Far south of town, in the area known colloquially as the Minish Woods, an older man named Smith scratched his head and muttered to himself. "You certainly take after your father, that's for sure." Raising his voice, he called out. "LINK! Get back here! The woods are no place for a child to play, especially at dusk!"
The little child laughed and kept running, hypnotized by a small rabbit that refused to be caught. As they ran further into the forest, Smith's shouts began fading out. The rabbit then darted into a hole in some underbrush, and made the little child pout. The child tried to follow, but the gap proved too small for even a child to pass through.
"Bunny, come back!" Link whined for its return, until thunder erupted overhead. Link yelped and tried to run back. But the sky had darkened quickly, and left the child lost. Link crawled over to a small rock outcropping, and huddled under it. Lightning struck nearby, making the child scream. "Grampa... hic, I'm scared, grampa..."
As Link leaned back in the makeshift shelter, a small breeze blew through the back wall. Curious, the child crawled over and pushed on the wall. It gave way, leading to a much dryer log tunnel. Overcome with curiosity, Link followed it.
The tunnel let out into a grove bathed in teal. Link crawled over to a patch of weeds, attracted by a ruby glint. "Money!" the little child cried, and ran over to collect. But it was stuck in some kind of black metal thing, one just like the long, sharp things hanging in Smith's workshop. It was too heavy to pick up, so instead Link banged against it, hoping to dislodge the currency.
That noise... Those blasted Picori, again? Can I not get a moment's peace?!
"ENOUGH!"
Link rolled backward, startled when the money started shouting. The metal casing suddenly floated upward, and began glowing with a dark light. It made Link cry with fright.
"If I've told you blasted rats once, I've told you a thousand times! LEAVE ME TO REST IN PEACE!"
The glow surrounding the metal object brightened, and became a flash of red, gold, and silver diamonds. A man then appeared, body as black as death. Demon Lord Ghirahim hissed, white eyes scanning the ground in search of the source of his annoyance. They settled on a trembling bush, and within a second it was ripped away, revealing the child that had woken him up.
...A little girl?
He stepped back, expecting to have found a few greedy Minish miners. Instead a small child no more than four lay trembling in front of him. She was paralyzed with fear, her face a mess of snot and tears, and whimpering for her grampa.
What a pitiful sight.
"You, child. Get up. I won't harm you if you do as I say." He watched as she peeked through her fingers at him and immediately covered back up. He guessed at the reason, and snapped his fingers. "How about now?"
Link peeked again, this time seeing a gray skinned young man instead of the black demon that had caused her to wet herself. His eyes were normal this time, save for an excessive amount of purple eyeliner. She giggled, reminded of the time she got fingerpaint all over her grampa's face.
"It seems you are calmed down now. What are you doing in this place?" Ghirahim asked. "I was certain the humans forgot this grove existed." He waited for a response, but instead got a blank stare.
"Are you a fairy, mister?"
It was an unexpected question, and threw Ghirahim off. "A fairy? How dense are you, kid! You look upon this magnificence and compare it to a fairy?!"
"Fairies are pretty. You're pretty too!" Link laughed, and crawled over to Ghirahim's feet. "There's holes in your clothes. You're dressed funny."
"I'm not the one in soiled clothing," he retorted, snapping his fingers and replacing her dirty clothes with clean ones. "Now, I need you to listen very carefully, got it?" She nodded, and stared at him with bright blue eyes.
Where have I seen those eyes before...?
"Now listen, little girl. I'm playing a game right now, hide and seek. I'm sure you know it. Right now I'm hiding from someone and so I don't want to be found. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone that you saw me. Don't tell anyone about the sword, either."
"You mean the money?" Link pointed to the gem on Ghirahim's belt.
"Oh, I see. Here," he snapped his fingers and handed her a red rupee, remembering that children were attracted to shiny objects. "Keep that, it can be proof of our promise. If anyone asks..."
"I'll say I found it in the grass!"
"Good girl." Ghirahim ruffled the child's sandy blonde hair. "Now, close your eyes and I'll send you back home." She complied, and with a snap of his fingers Ghirahim sent her back to sleep under the outcropping. Hopefully when she woke, she would think the whole thing was a dream, and not tell anyone about the grove. Humans had forgotten about the remains of the Sealed Temple, and Ghirahim intended it to stay that way.
He stayed awake and watched over the child until he heard someone coming, likely her grampa. The man came into view, and immediately spotted the sleeping child.
"Link! Thank the Goddesses!"
Link?
Ghirahim wasn't sure he heard correctly, but sure enough, the old man was calling her Link. Once she woke up, she ran over to him, smiling and holding up her rupee. She crawled up his back and they left the forest together, never noticing the Demon Lord watching.
He watched the family leave the forest, and for the first time noticed the small red ribbon in the girl's hair.
'You and I are bound by a thread of fate...'
A grin came across Ghirahim's face. "My skychild..."
