The legendary Hero of Time was dead.

He had died about five years ago. He was buried in the centre of the Hyrule castle, at the foot of a great tree. The tree was to represent the forest, where the young hero was raised. The tree also represented the Great Deku Tree, the one who raised him.

The queen of Hyrule still missed him, and always will to the end of her days, mourning for him for each of those days, when she had the time. But right now, she had another thing to worry about.

A son. A son that she had bore to the Hero of Time about a year before he died. The Hero of Time loved the two of them so, the queen and his son. He loved them more than Hyrule, and even more than himself.

The queen had loved the Hero of Time more than anything else too, although she knew it was dangerous, the Hero of Time always fighting evil, always coming only inches away from death. And now, death had finally taken over him.

The queen's son hadn't been told who his father really was. All he knew was that his father had died when he was one year old, and that he was named after his father. Poor boy. He looked just like his father. Especially his eyes. The eyes of a beast. A tame yet wild beast. A beast that would become angry when the ones whom he loved were in pain, which was often, but were kind and gentle when all was well.

One day, the queen and her son, (now about seven years old) were walking around the Lost Woods. No, they weren't lost, for the Hero of Time had shown the queen around before he died.

The two of them sat down on a log, and rested.

"Mother." Said the young boy. The beautiful queen looked down at her son. Her little boy. He looked at her with the same eyes that the Hero of Time used to look at her with.

"Yes Link?" Asked the queen.

"You never told me who my father was." the queen of Hyrule sighed. She didn't feel like talking about the Hero of Time, for his death still stung. Especially since they were in the forest, where the Hero of Time lived.

The young boy was smart for his age, and could see in his mother's eyes that she was uncomfortable, and didn't want to talk about his father. "Oh." He said, getting up. "Can I go walk around mother?"

What a smart child. Thought the queen. His father would have been very proud.

"Okay." She said. "But don't go too far."

"I won't!" Link said, running off.


Link had only been gone for about three minutes before something caught his eye. He turned, and found himself looking into the eyes, or should I say, the "eye", of a golden (white) wolf.

He stared at the wolf, and the wolf stared back. It had one big, red, eye. The other eye was missing. A small, half closed silver eye socket was in it's place. The body of the wolf was slightly transparent.

The wolf was surprised that the little boy didn't run away or scream. He approached the child.

Link didn't step back, in fact, he crouched down to get a better look at the wolf.

The white wolf looked harder into the child's eyes. They seemed familiar. Why, of course they did! They were the same eyes that the wolf had when he was alive! when he wasn't in the form of this cursed wolf!

There was only one person besides himself who had those eyes. His son. Link. Link was his son. He was Link's father. He hadn't seen his son in six years, yet here he was, in the forest where he, himself, grew up.

Could he be the one who would ease his regrets? He is not the one. A voice said in his head.

No! He told the voice. He is my own son! he must be the one. It has to be him. My child.

He is not the one.

Shut up! He's my only child.

I tell you, he is not the one.

You coward! It is him! I can feel it!

Can you?

The wolf thought about it, then hung his head. No. He couldn't feel it. His own son was not worthy to ease his regrets. to break the curse.

The boy saw the wolf hang his head, like as if it was sad. Cautiously, he placed a hand on the golden wolf's head, just like the queen used to do to him.

The wolf looked up, and started sniffing him, as if remembering something. Link stroked the wolf, until he heard his mother call.

"Link!" She said. "Time to go!" Link looked at the wolf, then ran in the direction of his mother's voice.

"Coming mother!" Called her son.

At the sound of her voice, the wolf ghost of the Hero of Time's ears perked up.

That voice! Could it really be? He followed his son to his mother. The wolf hid behind a rock. There she was. His wife. The beautiful queen. Zelda.

Zelda was his last sight before he died. The last person he saw with his one, remaining eye. He watched as Zelda and Link walked away.

When the white wolf had seen that they had left, he howled.

Link...the Hero of Time...the Hero's Shade...the White Wolf...

dead...cursed...heartbroken...


Generations passed, and the Hero of Time's family lasted. Every firstborn boy was named after his father, Link. Each son eventually walked into the forest where the Hero of Time was raised. They usually did at the age of seventeen, the age that the Hero of Time was, when he became the Hero of Time. And every single one of those young men saw a white wolf. None of the men ran. None of them panicked. They just watched as the one-eyed, transparent wolf stared at them for several minutes, looked down, and shook his head, as if he were disappointed. No one learned who that White Wolf truly was.

The story of his appearance for that one bloodline spread. Only one young man of that bloodline never heard the story. When it was his turn to encounter the wolf, the wolf wasn't disappointed. He knew that at last he had found the one who would ease his regrets.