she must choose: To embrace her destiny and protect a world not her own, or go back to her own world and continue with her life. Will she find the courage to do the right thing? Or will she run away as always...

ok. so i'm restarting the story i took down a while ago. i just changed the name. i hope you like it. personally i think it's the only halfway decent story i've ever written. please tell me what you think about it.

I do not own zelda.

Chapter 1:

I stared out the window of the train compartment as the landscape zoomed by. My friend Jenni sat curled up on the seat across from me reading a book. I glance at my watch: 6:18.

"Jenni," I said. She glanced up. "it's almost dinner, we should probably go up."

She nodded and put down the book. I waited while she yawned and stretched, and then we went upstairs together. As we walked towards the diner car I had to keep both my hands on the walls on either side of me to keep from falling down. Although we'd been on the train for three days now, I still found it impossible to walk without swaying from the constant motion.

At dinner we ordered what we wanted because free meals came with riding first class, along with a private compartment with seats that turned into bunk beds and a storage "closet" (it was more like a little hole built in the wall, and barely held anything). After we ate, Jenni and I headed over to the lookout, a car with windows on all sides so you could look out (no pun intended).

Almost immediately Jenni started flirting with a couple of guys who looked to be about 16 or 17, and proceeded to tell them she was 16. When they went to buy her some stuff from the snack bar, I went over to her.

"Weren't those guys absolutely adorable?" Jenni squealed.

"Sure, I guess. If you're like…oh, say…sixteen. Which you're not!"

She shrugged. "Close enough."

"Jenni, you're only thirteen." I said.

She folded her arms and tossed her blonde hair at me. "I'll be fourteen next month!" she defended herself. "And besides, I can pass for sixteen anyways."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever," I said. "I'm going back to our room. See you later." She nodded and waved, smiling. I sighed as I made my way back to the room. It was true. Jenni looked much older than her real age. Even though she had just finished eighth grade, she could easily pass off as a sophomore or even a junior in high school. Me on the other hand, I could barely pass for twelve, even though I'd been fourteen for almost six months now. Jenni and I were exact opposites when it came to looks and personality. She was beautiful, mature, and outgoing, with her crystal blue eyes and long, golden hair that reached nearly to her waist. I was boring, unattractive, and shy. My light brown hair had once been almost as long as Jenni's, until the last week of school when I had crawled under my desk to pick up my pencil and bumped my head on the bottom of the desk and a fresh piece of gum stuck to it. Afterwards I had ended up having to cut it all off, and now it came only to the tops of my ears, so that I looked like a boy at first glance. The most interesting thing about me was my eyes. A deep violet, that sometimes looked grayish or blue, depending on my mood. The only part about myself I actually liked.

Back in the room, I unfolded the two top bunks and got my pajamas and my ocarina out from my suitcase. Then I put on my pajamas and climbed onto my bed. I played a few notes on the ocarina, then I just lay there thinking. After a while I heard Jenni come in. "Rachel, you asleep?" she whispered.

"No."

She put her pajamas on and climbed onto the bunk next to mine. We lay in silence for a while. Then Jenni said, "Rachel?" I turned my head so I could see her. "Play me a song."

I pulled myself over so I was sitting on the edge of the bed. Closing my eyes, I put the ocarina to my lips, and played. It was a song that filled the soul with joy. A song full of laughter, like my mother had been. She had taught me the song, the day she had given me the ocarina, the day she had a heart attack and died. That last memory of my mother, that I had often played when I felt sad or lonely, or when I did something I thought my mother would be proud of, I now played for Jenni.

And it was as I was playing that song, while my best friend and I sat in our room on a train headed for my grandmother's house, that my story really began. There was a crash, and then a jerk as the train suddenly stopped. I fell off the bed with a thump, and Jenni hurriedly crawled down from her bunk and came over to me. "Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned voice. I nodded and sat up.

"What's going on?"

Jenni shrugged. Then a voice came over the intercom. Jenni and I went out into the hall so we could hear it better. "-are experiencing some technical difficulties. We will be sending people to each car to help with the evacuation-"

The car erupted with noise. "Evacuation?" one woman screamed.

"Why are we evacuating?"

"What's going on?"

"We ask that you please remain calm. I repeat -- please remain calm."

"Remain calm? Are they insane?"

"How do they expect us to remain calm?"

"I want to know what's going on!"

"Ahem." Everyone silenced as a soldier entered the car.

"That's a soldier!" someone whispered.

"Why are there soldiers here?" someone else whispered. Soon everyone was yelling in panic again.

"SILENCE!" the soldier shouted. "We will now commence the evacuation. Everyone form a line! Single file! Women and children first! Do not panic!"

The soldier continued to shout out orders while the people in the car formed a single file line and began exiting the train through a door in the side of the car. Jenni and I were near the front of the line. I clung to Jenni in fright, and she took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly, though I could tell she was frightened as well.

Outside, more soldiers were directing people as they came off the train. As we stepped out, a soldier outside our car told us to gather with another group of people several feet away from the train. As we reached the group, we saw that they were in disarray. Jenni asked a man what was going on.

"A bomb's been planted on the train. It's supposed to go off any minute now!" the man replied.

"A bomb!" I looked at Jenni with fright. "Jenni, a bomb! There's a bomb!"

"We don't know that for sure, Rachel," she assured me.

"Jenni, are we gonna die? I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"It'll be okay, Rachel! Just stay calm! Everything will be fine!"

"No, no! We have to get out of here! We have to run!" I screamed, tugging on her hand. I pulled myself free from her grasp, and ran off towards the forest in the distance.

"Wait! Rachel!" Jenni cried, running after me.

I ignored her, and ran into the forest. Brambles caught at my hair and clothes, and branches slapped me in the face, but still I kept running. All of a sudden, the ground gave way beneath me, and I slipped and fell into a hole. I grabbed onto a root that was dangling out of the ground near me. I looked down, and saw nothing, only darkness.

"Rachel!" I heard Jenni calling my name nearby. "Rachel!"

"Jenni!" I called weakly.

"Rachel?" I heard footsteps nearing, and Jenni appeared. "Rachel!" she exclaimed when she saw me. She knelt down on the ground in front of the hole where I had fallen, and reached her down towards me. "Take my hand," she said. I hesitated, because in one hand I held my ocarina, and with the other I grasped the root. Jenni saw this, and reached down a little further to grab my wrist. However, when she did this she lost her balance, and began to slip into the hole. She searched desperately for something to grab on to with her free hand, but found nothing and fell into the hole, pulling me with her.

It seemed like we fell forever, though it was probably only a short time. Jenni still clutched my wrist, so I knew she was there, but somehow I felt that I was alone. I'd thought I was lonely before, but I had never felt anything like this. That feeling of being utterly alone, the only existence in that eternal darkness. Then, just when I thought I could bear it no longer, the darkness ended, and Jenni and I fell with a splash into a lake.

I came up, gasping for air, as did Jenni, and we swam to the shore. We sat there for a while, letting the sun dry us. After some time, Jenni stood up and walked around a bit. I stayed where I was and watched her. "I wonder where we are?" she wondered aloud. I shrugged my shoulders, and pulled my knees up, resting my chin on them. Jenni came back and sat beside me. "Rachel?" I glanced at her. "Play me a song."

I nodded, and lifted up my ocarina, which I still held onto. This time I didn't play the joyous song my mother had taught me. Instead, I played a song that I had made up myself. It was a slow song, though not sad. It made me think of water, like the lake we had fallen into.

A strange feeling came over me as I played. A sort of tingling, all over my body. And then, Jenni screamed. I stopped playing abruptly, and turned to see giant, monstrous birds swooping over us, and grabbing Jenni. My body froze with fear. I wanted to move, to help Jenni, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't obey me. "Rachel!" Jenni screamed, reaching out to me. "Rachel! Help me!"

"J-Jenni!" I stammered. "Jenni!" And then I was running toward the bird that held Jenni in its claws. I was jumping on its back and banging on it as hard as I could. Then I was slipping off and clinging on for dear life. Then they were swarming around me, pecking at me and clawing at me. Then I was falling, and I hit the ground with a bone cracking thud. I moaned in pain, and saw the birds flying off with Jenni. I tried to push myself up with my arms, to late realizing my left arm was broken. I gasped as the pain shot up my arm, and fell back on the ground. My vision started to blur, and I heard voices, but they sounded very far away. I gave up the struggle to stay awake, and slipped into unconsciousness.

so, what'd you think? please review! if it's the only thing you ever do for me, please just do that! even if you only write 3 words! or 2! just review! ugh. i sound so pathetic. oh well.