This is a novelization of the Ocarina of Time that I've been writing over the years. It is based off of the story and follows the plot pretty closely, but I do add my own twists and I will add one main character in the future. The rest of the story and characters belong to Nintendo, for I am not genius enough to come up with something so cool myself. If you can, please review so I can know whether or not to keep uploading chapters. Thanks! Also, I apologize for any spelling mistakes... I do try to avoid them but sometimes they manage to slip through. Anyways, enjoy :)

Chapter One: Plans

The branches of the great oak tree creaked, softly and loudly in a range of places, against the weight of the various woodland creatures crawling in and out of the network of her limbs and digging through the lattice texture of her brown, hard flesh. They creaked against the wind, which blew strong off the coast of Lake Hylia like the dying breath of an old man, carrying the same rotting odor of death that such a breath would bring, and they groaned from the force of coin-sized rain drops being pelted down from the heavens on this, probably the darkest night of the entire year. There were twerps, thunks, scratches, inhales, exhales, and heart beats, and combined with the sound of the tree as well as her surrounding sisters these sounds meshed together to form the very familiar symphony of the eastern edge of the great Lost Woods. Familiar, that is, to the peculiar form crouched like a ghost on the edge of a bent limb protruding out over the water line of the lake. The silhouette of this figure, if seen by a curious bystander from the ground, would appear alien in its frozen state, with nary and inhale or exhale being seen. The arm was extended in relation to the line of sight and the left hand was pulled back by the ear, clasping a bow's string and keeping it pulled taught for an un-natural amount of time. But this figure, though he hadn't moved in over an hour, knew that he was alone, and even if there was someone watching him from the ground that person would have a very difficult time seeing him among the green foliage and wet, moving branches. So, in an almost catonic state, the figure kept his sight fixed on the circling vulture that could be seen making its rounds around the dead and dry bed of the lake, drawing ever closer with each circle it made.

"Come ooooon," he breathed, staying his lungs and his muscles. After such a long time crouched in the same position, the fibers of his legs, back, and shoulders felt like they were contracting tight and trying to flip over beneath his skin. "Come on, just a little closer…"

The bird cawed, triumphant like it had found something delicious to pick at, and made a dive for the ground. Unwittingly the boy's palm spasmed and the line slipped through his fingers, letting loose the slim wooden shaft to land at least three yards before the contented bird. In alarm it screeched and took flight again in the opposite direction. The boy cursed, stringing up another arrow and shooting it at the retreating beast's form in a vain attempt to catch it at the last moment. When the second arrow also fell short, another curse could be heard and, suddenly, a small white light emerged from beneath his hat.

"Link, you idiot! It got away!"

Link flicked the fey away from his face in annoyance, feeling to be in no mood to put up with his pesky guardian at such a frustrating moment.

"I know, Navi." He said, exasperated. He stood and leapt off the branch to the ground, causing the tree to erupt in the screeches and caws of pissed off critters that had previously been unaware of his presence. The wet grass felt cold against his bare feet and he jogged over to the base of the small, rickety hutch several yards away to where his boots had been placed hours before, when he'd just began his hunt. Next to them glinted the silver and blue of his shield, which showed like a glow despite the darkness, as well as his sword, which also seemed to emanate a light of its own. The two weapons were tied together into a bundle by his rough leather belt, off of which hung his hook shot and several small bags filled with various things, including his two ocarinas.

"Damn it," Link muttered, lifting his weapons from the wet ground and thrusting his feet hastily into his soaked boots. They squelched loudly as he put his weight onto them and rounded the side of the building to the falling in door that marked the entrance to his recently found home - the only shelter in the immediate area. Only when he ducked into the door did Navi, who had escaped the rain beneath his hat, emerge to give him light, flitting out to land on a beam across the ceiling. She lit the small room like a bright little lamp.

"It's cold, you should make a fire." She squeaked, crossing her arms in front of her iridescent chest and fixing Link with a glare. Link in turn merely raised an eyebrow and gathered a small pile of recently obtained dry brush from the forest into the center of the damp floor. Although it had a roof, the structure that must used to have been the home to some Hylian family was now falling down and didn't do much to keep out the wet. Still, it was enough for this veteran of travel, and he reached out a palm over the bundle of underbrush and let a tongue of Din's Fire flick out to light the dry pieces. The flame erupted in the pile and before long he had a decent fire fairly ripping along, seeming to enjoy its job of lighting the dank area and warming the two travel-weary companions in front of it.

Link leaned back, exposing his throat to the warmth. He recalled the last couple of days; the dark temple, the Poe Sisters, Phantom Ganon…and finally freeing Saria from her sleeping state."So what is our next move, then?" He asked his guardian, who joined him in sitting cross legged by the fire. She leaned on his knee in an attitude of fatigue.

"Well, the first sage has been awoken, so that is a step." She said, her tone thoughtful. "And, as you can see, the forest has once again regained some life."

Link nodded in agreement, thinking back to the number of creatures he had encountered on his trek back from the Forest Temple that had not been there before...creatures of life, like moles and fat boars and butterflies…rather than Moblins and Wolfos. It brought joy to his heart knowing that now there was at least a small portion of Hyrule that had escaped the destruction of Ganondorf's reign. Compared to how dead the forest had been just weeks before, it was now almost as if Ganondorf had never even touched it.

"And Saria is helping us now, too, so we've got her on our side." Navi continued. "I guess now all we do is wait. We need another sign before we can make our next move."

"That Shiekah may show up again…he said he would, after all." Link sighed, and ran a rough hand through his hair. He had discarded his clunky gauntlets to the side upon arriving and was enjoying the feel of fresh air against the skin of his palms and wrists. There was actually a line along his forearms where they had blocked the sun, separating the dark tan from the rather pale. He bit at his lip. "But," he continued, "I think I know where we need to go next. I don't know if you've noticed, but those dark clouds to the west don't look like just clouds. I think they are plumes of smoke from Death Mountain, and that can't be good." At the thought of Death Mountain, memories of his Goron brother Darunia were brought to the front of his mind along with a pang of guilt. He actually hadn't thought much about the peaceful Goron race in the past eight years, and had basically no notion as to what they were up to and how they were fairing; probably not well, considering the state of the rest of Hyrule. Link chewed a flake of skin from his lip and thought on this, wondering what could be going on up there.

"And there is also the obvious state of this Lake," Navi motioned to the far wall where the dead body of water lay silent on the other side. "Something must be done about that, too. I wonder how the Zoras are doing."

Link just nodded and continued to nibble his lip. It was like he couldn't move fast enough; once he fixed one thing, another went to shit. And now that he had awoken as the so called "Hero of Time," his responsibilities had doubled. Not to mention the fact that Princess Zelda had apparently been missing for the entirety of the seven years he had been entombed, body and soul, in the sacred realm.

"Just sleep for now, Navi." He said, and peeled off his shirt to make an admittedly damp but still comfortable pillow for him to sleep on. "We'll think about it in the morning."

He leaned back, placing the bundle beneath his head and letting Navi make herself comfortable against the taper of his waist. A tendril of sharp hunger crawled up his belly into his throat, reminding him of his lost hunt. He shook his head, trying to distract his thoughts. They turned instead to Saria, and the past nine or so years of his life. Who would have thought it? He wondered placidly. The tiny forest girl from his child hood, now a sage of the realm. And, for that matter, his own self, another tiny forest child, now a full grown Hylian and the Hero of Time, whatever that meant. Link sighed and rolled his head to the side, keeping his eyes closed. It wasn't like he was complaining; he had no right to complain, knowing that a job was a job whether one likes it or not. But why had the Goddesses chosen him, of all people? He was no "Hero of Time," as Rauru had put it. He was a farm boy, through and through. His entire childhood all he had done was raise crops in Kokiri Village and it was completely by accident that he stumbled upon the hidden Kokiri sword. But the Deku Tree said it was fate. It was fate that he found that sword, fate that that weird mark, later discovered to be the triforce of courage, appeared on the back of his left hand. It was fate that the Deku Tree got sick and died, and fate that had thrown him, still a child, out into the perils of a land first starting to decay beneath the clutches of an evil tyrant. And, after collecting the three spiritual stones, he was now the Hero of Time? Link sighed, thinking it was much too like the stories from when he was a baby. He could almost remember the voice of his mother as she told them to him - his mother who, apparently, had died…because of fate, of course.

But this wasn't a story, unfortunately. It had become increasingly real to him as he had traveled through the Forest Temple to awaken the Saria. The faces of the Poe sisters were still fresh in his memory, their floating forms skeletal beneath their cloaks and those deep, suffocating eye sockets that fixed him with their non-existent stare, the remnants of their long dead flesh still hanging, stringy, from high cheekbones. For a moment his mind was fixated on that mental picture, the voices of the sisters still ringing all shrill and thin in his ears.

"Liiiiiiiiinnnkkkk…."

Link shook the memory from his head, taking in a sharp breath and letting his eyes shoot open. The fire still illuminated the hut and he could see clearly that there was no one else with him and Navi; that it was just in his head. His shoulders relaxed and he let his head fall back to his pillow with a soft thwap. The rain was still pattering over head and it made him jumpy – if something were to move outside it would be much more difficult to hear it. Closing his eyes again, he groped for the master sword and drew it up next to him for reassurance. The powerful weapon was, to him, safety manifested in an inanimate object. If there was anything good that could come out of this whole ordeal it was his aquiration of the weapon, which was the most astounding sword he had ever set hands on. It was almost as if it fought for him, being of the lightest weight yet cutting through the toughest of substances. The first time he'd pulled it from its pedestal in the temple of time it was as if it belonged in his hand, like the leather hilt had been fitted perfectly to his palm.

The Temple of Time…now that was depressing to think about. What was once a structure of regal blue stones with intricate, ages old carvings depicting generations upon generations of Hylian royalty was now a crumbling, falling down reminder of what the land had come to in the seven years he had been asleep. When he was first transported back to earth, Link had not even recognized where he was. Vines had pulled down much of the roof to expose the roiling, sick sky, and foliage had grown up through the floor as if decades had passed rather than just seven years. The air was thick with a scent that he could still smell weeks later, a scent that originated from the smears of rotten blood and carnage along the walls – all of which being specked with the small white bodies of maggots. And the screams, oh, the screams that he had heard upon that day of arrival, that gory display of the dead walking the streets of Castle Town that fixed him with stares of the most desperate, wrenching pain that froze his mind into a state of complete and utter terror, and the feel of their spongy, decomposing flesh against his skin. They clung to him, pulled him down and he could hear Navi screaming at him to "get up, get up!" but he couldn't, just couldn't, those eyes had him trapped completely and…

Link sat up sharply, opening his eyes and gasping. The dying embers of the fire indicated that he had slipped into slumber at some point. He let loose a low curse and sighed, letting the relief of reality relax his tense muscles and his sword clang to the ground. Without realizing it he had grabbed it in his sleep, and it was a complete miracle he hadn't hurt Navi in his panicking unconsciousness. He glanced at her to make sure of her safety, and sure enough, she was curled up tight beneath the folds of his tunic-pillow. Her light was dimmed in her slumber and flickered slowly as she dreamt. Well, Navi, I hope your dreams are more pleasant than mine, he thought with a sigh. It sounded like the rain had slowed outside, now pattering more trickle-like against the wooden structure around him. Adding some more dry embers to the fire, he re-ignited what was already there and pulled himself into a cross-legged position to hold his hands over the warmth. He gazed at the flames, losing himself momentarily in their dance around the embers and their brethren.

Click click click.

He started, whirling his head around to stare at the door behind him.

Click click click.

Link was on his feet in a second, the Master Sword in his hand and his shield strapped to his right forearm. He eyed the structure in front of him warily, knowing fully well that what was knocking on the other side could be anything from a wayward child to Ganondorf himself… though why Ganondorf would knock of all things was beyond him. Still, Link steadied himself for the worst as he crept silently to press his body against the wall next to the door, motioning for the now awakened Navi to get behind him. She clung to his shoulder, waiting.

"Who's there?" He called, careful to keep his voice steady. There was a pause, and then,

"Open the door, Link."

He had only heard that voice twice before, and on brief occasions. Once, when he'd first awoken, and again upon first arriving to the entrance of the forest temple. It was soft and feminine, strange coming from its owner, but it was enough to put Link's mind at ease and cause him to swing open the door to behold the small, wiry man before him.

Upon their first meeting, Link had originally thought Sheik was a woman. But upon further scrutinization the broad shoulders and slight tapering of the waist to the hips was blatantly male, along with the defined muscles that were visible beneath the tight white and blue cloth that he was clothed in. The large, red eye in the center of his chest gave him away, too; only Shiekan males were adorned with an eye.

"Shiek," Link exclaimed, stepping aside as the man stepped inside. His warrior's outfit was torn in places to expose angry red gashes on his arm, like claws had recently raked his bicep.

"It's rude to leave a guest out in the rain. You know that, don't you?" said the Shiekah in greeting. His voice was, as always, calm and even, hinting no aspect of emotion. Link shut the door and motioned to a place in front of the fire, where the Shiekah sat obediently. Link joined him, cross legged.

"Well, it being the middle of the night I expected something more…intimidating." He said as he eyed the man across from him. His eyes, being the only facial feature exposed, glinted mischief in the firelight and Link knew he had something planned. And he knew that it included him.

"You would be able to handle it, even if it was." Sheik said with a sage-like wave of his hand, "But to more pressing matters. I can only stay for a few minutes, because I've got to be to Castle Town by the dawn after the next. I take it the forest sage was awakened?"

"Yes, two days ago." Link nodded.

"Good. You see, I, along with several others of my associates, have been working to build a Resistance since Ganondorf first stepped into Castle Town over seven years ago. There was only a few of us at first, just you, me, the princess Zelda and –"

"Princess Zelda?" Link blurted at the mention of the princess' name, rudely interrupting his mysterious companion who in turn gave him a stern glare. "Where is she? Do you know?"

"- and her guardian, Impa of the Sheikahs. And no, Link. All I know is she is in hiding."

The Hero's shoulders visibly slumped foreword as he cast his eyes downward. There has to be a way to find out if she is safe…he thought despairingly, knowing full well that if she wasn't, if the worst had happened and she was no longer…with them…Link shook his head, finding it difficult to even think of the princess' possible demise. She was the embodiment of hope for the citizens of Hyrule, and if she wasn't around neither would be that tiny ray of light that promised change in the future. And that would mean the end of Hyrule…

"Anyways," Sheik said, keeping his gaze locked on Link's face. "The Resistance is growing. It includes members from all Hylian races…the Gorons, the Zoras, and yes, even some of the Gerudo. We are building an army as best we can without being discovered; the second Ganondorf gets wind of brewing trouble, that will be the end of it. He'll release all of his army and that will mark the end of Hyrule, simple as that. You yourself have caused a considerable amount of ruckus in his little plan, and he's getting pissed. My spies can see him getting more and more tense and he's looking for you, Link. So now more than ever you need to be careful. Keep your identity secret. And most of all, kill what sees you. Be it wolfos or keese or whatever, if you encounter one of his army, you must kill it. Otherwise your position will be compromised and you'll be ambushed before you know it." It is here that Sheik pauses for a breath, adjusting the white strips of clothes around his fingers in a subconscious habitual way. His irises, being of the deepest, almost burgundy red, bore into the icy blue of Link's like the flames from the fire itself.

"But with that being said, we are planning our first move. My spies have heard whisperings of an attack on Kokoriko village, which is actually the base of our Resistance. This cannot happen. So we are planning to create a…disturbance, so to speak, behind castle town where his training grounds lay. By distracting him with this, we will hopefully take his mind off Kokoriko, for the time being anyway. The issue is, we haven't heard from the leader of our Goron sect in some time. We investigated and the state of Death Mountain is, to say the least, grievous. So this," Sheik pointed a clothed finger at Link with a significant look, "Is where you come in. We can't reach the Goron's fortress due to Ganandorf's beasts combing the mountainside, and I'm hoping that you can. The whole mountain looks ready to blow…meaning something is disturbing it, Link. Ganondorf must have put something in the fire temple to contaminate the whole mountain, and it needs to be stopped."

Link, who had been nodding quietly as he absorbed the information being presented toward him, chose this moment to inquire after the question that had been pressing at the edges of his mind the whole time.

"And the leader of your Goron sect is…?"

"Darunia, King of the Gorons. I believe you've had experiences with him."

"Yes," Link responded. Inside his chest he felt a sick feeling begin to grow in his heart. Darunia…although the memories from before he awoke as the Hero of Time were dim, he still remembered the admiration he had held toward the massive Goron king that had dubbed him "brother" at their last parting. His kind words of guidance had been what aided him in slaughtering King Dodongo and it honestly wasn't surprising to him that Darunia was a part of the Resistance. If anyone had the strength to fight Ganondorf, it was him. And if no one had heard from him in a while…Link nibbled his bottom lip and raised his gaze once again to meet the Sheikah's.

"I'll leave at first light." He stated. Sheik nodded, and he could swear he saw the corners of his eyes crinkle momentarily in a slight smile.

"Good. We're counting on you, Link. Do what you can, and do it fast. We're running out of time." He got to his feet, brushing the dirt from the floor off the white and dark blue of his costume. Link rose, too. "Besides, it will be nice to have this all over with, right?" Sheik winked, and Link gave a slight laugh and a nod.

"Yes, it will. Safe travels, friend." He said as the two stepped toward the door.

"Safe travels, Hero."

And with that, the Sheikah snapped his fingers and went up in a plume of white and gray smoke, smoke that caught in Link's lungs and forced him over in several racking coughs. Navi, too, made a face and waved the substance away from her delicate little nostrils, cursing the Sheikah to the deepest pits of hell for his disappearing act.

"That was just rude," she exclaimed in an avid state of offense. "Popping in here in the middle of the night to give orders and then leaving in a way that makes us unable to breath. Absolutely unacceptable!"

"Hush, Navi," Link told his fey softly, and opened the door to let out the remaining tendrils of smoke that hung around them like vines. A rush of fresh air flooded his lungs and he inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool of the night.

"Wanna leave now?" she chirped. She landed on his shoulder and placed a hand on his neck, feeling the gentle pulsation of his blood rushing just underneath the skin. Link cast his eyes to the West where the ample black plumes were overtaking the sky, spreading out flat and flashing with the static storm lightning caused by friction between particles of ash.

"Yes," he said, running a hand through his damp hair. "Yes, let's leave now."