A/N: This isn't really set in a specific world, but is mostly based on Ocarina of Time, if anything. I'm taking names from other games and ideas from other places, but Link isn't a Kokiri, so it's not exact to OOT either. Pretty much an AU Hyrule. Just so you know if you needed to place yourself in a game, that's sort of where I am.

Also, T for now, but I sometimes go overboard with violence so I'll change the rating if I can't reign it in because I forgot that something is just too violent for a T rating.

Please R&R! I love hearing what parts you really liked and absolutely hated!

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Echoes of a past long forgotten, and a future untold. The visions were terrible: fire, smoke, death. He could see his death time and time again though countless ages. Sometimes, he'd grown old and died peacefully in his bed surrounded by faces he didn't recognize. Other times, he died in battle. Once in the back, again after he was disarmed. He felt the physical pain as if it was his own, and woke up with a startled gasp. But it wasn't his room.

He began to scream, but no one came in to check on him. He wanted for it all to be over.

"He was brave," a young girl said as she stared at him, unseeing.

"He was," agreed a taller man, her father. "His like won't come around again in our lifetime."

"Hey!" he called to the two observers. "I'm here!"

There was a loud sound behind him and he spun around, staring out into an open field.

"No!" a young woman pleaded as she reached for a tall stranger. She was on the ground, crawling towards him, both covered in blood. A bright light burst from her body as she threw herself on top of his.

"Link!"

Link shot up out of bed. This time, he knew he had snapped out of the dream. He was in his room, the face of Fado staring down at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he pulled Link into a sitting position. "I thought you were going to start screaming, you were all over the place."

Link swung his feet over the edge, still too short to touch the floor. "It was a nightmare again. They're worse."

"Will you please go see the Great Deku Tree now? Gaebora will let you go if you ask. Saria and I will go with you, if you want."

Standing up and wiping the sleep from his eyes, Link shook his head. "No, I'll go alone. I mean, if Gaebora lets me."

Fado nodded and headed out the door. With a final look behind him, he watched Link sadly. "If you need us to come, just tell us. We don't mind. Will we see you for breakfast? You've almost missed it again."

Link began to pull out his clothes: a green tunic and hat.

"I will be down for breakfast."

As Fado left, Link sat down on the hard floor and put his head in his hands. Sharp pains had been stabbing his front and back since waking up. He felt empty, like something had been taken from him, but he couldn't figure what it could be.

While he changed, he decided the Great Deku Tree might not be the worst idea. It was a hike to reach the Kokiri Forest, but the Deku Tree offered aid to any who would seek him out with good intentions. He had to go. These nightmares had started to cause him physical pain.

As he wandered the halls of the home Gaebora had brought him and several other orphans into, he could smell that chef had already moved on to preparing dinner. The aroma of spices that weren't usually on breakfast food wafted through the air.

Link ran his hand along the painted wall, trying to feel the textures. It was something he liked to do when he had a bad nightmare. The wall, the paint, the grass, the air: it all reminded him that he was awake.

When he walked into the dining area, Saria and Fado were huddled together in a hushed, frantic whisper. He knew they'd be talking about him. Fado couldn't keep a secret if his life hung in the balance. Saria could, though. He'd trusted her with several secrets through the years, and as far as he knew, they'd never gotten out.

He glanced at the other end of the table, at the group who was glaring at him. Mido, Malo, and Mila were watching him as he distanced himself from their seats. He stared at them for a moment longer; he never realized that their names all started with an "M." and were four letters long. Maybe it was a way of defining their character, he thought? But he pushed the irrelevant and distracting thought from his mind and sat beside Fado, across from Saria. She, at least, looked guilty knowing that Link wasn't stupid, but Fado planted a wide grin on his face.

"We saved you some eggs! But that's all Chef would let us keep. She said you need to learn to wake up on time."

"Thanks for saving it," Link said before scoffing down the eggs. "Gaebora?" It felt stupid to try to deny what his plan was. They were both going to ask anyway.

"His office," Saria said, nudging her head in the direction of his office for good measure.

Link smiled for the first time that morning. "I'm in trouble often enough; I know where the office is."

"Stop fighting Mido and you won't have to keep visiting," Saria chastised.

Link glared across the table but didn't want to start a fight this morning. Best to keep avoiding him. "When he stops bothering you and Fado, I'll stop fighting him."

"We're fine," Fado snapped, suddenly serious. "We can handle him."

Mido and his group looked up and he grinned. Fado stood and pulled Link and Saria from the room. "Go, Link, Remember, we'll both come if you want us to."

"Thanks," he said as he banged on the door.

"Come in!" Gaebora called from inside.

Link took a deep breath, a stabbing pain still present in his stomach, and stepped inside the office.