Prologue-The War for Hyrule

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

― Plato

"Go! Get out of here!" He yelled as the red stallion, his very best, the one with the white mane streaked with ebony, neighed and reared back, punching the sky with its forelegs. Grabbing his spear from the holster on his hip, he jabbed it forward and dug its sharp tip into the rib cage of an approaching man who had his bloody, dripping axe ready to swing at his head not one second before.

"Take him far away. Somewhere where his innocence will never end, somewhere where this world would dare not touch hiim. Take him to the forest, where he'll be safe forever," he pleaded to the woman on the horse.

She looked down at the baby in her lap, her son, no- their son, and adjusted the many blankets he was swathed in, an imaginary barrier from the carnage around him. Her eyes flooded at the thoughts of what could happen to her wonderful husband if she left, but she wiped her eyes, tapped her heels against her horse's middle, and turned her head towards the southeast where there would be safety. The man looked back towards his wife at the sound of hooves thumping, but she and her horse were already disappearing behind the deathly gray curtain of rain.

She rode over the uninhabited flat lands called "Hyrule Field" by some or just simply "the field" by others, without a backwards glance. She rode through the bloody skirmishes dotting the grass, over the blood with which the field was bathed in, through the hammering rain, under the crescent moon, under the cloud-covered sun, and once more under the moon and stars. She rode for two days and stopped for nothing, sleeping or awake.

By now her husband had passed, she could feel it in her heart and knew it to be true.

Foam dripped from the poor beast's mouth and sweat rolled off his hide, but still he galloped. His fetlocks and shoulders ached, but still he ran. His lungs burned, yet still he drew breath. His strength waned, yet still the grace of the goddesses shone down on him, his mistress, and his young not-quite master.

On the eve of the third day, the rolling hills gave way to a sparse sprinkling of trees, and it soon turned into a dense forest. The horse steadied his pace as he trotted carefully through the ever growing number of trees, not wanting to sprain his legs from tripping on the undergrowth.

The sun's rays were lost to the leaves and branches of the quiet forest but yet, they still persevered in the dim green light. Further and further her horse plodded, until eventually the bedraggled trio came upon a small clearing where a large oak stood proudly in the center.

She knew she had little time left. Before she could halt her horse, he came to an abrupt stop with nostrils flaring, not daring to proceed any further as if an unseen presence, or spirit, was known to him. She gingerly dismounted her horse and as soon as her feet touched the ground, he ran into the trees, disappearing from view.

She winced as a sharp pain resounded in her lower thigh, a token of remembrance from the arrowhead that had been embedded in her flesh not long ago. Many more wounds were present, but she still was not aware of the many arrows that had been unleashed on her as she fled and even on her final day of travel. Her baby was all that mattered, his safety of the only importance.

With her son sound asleep in her arms, she limped to the trunk of the tree. She limped until finally collapsing with her back against a gnarled root, energy spent and a heavy trail of dark blood behind her.

She smiled at her child as tears came rolling down her cheek. "I have failed you and I am sorry for that." She took a few big breaths and with the little life in her, "I entrust you to... the Forest Spirits. May Din and her sisters... shine down... on you," she whispered to her baby.

The last of her life left her slowly in this clearing in the forest, under the mighty oak that stood above her. And as the blackness enveloped her consciousness, a short girl appeared from the shadows behind the tree and carefully took the young Hero from his mother.

The Mother of the Child of Destiny, the Child who would save all, had taken her final breath.

Protect him, she thought. Raise him well. She saw her body now, battered and bloody. She saw the green-clad one who had taken her son kneel and close her body's eyes with two fingers before whispering an unheard statement and walking away, her precious son nestled in her small arms. I thank you deeply...

And all the birds sang their songs of sadness that day, the songs of passing and renewal. Of that ever revolving cycle in motion since the long ago days of old.

The Wish Come True

"I'm always astonished by a forest. It makes me realize that the fantasy of nature is much larger than my own fantasy. I still have things to learn."

- Gunter Grass

There is but one story... one legend, that is still told. One that tells of the epic tale of two youths, who, with the help of fate, crossed paths in a crowded city and what sparked was one of the most intricate, heartwarming, and whimsical tales to be told. It all starts in a deep, vast forest, hidden away by the outside world of Hyrule. It starts in a small village of everlasting youth, where children never grow up, it starts in the quiet village of the Kokiri.

Link stomped into his tree house, infuriated. It just wasn't fair.

" 'Link, you can't do that. Go away, Link. You don't have a fairy. Only people with fairies can play here'," Link said while mocking his least favorite person's voice and facial expressions.

He grabbed a vase and tossed it at the wall, the ceramic shattering into fifteen pieces and littering the floor. It wouldn't get cleaned up for a while, though. All Link cared about right now was Mido.

Link sat down on his bed and gave his pillow a very thorough punching before settling with just simply holding it tight against his chest while leaning against the bed's headboard.

"Mido always says that I'm not a Kokiri. Even though I don't have a fairy yet, I was born in the forest and I've never left it, not ever. I have as much Kokiri in me as Mido is as full of…" Link trailed off in his thoughts and dozed off into a deep sleep.

However, his dreams gave him no comfort this time.

In his dreams, he approached a castle. A castle that seemed so familiar he could have sworn he'd visited it before, hundreds of times yet it seemed ever so alien to him. Drawing closer, he noticed the drawbridge was raised. A thick cover of dense smog hovered above, blotting out the sun and casting eerie shadows across the green grassy field surrounding this castle. The strangest part was that in this eerie darkness, he heard a very quiet tinkling near his shoulder. He looked, and in all of her floating, glowing glory, was a... Fairy?!

He and his new found fairy friend continued to approach the castle, but chains clanked and the drawbridge lowered, surprising the two enough to make Link stop. The smoky smog was now so thick he could not see through the gate. He cautiously started forwards, but the sound of a horse's hooves flopping against the cobblestone of the castle's street halted him once more. A majestic white mare burst through the gate, bearing two riders. A fierce-looking woman handled the reins, and when Link had dodged out the horse's path and into safety, another glance showed a girl his age, the princess. A princess he had never met, but yet he somehow felt like he'd known her for longer than his life. Their eyes locked; as they did she reached back and pulled a small object from her robes and tossed it towards him with all her strength. He didn't look to see where it landed, but a splash and thunk hinted to it landing in the moat surrounding the castle walls. The horse galloped until Link could not see or hear it, and when he turned to retrieve the object, a large blue-black steed stood in the gateway, his rider emitting a black aura of power. The man laughed deep and evil when Link noticeably jerked in surprise, and when he tried to look at the man his dream went black.

Link jolted awake and into a sitting position. How was he able to sense that man's aura? Every time the same. Every time there was a castle. Every time there was the white horse with it's riders, every time the girl threw that object. Every time there was that man.

Link washed this dream out of his head and took a look out his window. What had been a nice, warm, mid-summer's afternoon was now a light misting in the middle of the night. He stared at the darkness outside his small home, wondering if that man really existed and where that majestic castle in his dreams was. But one thought rose above the others. Where was that girl, the princess who always threw that object into the moat?

Link stuck his head out the window to look at the stars above, silently naming the constellations. They had always made him wonder about the world he knew. The universe was huge, so there had to be more than the small clearing in the trees and the surrounding meadows. He continued staring at the stars, pondering the secrets of the universe as only a a ten year-old would when a twinkle in the corner of his eyes caught his attention and barely moving his eyes over, he saw a star shoot across the sky, illuminating the entire Kokiri Village. Link was never the one to believe in such foolish, childlike concepts but after the beating Mido had delivered to him earlier, the star appeared as his only ray of hope.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head up, all the while muttering in a hushed voice, "I wish I could get a fairy. Then, my life can really begin."

He opened his eyes and stared at the starry night. The star had disappeared and so did the hope Link held in his heart.

He turned his head and started heading back to bed, as no doubt it was past midnight already, when suddenly, a small rock crashed onto the floor of his house, creating a large thud sound on the wooden floor of his small adobe.

He rushed to pick up the rock, then to his window to see who had committed such an act at this hour. He poked his small head outside of his window but to no avail, he could not find the person responsible. He pecked his head back into the house and studied the rock. Suddenly, his spirits had lifted.

Tied to the rock was a leaf with deku sap writing on it.

Link,

Sorry to bother you at such a late hour but it is urgent. Meet me at the entrance to the Lost Woods.

-Saria

PS- sorry if I scared you!

Link pulled his boots on and bolted out his door, carrying only his tunic and nothing else. The air had become chilly and the constant misting being delivered to the forest made each footstep a sopping, splashy sound. He proceeded down the ladder of his house and up the small incline to the main path through the quiet village. He turned left but he felt his stomach drop as soon as the sight in front of him hit him.

Mido's house. He would have to cross Mido's house to get to the Lost Woods. But it was late, so Mido should be sleeping like any sane, normal person. Right?

"Hey Link, where do you think you're going?" Well, looks like Mido isn't exactly normal or sane after all.

Link gave no reply and kept walking, trying his best to ignore the "leader" of the Kokiri.

Mido's malicious, bullying grin spread wide across his face. "So, you thinking of going to the forest tonight, huh? Well, you can't. The Great Deku Tree said so."

Link tried not to even acknowledge Mido's presence and kept walking towards the hill.

This made Mido's cruel smile spread even wider. "Hey, Mister No Fairy. Look at me when I'm talking to you." Mido intercepted Link's path making him stop, mid-stride. Link cowered under Mido's presence.

"I said, look at me. Heh, maybe this'll teach you a lesson, outcast." Mido curled his hand into a fist and before Link could react, Mido's hand hit him square in the nose, making Link stumble back and fall to the ground, the taste of blood tainting the back of his throat. Mido snarled and laughed evily as Link put his hand up to his nose, feeling the warm blood rush down his finger.

"Whatcha gonna do about it, go cry to your fairy?" Mido sneered before pretending to realize something. "Oh wait, that's right. YOU DON'T HAVE A FAIRY!" Mido cackled, erupting into a fit of wicked chuckles.

This was the last straw for Link. Mido had bullied Link for the last time. Because of him, most of the Kokiri thought Link was a joke, the forest's accident, but Link was going to show Mido just how wrong that thought was.

Mido's laughing was all the distraction Link needed for him to be able to swing his legs at Mido's ankles, causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. Link hurled himself onto the other boy, pinning him down in the mud of the forest floor. Link curled his fingers and launched three punches onto Mido's left cheek, causing blood to spew from his mouth and onto onto Link's face and fist. The left side of Mido's face was stained red from blood, and the shock of Link attacking left him completely powerless and weak.

Link was winding up to land a fourth punch, this time on Mido's right cheek, but snapped out of his rage and stumbled backwards onto his feet, staring at his bloody hands. He had never done that to anyone else, or felt the strength he had shown in the quarrel before. What was wrong with him?

Link took a quick glance away from his hands towards Mido, who was now starting to sit up, and started a mad dash towards the vines and the cliff that lead to the Lost Woods.

He slowly climbed the vines, covering a few of them in the blood that was on his hands. Link quickly got to the top and ran up the small twisting incline to the Lost Woods. At the head of the entrance, there was a green haired girl who was no taller than Link. She was dressed in the usual Kokiri green tunic and was sitting on the grey stone with an eye carved into it.

She was resting her chin in her hand and was doodling in the ground with her feet, engraving the slightly muddy ground with random figures of what ever she imagined in her mind's eye. She took her gaze off of the ground and stared at the path that lead to the Lost Woods. Slowly, through the misty night, a shadowy, not quite mysterious, figure came running at her. The closer it got, the wider her smile became.

"Link! Over here!" Saria shouted at him.

Link slowly walked up to Saria, making her gasp when she saw him.

"Link! What happened? You're covered in blood!" She exclaimed while examining Link head to toe to find where he had been hurt.

"It was Mido," Link said, barely audible in the misty night.

"Oh, that good for nothing! He always tries to act tough around me and then he's always so rude to you! I'll be having a talk with him for sure… Anyway Link, follow me and I'll get you cleaned right up."

Saria took Link by the hand and together, they entered through the hollowed log tunnel and into the Lost Woods. They went hand in hand over the various logs that littered the forest floor and intertwined their way through the dense woods, dancing their way through until they came upon a small pond.

"Sit down," she ordered in a stern yet caring tone. She grabbed a large leaf that was nearby, gave it a quick dip beneath the water's surface, and started to gently rub off the blood from Link's face and hands.

"I tried to walk past him, but you know how Mido is," Link chuckled as if to make light of the scenario, "He had to get in my way as usual." Link paused and looked at Saria who was just listening silently while cleaning the blood off of him. "But Saria, this time was different. Usually I... let him beat me to a pulp but something happened this time. I don't know how to explain it. I fought back, hard. He would've passed out if I hadn't stopped punching him when I did!"

Saria gasped a little and paused her cleaning, but went right back at it, acting as if nothing happened.

"What's wrong, Saria?"

"Oh, it nothing Link, why?"

"Well you just stared out into the forest for five seconds, did you see something?"

Saria bit her bottom lip. "It's nothing Link… So, now that you don't look like you just walked off of a battle field anymore, I have something that I want to show you." She got to her feet and tossed the leaf away. "Stay with me, if you can," she said while laughing and starting to sprint back into the thick forest.

Surprised, Link bolted upright and started chasing after her.

"Wait! Saria, wait!" Link called as he tried to keep up with her.

They ran, and ran, and ran over logs, jumped over small stumps, over small boulders, until Link reached an opening, letting the moonlight hit his face as he walked out from under the trees.

"Saria?" Link asked in a hushed whisper, sounding as frightened a small child. "Saria, where did you go?"

Link looked all around for a hint of Saria, but he could find neither hide nor hair of Saria. He stumbled forward and saw two tall hedges jutting out from the ground. There was an iron gate, something Link had never seen before; but instead of being closed, locking out the strangers who might crawl in, it stood jarred open, inviting anyone in. Link put his hand on the gate and felt the cold, wet surface of it, when he heard something. A song, a tune he had heard countless number of times, over and over again. It was the song Saria had played for Link ever since he could remember, the song that filled his earliest memories except one.

He followed the song to a path, winding around the maze of hedges and small pools of water that had developed from the misting the forest was receiving. When he made it through the hedges, he came to a tall set of steps that led upwards into the misty background. The song still flowed from that direction, loud in his ears, so without a drop of hesitation, he ran up the stairs, ascending at a very impressive pace for such a young boy.

He reached the top very out of breath, but a warming sight was waiting as a reward for his efforts. Saria sat on a small tree stump playing her ocarina, swinging her legs and swaying to her music. The structure overhanging the area in which she sat was definitely not of Kokiri origin. It looked like a building, but the architecture looked nothing like what one would find in the Kokiri Village, being made entirely of stone and not the usual hollow trees. The staircase that had once led to the stone building was now broken and sheltered the stump Saria sat on, which was adjacent to a small dead tree.

As if she could sense him, Saria opened her eyes and saw Link, his own eyes wide with surprise and awe, then looked back at her ocarina, smiling as she played the last few notes.

"Link, welcome to the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's my secret place! I feel... This place will be very important for both of us someday. That's what I feel." She looked at Link and smiled. "Hey, Link!"

He walked over to her and saw her reach behind her back as she grabbed a box fashioned out of bark and wood.

"Happy birthday!"

She extended her hands out to Link, bearing the gift she had for him.

"Saria, you didn't have too."

"Come on Link, you know me."

He grabbed it from her and smiled as his hands slowly went towards the lid. He grabbed it with one hand and took it off, placing it gently on the ground next to him. He sat down on the grass and set the box infront of him. Reaching inside, he took out a wooden shield with the red claw of the Kokiri painted on the front.

"It took me almost three months to carve it, but I made it especially for you!" She smiled at Link as he examined it. "Look in the box Link, there's more!"

He placed the shield next to him and reached into the box and grabbed the next item, an ocarina, one identical to hers. He held it to his lips and blew; the notes were just as smooth and crisp as the notes Saria played on her ocarina.

Still smiling, she said, "There's one more thing I have for you."

"Saria, you have already given so much to me. I don't need anything else."

She smiled at him, "Link, just please, take this." She handed him a small chest.

Link lifted the chest from her and placed it in front of him.

"I found it the first time I came here. And now, I feel that you will need it soon."

He opened the chest and his eyes went wide as he grabbed it and looked at it.

"Link, this is the legendary Kokiri Sword, the one wielded by all those Kokiri in the stories I used to tell you about. I have given so much to you this year, including this legendary blade because… I feel like this may be our last year together. I feel like something dark is descending upon this land and I feel our distance may grow apart… but I want you to know Link, if anything ever does happen to you, I will always be there for you. I will always be your friend."

Link's eyes began to water and he lunged at her, almost knocking Saria off of the stump as he hugged her and held on to her as tight as he could. Saria, startled at first, returned his gesture. They both embraced in a warm hug, in the middle of the cold Sarced Forest Meadow. After spending some time chasing each other and playing games in the meadow, Link placed his shield on his back, sheathed his sword, and placed the ocarina in his pack. The two slowly made their way back to the little village and parted ways to their own houses.

Link slowly ascended the ladder to his house, turned to look at the village, and breathed a big sigh. It was the middle of the night, before it was even properly his birthday, and it had already proved to be the best one yet. He turned and entered his small house and placed his shield and sword, really just a long knife in truth, on the table in the middle of his his house, and took out his ocarina. For a short time a tune was blown, but drowsiness ultimately overcame his mind and a deep slumber was had, filled with pleasant dreams unseen before for a very long time. If only he knew this would be his last night as just a regular boy.

Author's Note: Thanks for checking out this story. I hope you are enjoying it so far and I urge you to leave any comments or suggestions you have below. This way, I can improve on my writing and make the future chapters even better. Thanks! Enough of me though... WHAT ARE YOU DOING ANYWAYS READING THIS NOTE! THE NEXT CHAPTER IS ONLY A CLICK AWAY!