The forest was dark, cold, and uncomfortably quiet.
No noise was to be heard, no birds, no wind, no rustling of leaves; nothing but the sound of horse's hooves plodding softly on the forest floor and the clinking of the sword and shield that lay heavily on his back. It made Link wonder how long it had been since anyone had traveled along this path.
Legends revolved around the Lost Woods; how the forest's winding paths could mess with one's head and make them go insane, how one could slowly melt into the shadows and live a doomed life as a Skull Kid or Stalfos. Really, the friendliest option out of all of the legends was death. No madness, no hopelessness, no living a cursed life. Truly, it was the best the woods had to offer.
Link peered into the darkness ahead. Truthfully, he didn't care what happened to him. His mind was set on one thing only: finding his long-lost friend.
When he had gone back in time, he had lost everything. His friends, the relationships he had made, the things he'd done. It was all gone, erased by a single song played by a little blue ocarina. The very same one that rested in his hand.
Of course, he still had friends, but it wasn't the same. They didn't share the same memories. The things he had been through as an adult no longer related with them. They didn't remember. It had no longer happened. Why couldn't he forget too? Maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much. His eyes traveled down to the instrument in his hand.
Oh how he despised it. It was a destroyer of memories, of time. Of his life. Yet in the end, he couldn't bear to let it go. It was too important. When Zelda had handed it to him, a concerned and sad smile on her face, asking him to stay safe, he couldn't say no. He didn't know if he would make it back, but that instrument was the only thing he had linking him to home. Home, and a time he once lived in. Gently, he lifted the instrument to his lips and began to play. A quiet tune. A sad, but also happy tune. One that reminded him of his lost friend.
Saria's song. The song of the woods. The trees echoed the music around with an eerie tone, making it seem like the forest had come alive, but was still dead and silent at the same time, the notes swallowed by the blackness surrounding him. If anything, it made Link realize how alone he was in that woods. Nothing moved. He kept playing.
He would persevere, do whatever it took. Not ever would he let himself lose a friend again. Never. He had been through too much. The sages, Shiek, Mido, Malon… he wanted his old friends back. The ones that remembered. The ache in his heart was becoming too much to bear.
Navi…
He would find her. No matter how long it took, he would find her.
In the meantime, he just hoped the forest's darkness didn't steal his soul away first.