate 'em once. They're icky icky berries, trust me."
"Oh!" Zelda was surprised for a moment at his appearance, then regained her composure. "Are you... a Kokiri?"
The Green-clad boy glanced around the camp, making sure their conversation as private. He held a finger to his lips, "Maybe. But don't tell no one, 'kay?"
"Kay! I promise!" she smiled entirely too eagerly, which made the Kokiri wonder how long she'd manage to remember that she had even made such a promise. He shrugged it off.
"You want some really good berries?" he asked.
The girl's eyes widened, "Oh! Oh, yeah! I love berries! Yes please, sir!" she smiled and curtsied, mimicking what she'd been told to do many, many times before.
He blushed, "Aw, don' go calling me sir, makes me feel funny. Now follow me, I'll show you some real good berries!" He dusked back behind the bush, lightly jogging towards another berry bush closer to the soldiers in the camp. Zelda followed as best as she could, staying within the clearing. Small, agile fingers rustled the bushes ever-so-slightly as he went, allowing the girl to follow him without having to go into the forest itself. Soon enough, they were at another berry bush, laden with juicy berries that were sweet and, best of all, not poisonous.
Zelda preoccupied herself quite heartily with the berries, juice occasionally squirting onto her face. "Thank you, sir!" she called to the boy.
But the boy was long gone, back into the perch in the tree, to avoid being seen by others.
x x x x x x x x
Impa finished her discussion with the king. Three seconds later, she realized that she'd made a grave mistake. Zelda was gone! She searched frantically for her, her heart in her throat. Oh dear, what if something had happened-!
Her terror lasted about ten seconds before it turned into annoyance. There was Zelda, clear as day near the end of the clearing, where she'd been explicitly told not to go. And, worse yet, her face was a veritable canvas for assorted gushes of berry juice.
"Young lady, what have I told you about getting yourself into a mess? And from eating berries, at that! What would we have done if they were poisonous, hmm?!"
Zelda was grabbed roughly by her hand and almost dragged back to camp. "When your mother sees you like this-!"
"I saw a Kokiri, Impa!" Zelda cried out happily.
Nearby, the boy visibly winced. Not more than three minutes and she'd forgotten her promise. Why oh why couldn't she have forgotten seeing him, instead of forgotten her promise, huh?
Apparently, this made no difference to the scary lady, "There's no such thing as Kokiri, Zelda."
"But I saw one! I did!"
"Making excuses now, are we? Wait until your father hears about this!"
"Impaaaaaa!"
The boy fought back a chortle. Well, not like it mattered. The girl was young enough that she would forget completely about this incident a few years later. Her mind was good for her age, but not good enough to keep a memory that long. He jumped down from the branch. Well, he'd had his fun tonight. He left the camp, running back into the mysterious trees of the Lost Woods.
Halfway back to his destination, another child, female, appeared out of thin air.
"Were you spying on the path again?"
The boy blushed, guiltily shuffling his feet. "Aheheheh..."
"Deku tree might actually get mad at you this time. You know we Kokiri aren't supposed to be seen by anybody, right?"
"Saria, why is that?"
"Beats me. C'mon, let's get back," Saria smiled before she hopped off the stump and raced further into the forest. She turned, just about to dash through a bush, and called to him.
"C'mon, Link! Don't be such a slowpoke!"
Link gave one last look at the direction of the camp. Then he looked at where Saria had disappeared.
"Coming!"