Link, the great and mighty hero of Hyrule and the Hylian people, sat upon a fence in his home village, chewing on a particularly long stem of sweet-grass as he looked over the goats in the field. It was so calm, so serene. But images of lived nightmares were flashing through his head whenever he closed his eyes. It had been quite some time since his adventuring had ended. He'd been ready to come back to the village and stay there, living his life as though none of the bad had ever happened. But it had and he couldn't help but feel like he would be more useful elsewhere. After all, Auru was re-training the army of the newly crowned queen, Zelda. With him was Russle, training half the time, the rest of the time being spent with his wife and kids. Ashei was a high standing warrior beneath the queen who traveled freely through the land and brought or sent news back to the capitol. Also working beneath the queen was the ever exuberant Shad. He'd questioned Link so many times about how he'd moved that cannon without anyone noticing or helping, but Link had simply smiled and told him it was a secret. He imagined that the only reason he'd been let off the hook was that he'd been so tired after everything.

He whistled to Epona, seeing the sun sliding down the sky toward the horizon. At this time where the day turned to night he had to be doing something, concentrate on something. There had been too many times where his mind had taken him somewhere he didn't want to be. There were too many memories of the sky being peach and blue, black and purple, like a bruise that lasted only a short time, but left pain for far longer. Mounting up, he whooped at the goats, sending them into the barn for the night. He would have to talk to Mayor Bo. He wasn't going to be able to carry out the life they'd planned out for him. He'd been fully ready to take over as Mayor before and he'd had no qualm with it. But now something within him had changed. He hadn't felt the changes when they happened, probably because of all of the injuries he'd received when it happened, but now that he could stop and think about it, he felt it.

Locking the gate to keep the goats in for the night, he looked up. The dark plum sky was quickly filling with clouds, a storm ruffling the leaves in the trees. He began toward the fence again, but paused as something orange caught his attention. He stared into the darkness, but nothing was there. He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was still tired? He shook his head and mounted Epona. She had to be tethered and tented before it began to rain. He wouldn't let her get sick with chill because of his negligence.

~*~*~*~

A short time later, the young man was finished removing the saddle, bridle, and reins from her sweaty coat. He'd already put up the tent that surrounded on all sides and was beginning to brush her down. The sound of thunder rumbled distantly. He petted her gently, more for his own comfort than hers. She'd been through enough to know that a storm wouldn't hurt her. He pressed his face into her mane, gathering the soft strands between his fingers for a moment. She nuzzled him slightly, as though concerned. He chuckled and kissed her nose lightly, patting the star between her eyes that was only slightly lighter than the rest of her rust coat. This silent assurance didn't do much, but she let it go. She really couldn't do much, after all. He brushed her slowly, letting his mind close as he went through the automatic movements.

Soon he looked up, just realizing that the rain was pelting the top of the waterproof cloth over Epona loudly. He hadn't expected it to be this harsh. He patted her one more time and peeked through the flap of the tent. He could barely see anything. He couldn't hear anything either, not over the sound of the rain. He sighed and looked back at Epona. He didn't want her to get cold. He grabbed the riding blanket and settled it over her. Again he peered out the flap, then froze.

Without thought he darted out of the tent, taking off after that orange flame of hair disappearing into the forest. Was he seeing things? Was he crazy? He could barely feel the frigid rain running along his skin through his clothes, his hair plastered against his head. He ran further and further away from the village along the path. He passed Ordona's Spring, not even noticing as his feet moved along the slicked wood of the bridge. He ran on and on, his chest heaving as the ran got in his mouth, dripping down his face and burning his eyes. He could just barely see the flash of red with golden tips. He ran faster.

The rain began to slow and Link lost sight of his quarry. Trying to speed up, the man suddenly found himself face first in a puddle of mud. He hurriedly sat up again to look and see if he could find that tiny flicker of hair or flash of dark cloak. There was nothing. He heaved, trying to drag air into his burning chest. Now it occurred to him, wondering how far he'd run and where he was. He couldn't see anything still, a fog having surrounded him. He shuddered, the chill in the autumn air feeling harsh to the utmost degree with the heat of his body so high from running. The cold wind hit his drenched body and moved right through him, freezing him to the core. He let out a shuddering gasp and curled around himself. Was that a light in the sky to the east? Or was he imagining things? Just how long had he been running? And why didn't he see the pattern of trees through the fog? He knelt there, looking around and trying to regain his bearings despite the cold, feeling that he was farther from home than he should have been. From one side, two shadows appeared in the fog. He stared, tired eyes becoming fuzzy. The shadows paused, as though they'd seen him too. Then a voice came from the smaller shadow, nearly half the size of its partner.

"You're Link, yeah?"