Chapter One
Link…Link…
Link tossed uncomfortably in his sleep, troubled, though still sleeping, his dreams disturbed by this voice, this voice that came to him every night.
Link…
These voices, these dreams, had been coming to him for a week now. Always they were the same, although the intensity and urgency had become increasingly stronger.
Link…please…we need…your help…please…
There was a voice, high and sweet, although in these dreams, they were layered with fear and panic, the beautiful voice marred by dread.
Come…to us…help…us…
That voice, that marvelous, wonderful, voice. It was always broken, as if it had difficulty speaking, some words inaudible.
Link…we need…your…help…!
As Link tried to hear the words better, in his waking sleep, he realized that the voice had sounded very familiar. He couldn't remember where, though…
Link…help…us…we…need…you…help…
Link tried to tell the voice to come back as it slowly faded away, but the sound of his own voice brought him out of the dream, causing him to wake with a start. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and then looked outside through the window.
The sun was just coming up, but not many people were around. Link decided to get up early, and he dressed and walked onto the balcony in his old house, in Kokiri Forest. The Kokiri, the children of the forest, that he had spent his childhood with were now adults, like him. Link was staying in Kokiri Forest for a while, until he decided what he wanted to do, and where he wanted to go, whether it be to stay in the forest, or live in central Hyrule as a true Hylian, not a Kokiri.
Link climbed down the ladder from his house and walked over to the river, carrying a bowl. He scooped up some water in his hands and washed his face. Then he filled his bowl with water and took it back up to his house, expertly climbing the ladder with one hand and carrying the bowl in the other. He lit a small fire in the fireplace, and when it was blazing, he boiled the water and toasted some bread to eat for breakfast, and drank the water.
After breakfast, Link decided to go and spend some time with his childhood friend, Saria. His two best and closest friends were Saria, who he grew up in Kokiri Forest with, and Zelda, the Princess of Hyrule, who Link had become very close to during their adventures. He was very close to both of the girls, and they'd both given him their precious possessions for him to use and to remember them: Saria had given him her Fairy Ocarina, at the beginning of his first quest for the Triforce, when he'd first left Kokiri Forest, and Zelda had given him the Ocarina of Time, which he had used on his first adventure for the Triforce, and on his second, when he had had to retrieve an evil mask from a lonely creature, Skull Kid, who, coincidentally, used to live in the Lost Woods in Kokiri Forest, and returned there after he was defeated by Link.
Link began to look for Saria, first going to her house, which was empty. Then he searched for her throughout the small town in the forest, but still couldn't find her, even when he asked around for her, but nobody had seen her. Then he remembered, something from their childhood: Saria's special, secret spot, in a special part of the Lost Woods, the Sacred Forest Meadow, where Link had been taught a song from her, Saria's Song, which he used when he needed help.
So Link went to the Lost Woods, but unfortunately, it had been almost ten years since he'd been to the Sacred Forest Meadow, and the Lost Woods was a maze. Take one wrong turn, and you magically turned up back at the start. But he stumbled across the clearing where Skull Kid lived, and he helped Link to find the place. After thanking Skull Kid, Link made his way through gate and found Saria sitting on a large tree stump, playing an ocarina.
"Link," Saria said, once she'd noticed him.
Link nodded at her hand. "You got a new ocarina."
Saria looked at the new pale green ocarina in her hand, and nodded slowly. "I needed a new one, I guess." Then she put the ocarina to her lips again and started to play. Link recognized the tune, Saria's Song, the song she'd taught to him to aid him on his quest.
Link took the opportunity to study Saria, see how she'd changed over the long years. He hadn't had a chance to before; he'd only been back in Kokiri Forest for a week, and he'd been too busy seeing everyone else as well as Saria to really concentrate on how she'd changed.
Saria had grown her emerald hair down to her waist; her eyes were a bright blue. She was taller, but still fast and slight and petite, and her face was no longer childlike. Instead, it was the face of a pretty woman, with prominent cheekbones, and a small, soft, mouth.
Saria finished her song, and dropped her ocarina in her lap. Then, she said, "Play something for me, Link, with your ocarina."
Link hesitated, and then pulled out the Ocarina of Time that Zelda had given him from his belt. A strange expression flickered across Saria's face for a moment, but then composed herself, and said, "I've not seen that ocarina before."
Link didn't understand what Saria was on about. Confused, he said, "That's the Ocarina of Time. Zelda gave it to me." Saria frowned, and Link hastily continued on. "Here," he said, reaching into his belt and pulling out the Fairy Ocarina that Saria had given him. "I've got yours here." He put the Fairy Ocarina back in his belt, and put the Ocarina of Time to his lips, while trying to decide what to play. Finally, he played the Minuet of Forest, the song that was used to transport Link to the Lost Woods. Saria was the Forest Sage.
Once he was done, Saria nodded, but Link noticed that her expression was suddenly hard. "I have to go now," she said suddenly, and teleported away.
Link stood there for a minute, completely at a loss to her behaviour. Then, after a while, he ran off back through the Lost Woods and back to his house. There, he made sure that his sword and shield and bow were still in good condition, and he checked the rest of his items in his backpack and belt, as he wondered what had gotten into Saria, but the answer did not come to him. Finally, the sky was dark, and he slept.
Link…Link…
Link groaned, again in his waking sleep. The voice, that beautiful voice, was calling to him again, begging, pleading for help.
Link…Link…
It was so familiar, yet Link could not remember where he had heard that voice before…
Link…help…
Suddenly, Link saw a fragment of an image in his mind: swirling light, pure and white.
Help…us…
A flash of shining mahogany in the white…
We…need…you…
Then green and pink and silver twirling within the white and the mahogany.
Please…help us…Link…
A pair of slanted, emerald eyes, pleading for help.
Help…us…we…need…you…please…Link…
A full image, lasting only a second, but Link's memories filled in the gaps. This woman was so familiar to him; now he knew why: that woman looked remarkably like Zelda, although instead of blonde, this new woman had dark brown hair, and she wore purple clothes adorned with silver rather than the rose and dark blue and gold clothes that Zelda wore.
Link woke with a start. Suddenly, he knew what he had to do. He pulled on his tunic and boots, gathered his backpack, his sword and his shield and his bow and his belt, and walked out of his house in Kokiri Forest. Outside, it was still fairly dark. He climbed down the ladder, and made his way over to the bridge leading out of the forest. He was halfway across the bridge, when Saria suddenly appeared.
"Where are you going?" she demanded.
"I have to leave." Link replied.
"Why? Where?"
"Somewhere. I don't know. I just have to leave." Link started to walk away.
"Is there someone else?" Saria said suddenly. Link stopped, and turned to look at her, confused.
"What?" Link said.
"Is there someone else?" Saria said. "Another girl? Is it that girl who gave you that other ocarina? Zelda?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about," Link said, although suddenly he did. Saria liked him, more than just a friend. And she thought that he and Zelda had something, more than just a friendship. Saria was jealous.
I can't deal with this now, Link thought. Not now.
"I have to go," Link said, pushing past Saria.
"You're going to see her, aren't you?" Saria called out angrily. "I get it. You don't want me. You're going to go with her. Fine! I don't care!" And she turned on her heel and left.
Link kept walking away, away from Kokiri Forest, away from Saria. He kept walking away, and he didn't look back.
A/N: Okay, that was the first chapter of my first fanfic – please read and review!