I awoke to the shouts of Leoni calling my name. It's so early in the morning, the sun has barely risen. Either that, or clouds are covering the sky once again. The sun is never seen clearly these days. I don't remember ever seeing a bright sunny day. Maybe there was one once in my parents' lifetime, however, sadly, I never met them. This village and I raised me. I live alone in my shack, which I made myself at around 7 years old. I have no siblings, at least, not that I know of. Before I built my shack, I lived in a hollow tree on the outskirts of the village. Leoni found me there on my birthday and he convinced me stay in the village; he's taught me almost everything I know. He's my best friend.

"Link! Wake up! There's something I need your help with!"

Probably another storm coming. He and I are both around the age of 19 and the children and elders of the village rely on us to protect them from the frequent storms that plague our province. There's only one benefit to these storms, they make our woods beautiful. The woods around here are huge and one could easily get lost in them. I love it. All the green, the life, the adventure.

I haven't gone into the woods in a few weeks. There's been talk of danger in them, well, more danger than usual.

I rose from my futon and slipped on my green dress and tan cloth that I tie around the center, along with simple sandals. I've been wearing these clothes since I can remember, peasant's clothes some people call them. Green's my favorite color though, and this outfit is the only thing my parents left me.

"Finally," Leoni said to me when I stepped outside, "We need to secure the fences and get all the livestock inside the barn."

I nodded and followed him to the borders of the village. The fences are always breaking due to the storms. This job is easy though, all I have to do is find stable branches and tie them to the broken parts of the fence. Sometimes we fight off spiders crawling on the wire. Like this one that I just hit with a stick.

"You're pretty good at that, Link," Leoni says. I smile and nod, then continue working.

Leoni isn't much of a rancher; he can hardly ride a horse without falling off. He doesn't even have his own horse. He tried to borrow Epona once and she didn't take kindly to him. The ranch is large, full of goats and pigs and minis. The barn is the size of 15 shacks put together. This shouldn't take me long. I've been doing this for years. Leoni runs ahead of me, directing me to which animals to herd inside, and I follow on Epona, scaring the animals into the barn.

"Alright Link, you ready?"

I nod and hop on Epona.

"Then let's do this quickly, those clouds are moving fast."

"Hyaa!" I shout and crack Epona's reigns as Leoni directs me toward the pigs.

A half hour later…

That took longer than expected. I can see the nervousness on Leoni's face. The winds have gotten stronger and the children are getting scared.

"Get inside and stay by your parents!" Leoni yells to them. I look around, making sure everyone is safe.

What? There's something in that tree over there.

Oh no. It's one of the children. She must be stuck.

I have to help her, I think to myself as I take off running. The tree is on the top of a hill, next to the general store. She must be the shopkeeper's daughter, Riwah. She loves to climb everything.

"Link!" She sees me and calls my name. I jump onto the roof of the general store and try to find a way to Riwah.

There's a branch but it doesn't look stable.

"Link! Hurry, the wind's too strong!"

I'll have to be brave and take a chance. Stumbling as I land on the branch, I reach up and free Riwah's foot from where it was caught. I watch as she cries in relief and runs into her family's store, not noticing the wind getting stronger and the sound of the branch cracking under my feet.

Ouch is my only thought as I drift into unconsciousness.

Later:

"Do you think she's alright?"

"We'll have to wait and see."

"Her bravery is going to be the death of her."

"Be more respectful, she saved my daughter's life."

"Just be grateful I got her in here before the storm came."

"Wake her up. I need to see if she's alright."

So many voices around me. Where exactly am I?

"Ah. You're awake finally young lady."

I sat up and looked around me, seeing Leoni sitting next to me, a look of relief on his face.

"Thank the goddesses you're alright. When I saw you fall and hit your head…"

I put my hand on his shoulder to hush him.

The woman next to us spoke, "I am also glad to see you're alright. Your courage is impressive."

I looked at her and blinked in confusion. I had never seen her before.

"Oh forgive me, my name is Impa, I am the shaman of this village. You may not recognize me seeing as I have never stepped foot out of my home."

"She's Riwah's Grandmother. We're in the back of the general store, "Leoni tells me.

That makes sense I guess. Leoni's dark hair is blending into the shadows and I'm starting to feel uneasy.

Impa looks at me and says, "That storm brought with it more than rain this time. There are monsters out there, terrible, terrible creatures. I don't know what's become of our woods."

I turned away. Word of danger had been going around. But monsters?

"Some of the villagers have already been killed. I've never seen anything like this… these people are poor and hardly know how to defend themselves, especially against monsters like these."

I looked around; finally noticing most of the village was gathered in this room. They all look terrified.

Impa turned to them and said, "Be calm my friends, this shall pass. We can get through this. The soldiers from Hyrule castle will surely do something about this."

"But how will they get word of our problem?" I heard a young woman ask.

"Link and I will go. We're the strongest. And with my knowledge and her bravery we'll surely make it."

I turned to Leoni in disbelief. How could he volunteer us so suddenly?

But the look of fear on my fellow villagers' and friends' faces convinces me. I have to go with Leoni and inform the soldiers in Hyrule.

I've never left my village, or fought anything besides large spiders.

Be courageous Link, I tell myself.