The Legend of a Thief: Ocarina of Time

Chapter 1

I didn't like the Kokiri forest. Not really. Every Kokiri felt like the forest was their only home.

I felt it was just a forest.

I'm a Kokiri. I'm not supposed to grow up. I'm not supposed to have dreams about castles and a green man. I'm not even supposed to want to leave the forest. I'm also not supposed to be a thief.

Then, what was I supposed to become? Am I better or worse off the way I am now? I'm in no position to be able to make that judgement. All I know, is that long after my story has ended, and my legend is added to the countless others who existed before me, I'll be able to say one thing.

My fate was my own.

Last night, I decided to sleep in, which was probably a mistake. Judging by the amount of light entering my tree-house, it was probably around noon. I took in a deep breathe, and then exhaled. If it was that late I'll probably be expected out soon. My house was very messy. There were sheets all over the ground from my bed and it was dusty. I hadn't really cleaned up around here for days, which probably wasn't a good idea. I'd been busy though. You need a lot of time if you're going to plan the perfect . . .

"Liiiink! Get out of bed! The day is going quick and you still have a job to do!"

Saria.

Leave me alone.

Why was she always checking in on me? I slowly rose out of bed and looked at the doorway.

Do I really want to go out there? No.

Do I have a choice? Nope.

I let out a deep breath before I yelled, "Coming, Saria!"

I was about to look for my boots and tunic when it dawned on me that I was already in them. I frowned when I realized how tired I must have been to sleep in my clothes. Well, it was a pretty rough night. Seeing as I already had some clothes on, I walked out, holding my hand up to block the sun, and looked down.

Saria was waiting there with her usual smile, and her bright, green hair. It wasn't a disgusting green, but it still didn't look quite right. Her hair matched the forest, and apparently, so did her clothes. The only color you could ever find her in was green, and that wasn't even the strangest thing about her. She was over a century old, yet she still looked 12 years of age. I didn't really understand how that worked, but, according to the other Kokiri, I would find out when the time was right.

I was literally only 11 years old. Well, next week I would turn 12, but even so, I was still the youngest Kokiri.

I turned my attention away from my upcoming birthday and focused on what I had to do today. I slid down the ladder in front of my tree-house and walked over to Saria. She was fidgeting with her hands nervously, but she kept her gaze fixed on me.

I returned her smile and said, "Hey, Saria." It wasn't very enthusiastic and I reprimanded myself for that. She didn't seem to notice it though.

"Hey, Link. You didn't go to the meeting last night, are you okay?" I expected a question like this and I had a lie prepared for this exact moment, but, for some strange reason, words escaped me.

"I...ummm...fell...out of my tree."

Saria looked at me questioningly. "You fell out of your tree?"

I nodded slowly, hoping the pathetic look would help sell the story. Although it didn't look like she believed me, she still went along with it.

"Are you alright? It must have been a pretty nasty fall to have stopped you from coming."

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was nothing a good night's sleep couldn't cure."

She smiled. "Good. Well then, now that that's been covered, I have to tell you that you got stuck with the hunting position again this week."

I winced.

I hated hunting.

She laughed. "I figured that was how you would react. Just to make your day easier I brought you my hunting bow." She reached into a pouch she kept on her belt and pulled out her bow, which was way bigger than the bag itself. She handed it to me and I looked at her with a questioning look.

"I still need to figure out how you do that."

"It's my little secret. Maybe when you turn 12, I'll finally tell you!" I smiled weakly. Don't remind me.

"Cheer up, Link. When you're 12, you'll finally be a full grown Kokiri with many happy years ahead of you!"

That was the problem.

I didn't want to stop growing at twelve. I wanted to be different from the other Kokiri. They all were. . .I didn't really know how to describe what I felt about them. I wanted to be big and strong; not five foot and scrawny.

I looked at her before I responded, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She smiled at me sweetly. "You should probably head out now. I mean, if you don't, you won't get back before dark. I wouldn't suggest being out there past dark."

I returned her smile as sweetly as I could. "Yeah. Thanks for letting me borrow your bow. I'll head off now. Good-bye, Saria"

"See you later, Link." I turned away from her, bow in hand, and walked away. After a moment or two of walking, I heard Saria walk away in a different direction. I always did have good hearing, which was probably due to my huge ears.

I walked on into the Kokiri village. While walking, I looked at the bow Saria let me borrow. It had been a gift from Mido, the village leader, to Saria. Mido had a thing for her and, apparently, he thought giving her a hunting bow would win her heart. What an idiot. She hates killing and violence. Why would she want a hunting bow?

Besides his thing for her, he also seemed to have a thing for me. Of course, the thing he had for me wasn't the same type of thing he had for Saria. It was more along the line of hating my guts. I didn't really blame him though. I always knew I was a bit different. Out of all the Kokiri, which wasn't that many to begin with, I was the only one who didn't have a fairy. I never really thought of it as a big deal but, according to Mido, since I didn't have a fairy, I was less of a Kokiri.

There was also another reason Mido never took a shine to me. One day, in the "distant" past, I kind of, broke into his house to rob him. I was supposed to have an hour to steal whatever I wanted, but things didn't go according to plan. I was picking a lock on the chest that held Mido's most precious possession. . .whatever that was. When I was done, I began to open the chest, only to hear Mido's indignant cry. He was standing there in the doorway, his hand still on the knob, frozen and sputtering in shock at me. He looked as if he were about to have a heart-attack. I wasn't doing too well myself. I was freaked out because that was the first and only time I'd ever been caught. He started yelling at me, telling me to stop what I was doing. As scared as I was, I did the only thing that came naturally to me at the moment.

I knocked him out.

I moved quickly, hitting him in the stomach and then punching him in the head. He fell unconscious and I immediately began to cover my tracks. There was no way I could continue my theft because, if I did, I wouldn't have any deniability. Everyone would know that I stole from him, which wasn't something I would enjoy. If I didn't take it and just left if there, I was confident that I could talk everyone into believing that Mido was just making up a stupid story. Having to give up the theft annoyed me, but I knew it was for the best. Mido would forever hate my guts, but I didn't mind. After that incident, Mido was considered, by many, to be the village idiot.

The thought of Mido's stupidity made me feel warm inside and I began to enter into a better mood. At least, until I thought of my impending hunting trip. I sighed. It was probably best if I prepared and left now. I looked back toward my tree-house. No, I didn't need anything from there, probably. Since the Kokiri assign different hunters each week, no one really had their own equipment. Everything was kept in Mido's house and, when the time came, he just allowed the week's hunter to go and pick it up. It would be the worst part of the day, but the sooner I got there, the sooner I got it over with.

My next destination was Mido's house.

Mido's house was near the entrance of the lost woods. I had to go across the Kokiri village to get there, but I didn't mind since the village wasn't very big to begin with. There were a couple of markets in the village and houses that the other villagers lived in, but it really wasn't too impressive. There was a small body of water that ran right in the front of the trail that led to the Deku Tree himself. Very few Kokiri ever got to see the Deku Tree outside of a few appointments he made with each Kokiri annually. Well, every Kokiri except for myself, but that wasn't a topic my mind liked to dwell on.

I knew that among the Kokiri, the Deku Tree was almost considered to be a god. Still, even if he wasn't a god to some, he was at least considered to be the father of the Kokiri. I didn't understand how that worked. No one had ever explained it to me. It must be one of the disadvantages of not being a "full" Kokiri.

Mido's house was in view now. As I approached it, I noticed a Kokiri tending to Mido's yard – getting rid of weeds, planting flowers, trying to make his lair look less evil. I felt bad for him, but I guess everyone has to earn their keep. Of course, that might seem hypocritical since I steal for my living, but whatever.

I got into hearing range of him and called out, "Hey!"

He looked up at me and replied, "Huh?"

I looked down at what he was working on. "Pulling weeds?"

"Yeah, it's not fun, but at least I get paid. You know, come to think of it, I didn't see you at last night's meeting. Where were you?"

I rolled my eyes. It was the second time someone asked me that question and I was already tired of it. "I fell out of my tree."

He just stared before responding, "Uh-huh."

I didn't want to continue this stupid conversation, so I got to the point. "Is Mido in there?"

"No. He left in a hurry today and didn't tell me why. Do you need him?"

"You were at last night's meeting. Who got assigned hunting duty?"

"Umm...Oh! You were!"

"Yes, I was. Do you have the hunting equipment ready for me or do I have to wait for his highness to come back?" He stared at me as if trying to comprehend what I was saying. I was probably being a bit mean to him, but I was in a bad mood again, so I didn't care.

Finally, he responded, saying, "You could probably just walk in and get it."

I nodded to him before I said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I left before any more of my time could be taken up by him. The door was unlocked so I just walked in. Much to my surprise, the hunting equipment was all packed and in a backpack waiting for me. I picked it up and took off in the direction of the Lost Woods.

I had to climb a bit to reach it, since it was right above Mido's house, but overall it was pretty easy to reach the Lost Woods. The name was a bit misleading, but only a bit. There was really only one area of the Lost Woods that you could get lost in. The rest was just like any other part of the forest. Although, the area that you could get lost in was large enough that it was understandable that they named it the Lost Woods. I'd never venture into the that part of the Lost Woods, but there was one Kokiri who always seemed to be able to manage it: Saria. She had an unusually keen sense of direction along with a freaky connection with the forest that seemed to allow her to navigate that area perfectly.

Well, lost part of the Lost Woods aside, the other sections of the forest were quite easy to navigate. I knew a particular part of the woods very well, which I claimed as my own hunting grounds. I was entering that section now.

It usually didn't take long for me to find tracks in the woods, but I couldn't seem to find any now. I continued on into the woods undeterred. I was passing a small pond and paused. It had been a few hours and I was thirsty, so I did the obvious thing and decided to take a drink. As I neared the pond I finally found the thing I had been looking for: tracks. An animal had been here, within the hour from the looks of it. I needed to track it now, or I might lose it. Forgetting the water, I immediately took off in the direction of the tracks. I readied an arrow while running so that I wouldn't have to later. After a while of following the tracks, they suddenly veered hard to the left. The following imprints were deeper. Was it running? If it was, what was it running from?

Well, if it was running, then that meant I needed to pick up the pace. I started to jog at a moderate pace, trying to keep up with the tracks. The tracks were getting fresher and fresher, so I slowed down a little. I didn't want to surprise the creature and scare it again. The woods were clearing, and I began to enter a meadow. I stopped myself just before I entered, though. Good thing I did, too. The creature I was chasing, a deer, was feeding on plant life in the middle of the meadow.

I smiled before aiming my arrow. The wind wasn't blowing and the deer was in the perfect position for the perfect shot. After a few more seconds of adjusting the arrow, I let it go. It flew straight and true, until it hit the deer right in the heart. It let out a light shriek before falling down and dying. I immediately ran up to the deer and smiled. Clean shot.

The deer had died quickly, something I was happy for; I didn't really want it to suffer. It was bad enough its life had to end now. I prepared it for its trip back to the Kokiri village. It took a few hours and, much to my disappointment, it was already well into the night by the time I finished. The deer's corpse was wrapped up tight in a tarp made, ironically, of deer skin.

I began to drag it back to the village. The journey back would take hours, which meant that I would probably get back by morning. The thought of dragging it all the way back to the village discouraged me, to say the least. Especially since, come to think about it, I hadn't eaten all day. I reprimanded myself for not thinking about that while I had been preparing for the hunting trip. Mido may supply the hunting equipment, but he did not, in any way, provide food for the hunters.

Putting aside my discomfort, I continued on my way. Night in the Lost Woods was pretty boring. Nothing exciting ever happened in the woods. I shook my head, clearing away those thoughts. While doing a job this boring, I probably shouldn't think about how boring it was.

Suddenly the air around me felt cold. It made me shiver and feel something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I shrugged it off as best I could and kept walking. No matter how hard I tried though, it stayed with me.

A little while later, I reached the pond where I first found the deer's tracks. I paused to take a break since I'd been hauling the carcass around for a while now. I saw the pond, glistening in the moonlight. It was tempting to take a drink from it, since I hadn't eaten or drunken anything today.

I thought about it for a second, and said to myself, why not? As I walked over to the pond something inside me told me to just forget the break, and keep going. Another part of me just wanted to relax for a few minutes, and take a drink. The darkness emanated around me. It must be making me paranoid, I thought. There can't be any harm in taking one little drink, could there?

I had reached the pond now. I leaned over to get some water when the feeling suddenly escalated. It almost stopped me from continuing, but I didn't want this feeling to make me chicken out of getting a drink. How ridiculous would that be! I continued on and felt the water hit my lips. It was so refreshing and cold, that I immediately forgot all my previous worries. It didn't last long though.

The feeling was back now, but worse. It screamed at me so bad I instinctively jumped sideways. I landed badly but I soon learned I made the right move. Where I had once been, there was now a sword. That feeling inside me began screaming again.

Before my eyes were two things I could have never imagined. There were two skeletons, clad in body armor, and carrying a sword and shield. They had red eyes that could only be described as cold, and evil. They were fixated on me. I finally understood what had been making me feel the way I did. Staring into their eyes now, I knew what had been bothering me this whole time. It was blood lust. Their blood lust was so strong it would have sent chills down anybody's spine.

The one that had struck out with his sword was lifting it up again. I was still frozen, but I was determined to not let it keep me from defending myself. I summoned the courage to pick myself up off the ground and take an arrow out of my quiver. I had let go of the bow when I jumped to the side and now it was on the on the other side. In order to get to it, I would have to figure out a way past the two skeletons.

They didn't give me much of a chance to think of anything though. They charged at me with great speed. I braced myself for their approach, trying to find the strength to face them without wetting myself.

The first one came and swung towards my midsection, which was quite a feat, considering he was almost twice my height. I jumped backwards, barely dodging the sword. He followed up that swing with a jab to my chest. I sidestepped it, and brought the arrow I was holding up into his own chest.

Much to my dismay, the arrow, when it made contact with him, broke in half. It wasn't sharp enough to penetrate the skeleton. As far as I could tell, it only annoyed him.

The sword came around and, this time, I had to duck. I needed an escape plan. There was no way that, with the weapons I had, I would be able to beat whatever these things were.

The attacks were coming more furiously now. I had to keep my full attention on one skeleton's attack just to keep from being hit.

That was my mistake.

While I had my full attention focused on that one skeleton, I didn't notice the other skeleton attacking me from the side. Well, I did notice, but it was already too late by then.

I turned to face him, but I was too slow. The sword cut across my chest. The pain was white hot, and I screamed. It was too agonizing; the pain made it hard for me to keep standing.

I backed up, trying to keep my balance. I didn't know if my head was playing tricks on me or not, but I thought I could hear faint laughter. Coming from the skeletons?

An anger boiled inside me. An anger I couldn't control. No, an anger I didn't want to control. I wanted to lash out, to kill those stupid monsters. I would have attacked them, but my stupid wound wouldn't allow me to do anything. My head was feeling woozy, due to the loss of blood, and I couldn't keep my balance any longer. I fell backwards, and into the pond. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the water swirling around me, and slowly turning into an uninviting blood red.