It's a seven year anniversary! Gotta say, I'm a bit ashamed of myself for leaving this untouched for so long. I was just... trapped in the chamber of sages... you know the whole seven years thing? Funny right? Ha haaaa... Anyway, I figured that it's only fair that I do a complete overhaul and pretty much rewrite this thing. I was mainly playing by ear when I first started this and didn't really have a fleshed out plan.

It's pretty much going to be the same layout for those who may somehow remember this before my unmentioned six year hiatus. Man that hurt to say, but on the bright side, (if you can say that) this will be fresh, new, and a bit different.

For the record I don't own the Legend of Zelda or anything related to the production franchise or whatever you want to call it. I do however own myself and, as far as I know, this idea of how this story goes. I could be wrong seeing as it's been seven years since I started it; plenty of time for someone else to have something similar. Odds are someone has, I mean there's thousands of stories out there so a few are bound to be alike. But hey, this is fanfiction. It's all for fun right?

By the way, this isn't one of those Gary Stue/ Mary Sue overpowered character fics. Wouldn't be as fun to make if the character was flawless.

sc = scene change

It was one of those days. The kind that makes just about anyone want to go out for a little strole. I smiled a little at the thought of how peacefull it looked when I glanced at the woodline behind my house.

"You know what? Today would be perfect for a little camping trip." I said to myself as I went inside to get some gear together. A short time later, I just finished closing up a duffle bag that was filled to the brim with everything that I'd needed. "Okay, may have gone a little overboard for one night but that's done." With my bag practically straining at the seams, I went about to get myself a fresh set of clothes. I slipped on a dark green T-shirt, beige cargo pants, a brown leather belt, and a pair of brown hiking boots. With everything squared away, I hooked a short machete to my belt and donned a light forest jacket in case it got a bit nippy during the night. "Alrighty, that should be everything." Doing one last check, I carried my gear outside and paused as I saw a few arrows protruding out of a target. I looked back at my house and back to the target. "Sure why not? I could use some practice with my bow, that'll be something to help pass some time too." I dropped my bag and headed back inside to get my bow, some arrows, a leather arm guard, and a leather right glove that had all but the first two fingers cut off.

On my way out I wrote a note saying that I'd be camping out in the backwoods, so as not to worry my family when they got back from their trip. I locked up my house, grabbed my gear, and made my way to the treeline. I looked back to my house one more time before crossing the ditch and pushing passed the brush, begining my trek for a good camping spot. After about ten minutes of walking, I found a wide clearing that seemed like an almost perfect camp site. Taking a short while to set up my tent, I decided to go for a little hike. Shouldering my bow and grabbing a compass, I set off to explore a bit. I made sure to use my machete to leave a small mark on every few trees as I went to know where I've been. Shortly after, I came across a tree that already had a mark on it.

"Oh don't tell me I'm lost already." I said growing a little worried as I pulled out my compass. "Can't be." I looked back to where my camp was with confusion until I remembered I came out here years ago with my older brother. "I wonder..." I followed the marks and stopped when I reached a clearing that had a large old oak tree in the middle. What made it interesting was that a sort of moat was dug around it, essentially making it a large island. A wide grin grew on my face as I made my way to an old log bridge and carefully crossed over, pausing a few times as the wood creaked under my weight. An odd yellowish mark on the tree's bark caught my attention and I kneeled down to inspect it. "Ha ha, wow this is still here?" I asked as I ran my hand over an engraving of the triforce I made years ago.

"Weird how we came all the way out here when I was eight. Hard to believe it's been ten years already." I smiled as I drew my machete and did the best I could at scraping away the yellowing moss to make the symbol seem more authentic. Though it wasn't perfect, I sat down and enjoyed the nostalgia of playing The Legend of Zelda as I stared at the three yellow triangles. A faint shadow moving across the ground caught my attention and I looked to the sky as a cloud passed over the setting sun. "Welp," I started as I got up and shouldered my bow, "time to go back to the tent." I started humming Zelda's lullaby on my way back to the bridge and looked back at the triforce on the tree. Rays of sunlight filtered through the overhead foilage and shown on the moss, giving it a golden glow. "Now that's cool." I grinned and carefully balanced on the old log bridge. "When I get back to the house, I'm so digging out Ocarina of Ti-iiime. Oh Crap!" A sudden strong gust of wind knocked me off balance, throwing me into a paniced flail in an attempt to right myself. The old bridge couldn't take anymore of my sudden movements and gave way, causing me to fall into the trench below.

~ sc ~

"Aaaargh, my head." I groaned as I regained consciousness. I slowly moved to a sitting position and ran my ungloved hand through my short dark brown hair. Not seeing blood, I shuffled to my feet with a grunt and looked around. "Awww man," I breathed, as soreness increased throughout my whole body, "that's not good." With my vision cleared, I looked up to the now moon lit sky with dark clouds in the not so far distance. "Okay, nothing broken. That's a plus." I rubbed my neck and rolled my shoulders. "High walls... that's not." I grabbed the bow that I dropped during my fall and tossed it up onto the ledge. I backed up a few steps in order to gain momentum to help get me up the wall. "Who dug a trench this deep back here anyway." I asked aloud after I managed to scramble up. "Here I am at a little over six foot and barely able to get up this stupid thing." I pushed myself to my feet and dug into my pocket to get out my compass. "Da da da daaaaaaa." I let out as I hoisted the instrument above my head in an attempt to lighten the dread I was starting to feel. My heart sank as I saw that the needle had wedged into the back casing, effectively making it useless.I let out a defeated sigh while pocketing my compass and picked up my bow.

"Off to find my trail." I breathed heavily and headed off into the direction I thought that I came from in hopes of finding the trees I marked. After a while of pushing through the brush I came to one conclusion. "I'm freakin' lost." I looked around but couldn't find anything that was familiar in the low light. "Okay, that's another downside. Well... this way's gotta get lead to a road eventually." I carried on with that thought in mind. If I could find a road, I could find a house. After a few moments of walking I realized something strange. The more I walked the more I noticed a lack of ambient noise. In fact, ever since I had woken up the only sounds that I heard were my footsteps, the rustle of the leaves in the wind, and the occasional distant thuder clap. No crickets, birds, or any type of critters scurrying around. Everything just seemed... still. "Reeally wish I didn't notice that." A bit of unease began to grow in my gut, leading me to curse my mind for jumping to horror scenarios. "Just, uh, lost in the woods." I partially chuckled in an attempt to calm myself. "Just like the lost woods. Heh, yeah like in Zelda." I started humming the tune to Saria's song to help calm my nerves and continued onward.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden high pitched scream. After getting my heart rate and breathing under relative control, I slowly looked around in an attempt to get an idea of were it came from. I tried to blame my mind for playing tricks on me and went back to humming, though the pace of my walking and humming had both increased significantly.

"Help me!"

Again I froze but this time I knew where it came. I scrunched my face up in annoyed fear. Part of me wanted to run but the other told me to see what was wrong.

"Dammmiiiit." I growled to myself before running off in the direction of the voice. Another scream rang out as I dodged the silhouettes of the trees and a faint thumping of something in the distance got my heart racing. I shrugged my bow to my hand and slowed my pace so as to weave through the brush a bit more carefully. A loud rustling, like someone trying to shake something out of a bush, followed by growls caused me to drop to a sneaking crouch.

"Go away you stupid beast!" the same voice screamed which was followed by another swish. "Aaah!"

I grimaced slightly as the sorness from my fall was making it a bit more difficult to sneak through the brush. I could hear heavy breathing and quick footsteps as I drew closer. I nocked an arrow as I came to the edge of the clearing and froze at seeing a grey beast pacing in front of a bush. "Go find someone else to chase!" The voice came from, what I assumed, was a little girl hiding in the bush holding a dim orange light. The sudden movement of the leaves starting to move caught both my and the beast's attention as a light drizzle started to fall.

"Aaah perfect." I breathed in annoyance but froze as soon as the words passed my lips. The beast's ears perked and started scanning over the clearing. Fear prickled in me as I refused to move until it focused its attention back on the little girl and started probing at the bush again. 'Okay, okay, okay. Get it together Josh.' I thought to myself. I took in a breath and drew back my arrow in hopes of getting a kill shot but froze as my elbow broke a low hanging branch. 'Don't look this way, don't look this way, don't look this way!' Panic quickly grew in me as the creature started to turn towards me. I let loose my string too early and my arrow soared through the air, digging deep into its shoulder. It let out a pained yelp and jumped back before racing off into the brush. With the threat gone, I let out a long heavy sigh of relief and made my way to the damaged bush. "Hey are you alright?" I asked while putting my hood up due to the slowly increasing rain.

"Yes, and thank you. That stupid thing wouldn't leave me alone." The little light replied more annoyed than scared which struck me as a bit odd. The thick bush rustled slightly signifiying that she was moving but stopped suddenly. "Oh great." The bush ruslted harder for a moment. "I don't believe this." Annoyance clear in her voice. "First I'm chased for half the night and now I'm stuck."

"Sounds like my luck." I chuckled as I kneeled down beside the thick bush to see if I could help any. "What brings you out here this time of night?"

"Oh, you know, exploring, plenty of space to play. That sort of thing."

"Well yeah but in the middle of the night?" I asked while sticking my arms in in an attempt to find and set her free. "That thing... whatever it was, should be grounds enough to not be out here alone."

"I wasn't alone at first. It pounced out of nowhere and caused me and my friends to scatter. Apparently I looked the tastiess so it followed me." She finished with a grumble.

"Are you... sure you're okay?" I asked after a short pause of looking for her, finding it weird that I had yet to find any sign of her. "You're really stuck in there huh?" I stepped back and drew my machete. "Hold still and I'll see if I can cut you out." I brought my arm back for a swing but froze as a loud howl rang out. I quickly turned around whipping my head back in forth to see where it came from. I did not want to out in the open with an angry wild animal around, especially one as big as whatever that grey thing was.

"You need to go, it's coming back!"

"What about-"

"Don't worry about me." she urged. "I can tone down my light, it won't notice me." I looked at the bush her dimming light was in and then back to the woods. "Go!"

I hated to leave her behind but she was right, I needed to move and move fast. I let out an annoyed grunt and ran off into the woods. I heard twigs snap in the distance and that gave me the full realization that I was being chased down by a predator. Fear fueled my body as I ran through the now rain slick terrain, pushing through bushes, jumping over gaps, and vaulting over logs with the occasional slip. I made it out to a trail before being bowled over by something large and hairy. The heavy impact knocked my bow out of my grasp and sent me rolling, nearly winding me. I scrambled to my feet and drew my machete, expecting the creature but was met with a white horse neighing and quickly backing up. It's white haired rider quickly calmed it before glaring down at me and clutching the child in her lap protectively.

"Oh thank heavens." I breathed in intense relief, stumbling a little and supported myself on my knees so I could catch my breath.

"Who are you?" the woman asked rather harshly to which I held up a hand to show I needed a moment.

"Hold up please." I took in a few breaths as I stood up straight and gave her my attention while sheathing my blade. "Sorry about that." I sighed after catching my breath, "I was being chased by something." Her stare moved to where I jumped out from. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I lost it. It'd be on me by now if it was still after me." I too looked back with a small sigh of relief. "What brings you out this late?"

"Answer my question first." she replied while returning her attention to me.

"Whoa, whoa easy." I brought my hands up at her tone, a bit taken aback by the near hostility. "I'm just a guy who got lost during a hike." I couldn't quite make out her expression due to the lack of light but I had a feeling she was narrowing her eyes at me. "I fell into a deep ditch earlier and got knocked out." I admitted slightly embarassed to which she responded with a cold stare. A bit put off by her gaze, I turned to see my bow near the treeline. "Do you happen to know where we are? I'm a bit lost." I kneeled down to pick my bow up but heard a snarl. I looked to the bushes in front of me just as a bolt of lightning went off. What greeted me was a pair of glowing greenish-yellow eyes gleaming at me.

"OH SON OF A-" I jumped back and drew my machete as the creature pounced on me. The horse reared back in surprise, lauching both of its riders to the ground as I was knocked on my back. The large wolf-like creature paid no head to them as it lunged down at me. I brought my machete up and was lucky enough to catch it's jaws as they clamped down. The wolf growled angrily as it tried to wrench the metal out of my hands. Fear gave me strength but I was fighting a losing battle due to fatigue and soreness from earlier events. It's vigirous shaking was too much, the only barrier I had was ripped from my clutches and flung it to the side. It stood on it's hind legs like a werewolf and let out a howl before crashing down on me. In a panic, I flailed around as a means of getting free. Successful of getting out from under it, I scurried away before I realized that it wasn't moving. I stared at it in disbelief and sat up, not even caring that the rain was now running down my face since my hood had fallen back from the scuffle.

'Wha... A werewolf?' I thought in confusion as I panted. 'What the hell?' I looked to the woman that was now walking towards me with a red tinged wakizashi type blade in her hand. I turned my head to her when she was standing next to me. Another bolt of lightning lit up the area for a breif moment, allowing me a glimpse of the few features not hidden by her cloth mask. Piercing red eyes underlined by white markings stared me down as she lifted her arm and aimed the blade down to me. "Whoa what the crap lady?!" I yelled as I fell back, barely catching her wrist and kicking her over me. I rolled to my feet and held my arms up defensively as she quickly recovered and continued to watch me carefully. Fear again took hold of me while my mind was still racing to catch up from the first attack. "Listen, I don't know what's going on but you've got NO reason to be attacking me!" She didn't move but that didn't stop me from taking a slow uncounscious step back.

"My apologies." she said after a few tense moments and sheathed her weapon. "I mistook you for a threat." I carefully watched her as she walked over to the little girl that was lying motionless on the ground.

"Is... she okay?" I asked hesitantly as she kneeled over the girl. "That looked like a pretty hard landing."

"She's alright. I broke her fall." Her head suddenly shot up and looked towards the direction they came from. "You know nothing of the recent events correct?"

"Uh, suuure?" I asked in confusion as I slowly lowered my arms. "What events?"

"I have a favor to ask of you." she said as she picked up the girl and starting walking towards me, to which I tensed up a little. "In exchange for saving your life-"

"Debatable." I grumbled bitterly.

"I want you to look after her for a short time." She finished, ignoring my comment as she held the girl out to me.

"...What?" I looked at her, to the girl cradled in her arms, then back to her. "Why?" She looked back to the way she came and practically threw the girl into my arms. A flash of lightning lit up the girls white and purple dress, to which I got an odd sense of familiarity but couldn't place it. In fact, now that I thought about it, I felt like I had seen the white haired woman before as well.

"I don't have time to get her safely on the horse. Please, you must keep her away from the man that is coming this way at all costs." She said urgently as she quickly mounted her horse.

"Hold up." Worry was starting to build up in me at what I was getting involved in. "What the heck's going on?"

"I will continue down this path as a diversion, keep her safe and hidden well." With one last look at the girl, she raced down the path.

"Wait! When are you coming baaa-" I trailed off as she faded into the darkness. "Well crap." I looked to the sky and then where she had come from. "Just what did I get myself into?" I didn't get a chance to think on it because a faint thumping was heading towards me. I held the girl close to me and took cover in the brush. A horse neighed as its steps as well as my heartbeats increased in sound. I was so focused on the oncoming potential threat that I didn't notice the girl start to stir awake. Heavy hooves came thundering down the path as a large black horse came galloping passed with a large man atop it. Time seemed to slow down a moment as a bolt of lightning lit up the area, my eyes widened in disbelief as I got a good look at his dark skinned man had a rather large protruding nose with red, receding hair and an ornate crest resting on his forehead.

"Ganondorf?!" I breathed in disbelief. "How the...? If that was..." I looked in his direction and slowly down to the now awake girl that was still in my arms. Her eyes wide and scared as I met her blue gaze. "Then you've gotta be-" Before I could finish she let out a loud scream to which I quickly shushed her by covering her mouth. Fear prickled in me as I looked in the direction Ganondorf went, hoping that he hadn't heard. Those hopes plummeted as his dark laughter seemed to echo throughout the woods and was soon followed by the sounds of his horse heading back towards us. Thinking quickly, I took off my jacket as soon as I set her down and held it out to the young Princess Zelda. "Here, put this on." She looked at me with confused fear. She opened her mouth to ask something but I stopped her. "Shh, no just trust me. Put this on and stay low." I whispered as I helped her into the camouflaged garment which practically swallowed her.

"Hahahaha, I've got you now child. Come on out to save us both the trouble." Ganondorf bellowed, making my mind race for some sort of idea. "I have no intention of hurting you so you have nothing to fear." I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and made a move to step out. Zelda went to grab for me but I motioned for her to stay low and keep quiet.

"Someone heard that?" I asked nervously as I stepped out onto the path. "Sorry about that did, I startle you?" I rubbed the back of my neck in an attempt to try and keep my cool to play this off. "Man that's embarassing, I didn't think anyone would be out here."

"Where are you hiding her?" he demanded, making me freeze. "Or are you suggesting that that scream was you?"

"Yeeaah, about that." Desperate, I looked around for any sort of excuse and spotted a cobweb glistening from the rain. "I uh, heh, saw a really big spider." His amber eyes had a sort of glow to them, giving his gaze a more intimidating presense as he towered over me. 'Oh like that's gonna work.' I mentally chided myself as his eyes narrowed.

"I'll ask again." His voice now had an edge to it and a faint crackling began to be audible as his horse moved to stand beside me. I looked up to see a ball of yellow lightning starting to form in his hand. "Where are you hiding her?"

"Who?" My nervousness continued to grow as I had to almost fight to keep my voice steady. Annoyance flashed over his face and he lifted his glowing hand. "Wait, wait!" I let out while stepping back and holding my hands up. "I mean, you haven't told me a name or anything." He paused but still stared down at me. "I'm sure you've noticed already but I'm not from around here. For all I know you could be looking for a lost dog."

"I'm looking for a young girl by the name of Princess Zelda." He said after a moment and dispelled the magic in his hand. "She came through here not long ago on a white horse occompanied by a Sheikah woman."

"I did run into a woman when I stepped out on this path a little while ago." I said, figuring that selling out part of the truth would be much easier than spinning a lie on the spot. "Well I should say she practically trampled me with her horse." His expression eased a bit from getting information from me. "I yelled at her but I think I noticed a child with her. She rode into a tunnel near a large bundle of brambles." I pointed in the direction that Impa went and his gaze followed. "She hit me pretty hard but it looked like she was in a white dress." He looked back at me with an intense stare. "Look I can kind of understand your doubt, but I really don't see why sombody would leave their kid with a stranger they nearly killed."

"Hm... You make sound judgement." He said lowly. "Carry on." With that he commanded his horse to follow the directions I gave him. As soon as he was gone, I let loose a heavy sigh and fell to my butt as my legs gave out.

"What the hell is going on here?" I muttered to myself as I ran a hand through my wet hair. "This can't be possible." I laid back and covered my eyes with my arm, not caring about the rain that was still falling. 'How am I here?' A few moments passed as I tried to make sense of the situation until a twig snapped and caught my attention. I lifted my arm just enough to see a camouflaged Zelda peeking from behind a tree and slowly making her way out of the brush. 'This has gotta be a dream.' I thought as a small smile grew on my face. 'Ha, awesome. Hope I remember this one.' I heard her walk over to me and felt a lack of rain hitting my face.

"Mister?" she asked a little hesitantly. I moved my arm and saw her leaning over me with her hands on her knees. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I replied as I sat up, feeling a newfound excitement at the descovery of what was going on. "Just a bit shaken up."

"Do you know where my caretaker Impa is?"

"The woman with white hair who nearly ran me over?" I asked with light grin.

"Um," my grin widened a bit at her uneasy response, "yes?"

"She's somewhere down that path." She nervously turned in the dirction she pointed. "But don't worry," I added reassuringly," she's got a good lead on him." I got up with a grunt and did what I could to brush the soggy dirt off of me. "She asked me to look after you until she came back." I took a moment to retrieve both my machete and bow before going back to the young princess who had yet to move. "Hey," I said softly, hoping to sound comforting as I kneeled down beside her, "I know you're worried but we should find a place to get out of this rain." She looked at me and gave a small nod. "Can't have you catching a cold." I added with a small smile.

"You'll catch one before me."

"Wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me tonight." I replied with a shrug as I started down the path the horses came from. "Come on, let's find some shelter." She was about to reply but she suddenly stopped and looked behind us.

"Wait, I hear a horse coming this way." I tensed a bit and looked down the path as well but didn't hear anything.

"You sure?"

"It's Ganondorf!" she let out fearfully while backing up, making my eyes go wide. "He's coming back." She turned and ran down the path to which I soon followed. "Hurry, there should be a bridge a little further ahead!" Seeing that I could easily out run her, I scooped Zelda up in my arms and picked up the pace.

"How close is he?" I asked as she looked over my shoulder.

"Not far." she replied, which was soon confirmed by a distant neigh. I didn't bother looking back and continued as fast as I could go until I could see a sign post in the distance. "There! That's the bridge!" I stopped at the rather large rope bridge and put Zelda down. I was a little hesitant to go over the edge but the oncoming threat gave me little time to think about it. I dropped down and threw my bow under the bridge once I got my footing.

"Come on, I gotcha!" I called as I held my arms up, ready to catch the young Hylian. She spared one glace over her shoulder before jumping down to me. I stumbeld back a little when she landed in my arms but quickly righted myself and ran under the bridge. I pressed myself against the bottom of the wall and held Zelda protectively as we waited for Ganondorf to cross over. Our breathing nearly ceased as the dark horse and its master drew near. My heart leapt when Zelda's grip tightened on my shirt as we watched the bridge dip slightly under its weight. I held the princess a little closer as the horse's pace seemed to slow as it continued over the wooden planks. Neither of us moved for the next few minutes until Zelda finally relaxed.

"He's gone." she almost whispered to which I let out a long relieved sigh and let my head rest against the wall behind me.

"That was close." I muttered tiredly and let myself go limp. A wave of weariness washed over me as all of the events of the night finally caught up to me.

"Are you okay?" Zelda asked worriedly as she got off of me.

"Rough night." I simply replied as I ran a hand over my face. "What about you? You're not hurt right?"

"Thanks to you I'm fine." She said as she took a few steps and turned to me. "I'd like to formally thank you for protecting me. I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule." I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at seeing her curtsey in my jacket. She looked to be garbed in a camouflaged dress with extra long sleeves. "To what name does my savior go by?"

"I'm flattered your highness." I grinned as I stood up with a light grunt and gave a gentleman's bow. "You can simply call me Josh."

"Then you may simply call me Zelda." she said with a small smile making me grin even more.

"Well Zelda," I let out as I slid down the wall to a sitting position, "Sorry to say this but we'll have to stay here untill morning."

"How come?" She asked curiously.

"It'll be safer to move around during daylight and, in all honesty," I paused a moment to stretch before giving her a tired smile, "I need a breather. Had a bit of a scuffle before you woke up."

"Will you be alright?"

"Yeah, just bit sore but more exhausted than anything." I closed my eyes and let my head rest against the wall behind me. I heard her move towards me after a few moments but didn't think anything of it until I felt a wave of warmth wash over me. I looked up to see Zelda holding her hands out to me with the sleeves pulled back.

"It's the least I can do." She answered my unspoken question with a light smile. "I'll dry you out with my magic while you rest. Can't have you catching a cold right?"

"Thanks." I gave her a tired grin and closed my eyes again as I got as comfortable as I could. "Wake me if anything comes up." I soon started drifting off to sleep with hopes that that this dream would continue.

And there we have it, my near forgotten story finally emerging from the pit of negligence. This is still technically my first story so there's gonna be hiccups here and there but I'll do what I can to make it as smooth as possible.

Anyway, enough said. Hope you enjoyed!