Destiny's Calling

by Safaria

The threads of fate have an odd way of twining together. People you thought you had long ago lost come back into your life when you have long forgotten them. Destiny is a fickle thing, destiny must be fullfilled before lives can move on.

"Tell me….Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?" Link looked up at his companion as the man spoke. "They say it's the only time when our world intersects with theirs….The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight….But enough talk of sadness….I have a favour to ask of you, Link. I was supposed to deliver something to the Royal family of Hyrule the day after tomorrow…."

"Wait a minute," Link interrupted, "Didn't the mayor ask you to do that?"

"Yes, it was a task set to me by the mayor, but…..would you go in my stead?"

"I guess." The young man said as he turned his eyes back to the spring they were sitting in front of.

"You have….never been to Hyrule, right?" His companion asked, to which Link nodded. "In the Kingdom of Hyrule there is a great castle, and around it is Castle Town, a community far bigger than our little village…..And far bigger then Hyrule is the rest of the world the Gods created. You should look upon it all with your own eyes."

Links companion, dressed in the same simple traditional village clothes as he; shirt, breeches, and simple obi, though with a sword on his back, stood up and looked around before continuing to speak. "It is getting late…..We should head back to the village. I will talk to the major about this matter."

Link stood as his companion began walking away. He took one last look around at the spring and the small waterfalls coming from the cliff behind it. He moved over to where his horse, Epona, stood waiting a couple feet from the water, laden with piles of wood the two had cut from the nearby forest. As Link took the horses lead, his companion lead the way along the path, the trail closely lined by tall cliffs, hung with ivy.

A few minutes passed of silent walking before they came to a bridge; the only sound was of the thud of the large work horse's hooves hitting the wooden planks. The pair paused at the end of the bridge so Link's companion, Rusl, could close and lock the heavy iron gate, also covered with vines and flowers. After the path lead past another spring, they entered into a small clearing at the edge of the village. Waiting men took the bundles of wood from the horses back; there was no need for it to go any further, the clearing being Link's place of residence. As Link tied his horse to her poll next to his house he waved goodbye to Rusl; who left with his waiting wife and son. The son, named Colin, turned and smiled to Link before they entered the village.

Once he was sure that Epona was settled, Link turned and made his way up to his own house. It was a medium sized house, seated up in a carved-in trunk of a tree, sitting tall enough to be considered a two level dwelling. It was round with a red tile roof, a single window sitting at the very peak. Link climbed up the sturdy ladder to the front door and walked inside.

Link's house was fairly clean; everything had its place on the shelves that lined the walls. A few pictures lined one wall and shelf, mostly of the goats he looked after and of Epona. Coverings were placed on the walls along with other nick-nacks to give the room a more homely feeling. A small fire place sat across from the front door with a small, wooden dining room table and three matching chairs to its right. To the left of the door was another small room, which lead down to his very dark cellar. A large carpet was spread on the floor to the right, over which another ladder stood. Up the ladder was a small landing where another shelf held different objects, including another picture of Epona, one of his friends and a tapestry of the goats overhanging the shelf. The last ladder, at the end of the landing, was the final landing of the house, where Link spread his blankets for the night. Link flopped down on the already made bed, closing his eyes as the rays of the sinking sun shone on his face through the upper most window, and soon fell into a troubled sleep.

His dream was the same one he had had for the past couple of nights. He stood on a stone bridge over a small river; himself yet not himself. He felt no different than any other day, yet when he looked into the flowing water; it was not his reflection that he saw. He was dressed in white small clothes, green tunic and hat with sturdy brown boots and gauntlets. Smooth blond hair flowed short around his head instead of stuck out like his own brown hair would be. His face was different but his eyes stayed the same.

Just as all the other times, when he was done looking at himself he raised his eyes to the other side of the bridge, a girl stood there. She was dressed in matching clothes to him, though without the hat. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a long pony tail. To Link, she was actually very pretty, her brown eyes mixed with a tint of green and gold, though he couldn't tell what colour dominated, they changed frequently.

As always the girl was crying, yelling at him though no sound could be heard. He wished he could hear her voice, just to know what it sounded like. She was always so upset, he wished he could tell her it was alright, he knew what was coming, but really he would be alright. Every time he tried to speak though, he was forced to turn around by an unseen power, though perhaps not an unseen power.

When he faced the other way, his back to the girl, a large man always stood there. Not large as in overweight, but in height and muscle. This man was always dressed in black, leather armour, a blood red cape flying out behind him though no wind stirred the area. The man had skin as if he spent a lot of time outside in the sun. Flaming, short cropped red hair toped his head, and cold black eyes stared back at Link.

He knew what was going to happen, he knew even without looking that, as the man in front raised his hand, the girl behind him dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands as she cried. The mans hand seemed to shimmer in purple as he opened his mouth, words as clear as if Link could only hear now for the first time.

"You are mine!"

The purple shimmer would come together in his hand as a ball and shot out, striking Link in the chest, throwing him off the bridge and plunging into the water.

Link sat bolt upright, for once not breathing hard or sweating. As he drew, deep, calm breaths he looked around the room not sure how much time had passed. Fading light still filled the area so he assumed that he had not been asleep for very long.

"Hey! Link! You there?" Someone shouted from outside.

Link stood up, schooling his features as he looked out and saw his sort of boss, the rancher.

"Hey, you mind helpin' me herd the goats? They ain't listenin' to me lately!" The man shouted up. Link nodded his head and turned from the window, making his way down through his house. As he walked he heard the man shout again. "Hey, where's Epona?" Link sighed as he walked out of his house and down the last ladder.

"I bet I know where she is, hang on a moment." Link turned down the path that lead towards the woods, but he only went as far as the spring closest to the village. Epona stood in the spring a ways, not too deep, but enough to cover her hooves completely. As Link watched a pretty girl walked up to Epona and patted the horses' nose. The girl was dressed in a white, sleeveless shirt and orange knee length pants. She had brown hair cropped short and twisted to one side. Her green eyes were very expressive, and they seemed to be smiling as she turned to look at him.

"Oh, hi, Link." She said as he walked into the water. "I washed Epona for you! Epona is a girl too, and you should treat her like one. Oh, but Link, could…..you do me a favour? Could you play the song Epona likes on the grass?"

Link smiled and nodded as he turned around, knowing exactly where the hoof shaped grass grew, right along the edge of the water. He plucked one of the pieces, brought it to his lips and blew. The song was whistley and only consisted of three notes, but Epona loved it, and came running over to him with a whinny. Laughing Link patted the horse on the head before he mounted her. As the girl thanked him, Link turned Epona around and made his way back towards the village. As he rode he realized the saddle was creaking and he made a mental note to fix it when he had the time.

As he passed by his house he saw the rancher was gone so he made his way down the only other path in the clearing, into the village. Ordon village was a very simple place with not many inhabitants. The only shop was directly to the left when someone entered the village. The owner, Sera, and her husband lived at the back of the shop with their daughter, Beth. Fado, the rancher, lived in the house across from the shop, on the right side of the path. A river ran through the village from right to left, dividing the place almost exactly in half. After the shop were stones as tall as the shop, one right next to it, and one in line with the first, further into the river. The first stone pillar had vies crawling up its face so that people could climb up on it and look around the small village, though very few actually did. Across the river on the far left side was the waterwheel house, belonging to Jaggle and his family, next to that was a very small cliff face, the top flat surface where gardens were kept, and to the right was the mayors house, next to the path that lead up to the ranch.

Link moved down the path that curved slightly towards the right, mindful to keep Eponas hooves well away from any of the chickens that ran around the village. The path he was on continued to Rusl's house, which was tucked away in the corner to the far right. Before his house though, the path broke away towards the mayor's house and the ranch. Rusl and his family were standing by the river, his wife and son watching him as he practiced with his sword.

"Oh, Link, there was something I had forgotten to tell you." Rusl stopped Link as he was passing by. "My son Colin is making a fishing rod so the two of you can play together. He should finish it today, so you come get it at the house tomorrow."

Link looked down and thanked Colin, who flushed and looked down at the ground. Colin was a little small for his age and extremely shy, which was why the other boys picked on him and why Link tried to play with him as much as possible, so Colin knew he at least had one friend.

Saying goodbye to the family, Link continued on his way across the river, but stopped to talk to the mayor since he was standing outside his house.

"Oh, Link. Looks like you're goin' to help Fado. Good job. He headed up to the ranch ahead of you. You go finish up your work before the sun goes down."

Link said goodbye to him also and trotted his way up the path to the ranch. The ranch was very simple since Fado lived in the village. High cliffs made up three sides of the pen, with fence and gate making up the fourth. The animals pen was in the middle of the side of the cliff on the right hand side, so they had plenty of room to graze. Fado stood near the center of the field, and called out as Link trotted up to him.

"Sorry to get you over here in such a hurry, Link! These guys have been awful skittish lately. They won't listen to a word I say. Sorry to ask, bud, but how's about you an' Epona herd 'em into the barn real quick? We ain't got much time, so you think you can do it for me?"

"Sure, no problem." Link answered.

"Much obliged there, bud! Ok, then, go on an' herd all these little scamps into the barn for me!" Fado called as he got out of the way.

Link moved Epona around and to the back of the herd before he pushed her into a slow gallop, whooping as he went. At the sound of his voice and the thud of the work horses hooves the goats scattered, some going closer to the barn, others breaking the other way. Link had to ride wide of the goats so as not to push them further away before he could ride close again to heard them towards the barn. Most of the goats were eager to get into the barn and away from horse and rider, but a couple forced Link to ride wide a couple more times before he was able to push them into the barn. Once all ten of the goats were in, Fado ran up and closed the barn door.

"Link, Epona….much obliged to both of y'all! I can cover everythin' tomorrow without having to trouble you, so just sit back an' relax, bud. Oh…But, uh, how 'bout today? Wanna practice with the fences? Just wait a spell, bud. I'll get them fences set up." Fado said and ran off.

Link often practiced jumping over fences with Epona after they had been out working. She was such a big horse and so full of energy that jumping fences was the only way to drain her enough to get her to rest all through the night. Link watched as Fado set up the fences and closed the gate for the night.

"Hoo, sorry that took so long!" Fado said finally running back up to him. "Ok, then! Y'all ride all you want! Y'all get tired of ridin'. Just jump the gate and head back into the village, ok, bud?"

Link nodded his head and took Epona over the two jumps that were around the track in the field. It wasn't long before Link noticed Epona was starting to breathe harder so he turned her towards the gate and left.

Night had already fallen by the time Link got home so he quickly took all of Epona's equipment off, rubbed her down, and got her bag of food and water trough set up. Once he was done he made his way inside his own house, made a quick supper of soup and bread, cleaned up, undressed and went back to bed.

It felt as if Link had just put his head down on his pillow when he heard someone calling outside his house. "Hey, wake up, Link! It's morning already!"

Link lifted his head to look out the window and spotted three of the village kids waiting for him. Sighing, he stood up and stretched before quickly getting dressed. Scratching his hair into place, he went outside to see what they wanted.

When he got outside, Beth, Talo and Malo were standing in a tight circle, Colin was standing alone with Epona, who was all tackled up, apparently done by Colin as a means to try and help Link if he wanted to use her later in the day. Waving to Colin, Link walked over to the other three to see what they were up to this time.

"Oh, Link! Did j'a hear?" Talo asked, dressed as everyone else in the village but with a red scarf wrapped around his head. "They're selling a slingshot at the store right now! A SLINGSHOT!"

"I wonder how powerful it is…." Malo muttered. "…I…I need….I must try it…."

"Talo, if you and Malo want it so badly, just buy it at my parents shop!" Beth said.

"Do you see any Rupees in my hand?" Talo snapped, "I can't afford that thing! C'mon Beth, can't you just loan it to us for awhile?"

"You know I'd get in trouble for that! If you want it, save up your allowances or something."

"But….our allowances are terrible…" Malo muttered again. "Aww, I wish I was born into a family with a slingshot instead of one with a waterwheel….."

Shaking his head Link left the kids to fight among themselves. Rusl had told him to stop by the house the day before so Link headed into the village. As he walked along the river towards Rusl's house, he spotted Rusl's wife, Uli, standing and looking anxiously down the river.

"Oh, um, good morning to you." Uli said when Link approached her. "If you are looking for my husband, he took his sword and left early this morning. But I must ask, Link…..You have not see a cradle come floating by here, have you? It is a baby's cradle made of finely woven tree bark…."

"No, I'm sorry, I haven't." Link said.

"Oh, such a misfortune….How far could it have drifted. I wonder…"

Link gave Uli a couple of kind words to not worry, the cradle would show up eventually. Once he had her laughing a little, he excused himself and moved towards the shop. He wanted to see the slingshot the kids were talking about and maybe see if he could afford to buy it. When he walked into the shop he paused a moment, Sera was fully slouched onto the counter, her head on one arm, the other hand holding a bottle of milk she lazily sloshed around. Sera barley looked up as Link approached the counter.

"Ooooooh…..Awwwww." She moaned and looked up a little more. "…..oh, my…It's young Link….Welcome, M'dear. You…..you didn't happen to see my little cat out there, did you? He ate the fish we were going to have for supper last night, and I gave him a good scolding….but then he went out and hasn't returned….I'm so fraught with worry for him…..I've exhausted myself….."

Link gave an internal sigh as he promised he would keep an eye out for the cat and for her not to worry about him. He gave a quick glance at the slingshot behind the counter and left the shop. Link slowly walked away from the building, he wasn't really sure what he wanted to do next. The kids would still be arguing about the slingshot he was sure, Rusl wasn't at home; he wasn't needed on the ranch that day either. As he stepped a couple more feet away from the shop he heard someone call down to him. Looking up at the stone pillar that stood near the shop he spotted Jaggle waving down at him. With no other business pressing at him, he walked over to the vines that covered the face of the pillar and climbed up.

"Yo! There you are!" Jaggle said jumping around a little, "Check this out…." He said, pointing towards the waterwheel. "You know Sera, at the general store? Well, isn't that her cat over there? He's just been sitting there next to my house, having a staring contest with the creek. You don't suppose he's thinking he's gonna catch a fish, do you? Ha ha ha! A cat can't catch no fish!"

As Jaggle laughed, Link looked at the animal paw feebly at the water. He actually felt bad for the animal over there all on its own; he supposed it was trying to catch a fish to replace the one from the night before. Link gave his head a small shake at the thought, wondering why he even thought an animal would be so smart as to try to replace something that it had taken, he would have laughed at himself if Jaggle had not been standing right next to him, continuing on with the conversation.

"Anyway, that's not what I was meaning to tell you about. I want you to take a look at something….See that grass growing there on the edge of that rock?" He pointed towards the other rock pillar a little further down the stream from the one they were on. On it were a couple of long pieces of oddly shaped grass, in the form of birds. "Haven't I seen you whistling with that stuff? I figured it was pretty rare seeing it growing in a place like that, so I thought I'd let you know. I bet you could hop across these rocks, couldn't you?"

"Yeah, thanks Jaggle." Link said and looked around a bit.

Backing up to the edge of the rock they were on, he ran across and jumped onto the roof of the shop as lightly as possible. He moved as quietly as he could, though he figured with the mood Sera was in she wouldn't even notice him climbing across the building. Link jumped onto the last rock pillar and moved over to crouch down next to the grass, and after examining it recognized it as the same kind he used to call a hawk in the woods. Standing back up after he carefully plucked the piece of grass, he looked around, taking in a deep breath of air. He enjoyed being so high up, loved the view that it gave him. As he looked around, something caught his eye far down the stream, long passed where the village ended. He knew there was another pillar down there from having swum down that far, but no matter how hard he squinted he could not tell what it was. Raising the piece of grass to his lips, Link blew, the sound calling through the air.

From behind him came the cry of a hawk, and then it swooped down next to him to land on his extended arm that had extra padding so the birds talons wouldn't cut into his flesh. Link whispered to it and it seemed to nod his head as it spread its wings once more and took flight. Link watched as it flew down the river, and squinted his eyes as it swopped down and seemed to grab a hold of something. Link thought he could hear a monkey crying but he ignored it as the hawk made its way back, a babies cradle clutched in its talons.

Link lifted his arms as the hawk came close and caught the basket as it was dropped, the bird moving on its way now that it had served its purpose. Link called a thank you to the bird as he turned around. He was glad that Jaggle had moved off once Link had left him, so that he was on his own to make his way back. Link backed up and ran to jump back onto the roof of the shop. He made it to the edge, but with the large cradle in his hands it made the going awkward, he stumbled a bit back, his foot slipping off the edge. Before he could do anything to catch himself, Link plunged down into the cool water.

Link came up sputtering water out of his lungs, having to turn around a couple times before he found the cradle again. Grabbing onto it he pushed the basket in front of him as he made his way up the river, heading to where he had last seen Uli. By the time she came into sight Link could put his feet down on the bed of the river and pull himself out of the water. Walking up to Uli with a sheepish smile, Link handed over the cradle to her, happy to see that it had faired better then him in their little plunge.

"Oh! Link! That cradle! Did you go to the trouble of finding it for me? My thanks to you! Oh, that reminds me! There is something I am supposed to give to you….Do you think you could carry that cradle and come back to my house?" Uli asked.

"Of course." Link agreed, walking slowly alongside Uli as they made their way up the path to her house.

"Oh Link, I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble. You can dry off in our house while I hang your clothes up outside." She said as they walked.

"That's alright, I'll dry off in the sun anyway." Link said, giving a warm smile. Since his parents had passed away, Uli and Rusl had taken care of him as if he were their own son, right up until the time Link was old enough to be on his own, and still they fused over him.

They came up to the house then, a simple wooden structure but more then big enough for them. When Colin and his new sibling grew older though, Rusl would probably have to think about expanding it some.

"My thanks to you, Link. Yes, yes….I had nearly forgotten…" Uli placed the bundle of cloth she had in her arms down on the porch before stepping inside. "I am supposed to give you this…" She called out. "All right…" She stepped out with a fishing rod. "Here you go! It is a little….unpolished. My son, Colin, made this under the instruction of his father. You can use it if you like."

There was nothing fancy about the rod, plain wood with leather here and there to keep it working smoothly. Link thanked Uli for passing on the rod, waved goodbye, and went on his way back towards home. As he walked past the bridge that went over to the water wheel house, he did a quick step and moved down that path instead. Rounding the house he spotted the cat, still sitting at the edge of the bank trying to catch a fish. As Link approached, the cat backed out of the way, but didn't leave. Link stopped next to the river, glanced at the cat from the corner of his eye, and then cast his rod. The two must have been a sight to see, Link standing still holding the rod, line in the water, and the cat, standing as far away from him as possible but still able to keep an eye on the water.

A good amount of time passed before Link felt a tug on his line. He slowly moved the stick back and forth to judge the fish's interest. When he felt a large tug on the line, he jerked the rod in the opposite direction, snagging the hook deeper into the fish's mouth. Snapping the line back, Link pulled the fish effortlessly from the water. Stepping back and balancing the rod on one side, Link carefully took the hook from the fish's mouth. The fish was ripped suddenly from his hands and he whirled around in time to watch Sera's cat run away with the fish in its mouth. Link watched with a disgruntled look on his face as the cat ran all the way back into the shop.

"Ah, well," He muttered. "I was just going to use the fish to bait the cat back into the shop anyway." Reaching down, Link tugged open the pouch that was on his belt, and slipped the fishing rod inside.

The rod shrank down in a miniature figure as it entered the pouch, and Link tied it closed once more. His father had given him the pouch on his death bed, claiming it held the magic of the Goddesses of old, and that once, a hero himself had used that very pouch while saving the land. Link kept it with him always, not fully believing the story behind it, but it was given to him by his father, and the last gift he had been given.

Stretching out his body some, Link gave himself a shake and moved off towards the shop, hoping that now that the cat was back, Sera would sell him the slingshot.

When Link walked into the shop Sera was happily leaning on the counter, looking down lovingly at her cat, the bottle of milk in her hand now half empty. The cat itself was seated on the counter next to her, happily lapping up the milk Sera had placed in a bowl for it.

"Oh, my, Link! You simply MUST hear this!" Sera called looking up as Link closed the door behind him. "Just take a look! My little kitty Link came back! And he brought a fish back with him. He was so worried about me being angry! Ohhh, just look…isn't he so cute, the way he laps up that milk? Say, m'dear, why don't you have some too! I'm in a good mood, so it's on the house today!" Sera said and handed over the half empty bottle of milk.

Link took it with a gracious smile, not that milk was overly expensive, but it was nice Sera was giving him something for free. "Thank you Sera, I'm not actually thirsty right now though, I would like to save it for later….."

"Oh, don't worry, you don't have to return the empty bottle, m'dear. You can reuse it – you know, put something else in it. Recycling is a very important thing, m'dear! I'm sure you'd never do anything of the sort, but kids these days toss things out like the whole world was disposable! It's criminal! So, what do you say, m'dear? Is there anything you want today?"

"What is this I hear about a slingshot?" Link asked casually.

"I got this in for the kids." Sera said as she turned around and picked up the slingshot from the shelf. "It's just a toy, but it stings something AWFUL when you get hit by it! The slingshot is thirty rupees."

"I'll take it." Link said spilling out some of the rupees from his money pouch.

"What are you doing buying a slingshot, you naughty thing? You're too old for toys! Will you at least let the kids play with it?"

"Of course, that's why I'm buying it." Link answered as he picked up the weapon.

"Oh, I should tell you, if you happen to run out of pellets, you can also use pumpkin seeds. See you again soon!" Sera called as Link left.

Link closed the door lightly behind him and turned back towards his house. As he walked up the path he opened up his bag and took out the fishing rode. He was hoping that the slingshot would amuse the two boys and keep them from fighting, and he also wanted to thank Colin for the rod. As he made it to the top of the path, Rusl was walking away from Links house and stopped him

"Ah, just in time, Link! I just delivered something to your room! Oh, I see you got the fishing rod. Colin will be pleased. And it works better than you would think, right? Well, have a good one…" Rusl said and then left. Behind him the kids were all pilled together whispering, and Talo was the first to turn around.

"Link has a slingshot! WHOA!"

"Wow!" Beth said as everyone else turned towards Link, "You had enough money to buy it, Link?"

Before Link could say anything though the three of them were off running around. They first went to the box next to Links house which had some targets in it, simple round wooden things, but something he had kept in there in case he ever got a bow. As Talo, and Malo were running around setting them up, Link turned to Colin and smiled.

"Hey, thanks for the fishing rod, it's really great."

"You're welcome, maybe when you get back from your trip we can go fishing together." Colin said shyly, still standing over next to Epona by the house.

"Preparations complete…." Talo said, suddenly back next to Link. "Ok, wow, this is great! Let's see how powerful that slingshot is! Hit the targets AND those scarecrows."

"I can't believe you two brats are so obsessed about this." Beth said with her hands on her hips. "What little boys you both still are. These two idiots will never shut about it, so I guess you'll just have to show them, Link." She said gazing up at him.

Link looked up at the practice area they had set up. There were four of the small disks up among the trees at different levels and then there were the two scarecrows down on the ground. Link walked to the sides of the kids in the center of the scarecrows, far enough away so that he could see all the targets. He put the fishing rod away back in his magic pouch and pulled out the bag of pellets Sera had given him with the sling shot. Tying it to his belt and opening it up, he took his stance, fitted a pellet in the sling, took aim, pulled back on the band and let the pellet fly towards the target on the far left. The pellet hit the target so hard that it cracked it, much to Links dismay; he had spent some time making them.

"Whoa!" The two boys and Beth said. "You hit it! You hit it!"

"I thought you weren't interested, Beth…." Malo muttered, but Beth ignored him.

Link took his aim again and hit the first scarecrow, and much to his relief it didn't do any damage to it since he hit it dead on the center of its torso. He took aim up at the second target in the trees, but released too fast and the pellet went flying over it. Grumbling under his breath about the waste of the pellets, he took aim again and managed to break it. The next two shots were just as well done, cracking all the targets he had made, and then finally with the last scarecrow.

"Whoa! Amazing, Link!" All three kids said at once.

"Hyahh! Thanks, Link!' Beth said gazing back up at him again.

"Gee, you really are amazing, Link!" Talo cut in.

"By the way, Link…." Beth said looking towards his house. "Were you expecting Colin's dad to bring something by here? 'Cause he did."

"Oh, yeah!" Talo said jumping in. "That's right…What was that, anyway?"

"I command you to tell us…." Malo murmured.

"If I knew what it was, I would tell you." Link laughed as he began walking towards his house. "Hang on a moment and I'll go see."

When he reached the ladder leading up to his house Link stopped and looked up. Sitting about halfway up the ladder was one of the spiders from deep within the forest. Link frowned, it was odd that such a spider would be so close to the village, not to mention none of the kids had said anything, or Rusl. The spider was extremely large, about the size of the torso of a cat, except round. Its whole body was purple with red markings on its back. Link took out the sling shot again and fitted a pellet into it. Taking aim he shot the spider down, and as soon as it hit the ground in broke apart in tiny black squares and vanished. Link stood there a moment a scratched his head, it was odd that it had died as it had. Shaking his head he put the slingshot away and climbed up the ladder.

Once he had entered the house he spotted what Rusl had delivered right away. There was a large blue chest sitting in the main room, further back in the center closer to the fire place. Link walked over and opened it up, smiling at what he saw inside. He pulled out a wooden sword, hilt gripped in his hand as he tested the balance of it. Rusl must have made it for him since he was heading out to Hyrule the next day. Leaving the top of the chest open, Link strapped the sword to his back using the strap that had also been in the chest and tried to look around his back to see how it looked. Smothering the grin that was on his face, he moved back outside to the kids.

"Ooh, my!" Beth said as soon as Link climbed down the ladder and was making his way over to them. "Isn't that a wooden sword, Link?"

"Whoa…." Talo said, staring wide eyed at it, "She's right! Hey, can I see it for a sec? Seriously! Lately these monkeys have been coming out of the woods and playing tricks on us! We want to get them GOOD! C'mon, teach us how to use a sword!"

"Hmm, alright." Link agreed.

"YES!" Talo cried and then ran over to the nearest tree, rummaged around a bit, and picked up a stick that sort of looked like a sword. Once he swung it around a bit, he ran to join the other two kids who were standing by one of the scarecrows.

Link shook his head and walked over to stand in front of the scarecrow and took the sword in hand, waiting to see what the kids wanted him to do.

"All right!" Talo said swinging his play sword in the air, "First off, we wanna see THAT move! The slice!"

Link nodded his head and took a stance. He wasn't the best at using a sword, he had only had a couple practice sessions with Rusl, but it was enough to defend himself if the need ever came. Moving the sword to his right side, Link swung it outward back towards the left in a clean sweep, knocking the scarecrow back.

"Yes! A Horizontal slice!" Talo called, mimicking the move.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Beth said, "I wanna see that other move, Link! Yeah! The one where you just flex your muscles and…stab!"

"Oh please," Malo muttered, "The stab?"

Link repositioned his hand on the sword so it was over the hilt and lunged one step forward, stabbing the scarecrow.

"Ooh, Link! Just amazing! Since you're at it, how about you show us that other move… Y'know, that little twirly thing you do! I love that! What do you call it? A spin attack?"

"Like it's hard to briefly hold a sword back and release it."

Link again gripped the hilt of the sword in a different manner and crouched down, bringing his arm back he held the stance for a moment as his arm muscles tightened and then, swinging his sword as he moved, stood back up, swinging the sword into the target a couple times.

"Ooh, Wow! Thanks, Link! I'm sorry you have to waste your time with these little brats when you must be tired from doing all the important stuff you do!"

"Hey, wait!" Talo said stepping over to Beth slightly, but still looking at Link, "You've gotta show us the jump attack before you go! You know, the one where you go "HYAAH!" and leap through the air!"

"Oh, yeah, real tough."

Link gave a small chuckle at how the kids were reacting to simple sword practice as he took an extra step back from the scarecrow. Taking his sword in both hands, he crouched slightly before leaping into the air, and shouting "HYAAH!". Bringing the sword slightly behind his head, he smashed it forwards as he came down towards the scarecrow, smashing the things helmet in two as he landed.

"WOAH!" All three of the kids said at the same time, wide eyed.

"Thanks, Link!" Talo said, "So, uh, I….I think I get it ….Kinda ….Hmmm ….maybe not….So this mean's that anytime one of those naughty monkeys shows up….WAH!" He suddenly shouted, and Link followed his gaze to see a monkey over by the entrance to the forest. "C'MERE, YOU!" Talo yelled and took off after the monkey, Beth and Malo following pursuit.

"Guys, wait!" Link called as he strapped the sword onto his back, though he didn't take off running after them.

"Link!" Colin called from over by Epona, "Talo isn't going to pay attention to where he's going, if the gate is still unlocked he'll run right into the forest without even realizing it."

Link looked at Colin in shock, knowing full well that the kid was right. He ran over to Epona and pulled himself up on her back, hoping the horse would give him enough speed to catch up with the kids before they got to the forest.

Nudging her into action, Epona thudded down the path leading into the next clearing from his house; Beth was standing at the edge of the clearing closest to the path leading towards the woods.

"Talo and Malo went chasing like mad people after that monkey. I can't keep up with those two…"

"That's alright Beth, I'll bring them back, just go back to the village." Link said and then rode past her.

He moved down the path at a slower pace in case the kids had stopped where they were supposed to when coming this far. They had always been told to never pass the spring and go anywhere near the bridge. Malo had done just that, standing next to the opening of the spring, though he was looking towards the open gate that lead to Faron Woods.

"….They went that way. The rest is up to you Link….."

Link gave a soft groan as he moved the giant horse around the kid and nudged her into a gallop. The gate, covered with vines and flowers was open closed, and Link assumed that the two had gone through without even realizing. The sounds of Epona's hooves thundered across the wooden planks of the bridge as they raced towards the woods. The two ran down the path that lead past the Faron spring and over a gate, passing the path that would lead out of the area to Hyrule field. Link came up to the open gates that lead into the tunnel which would lead to the outskirts of the main forest.

Link nudged Epona to move forward, but she screamed and reared. Link hung on, and looked down to see what had happened. There was a Babaku plant just nestling back down after having lunged at the horse. Link allowed Epona to back up before he jumped off her and took out his sword. He moved up to the plant and easily dodged the bulb like head and sharp teeth before he swung down and chopped the head from the stem. The thing gave an eerie cry before it vanished in a puff of black smoke. Link looked at where the plant had been. He was starting to get a little concerned, there had never been a Babaku plant there before, he and Rusl had often travelled the path to get wood for the village.

Looking up the path Link spotted the play wooden sword on the ground. He ran over and picked it up, examining it for any signs that Talo may have been hurt. Finding none he tossed the sword to the side and looked up the cave like tunnel. He could see nothing from a few feet in, again something that was extremely odd. The torches were kept lit all through the night and day to keep creatures from the forest at bay.

Standing back up he turned back and moved down the path, walking towards the exit to Hyrule field. Rusl had told him that some guy had set up a shop there, and though he seemed to be a little crazy, he was still a pretty decent guy. Sure enough, there was a little wooden house against the right side of the cliff that surrounded the area. There was a guy sitting by a wood pile that must have been meant to be a fire and a pot over the wood. The guy had large, brown bushy hair that stood up in a circle over the top of his head, he had dark coloured pants, no shirt, and a blue scarf wrapped around his shoulders. Upon closer inspection Link also realized that there was a tiny bird flying in and out of the guys' hair.

"Whoa!" The guy shouted as Link approached him. "An Ordonian! Hey, guy! Listen, I'm not sure you should be wandering around the woods without a lantern. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean it's safer. There are a ton of caves and dank spots around here that get pretty dark even in the middle of the day. Here! Go on, guy. Take this!" The guy said and handed Link a lantern without Link ever saying a word. "See, I sell lantern oil here…I'm trying to drum up sales by giving away free lanterns! It's a business tactic, guy! See, as long as you've got oil to fuel your lantern, you can light your way and set fire to stuff. They're the best! Go on, guy! Try setting fire under that big pot!" Link didn't want to waste the time, but since the guy had just given him a free lantern that was full of fuel, he wasn't about to argue. Bending down he set the wood on fire and then quickly turned the lantern back off. "That's right! See! It's on fire, guy! Yeah! You keep using that lantern anytime you feel the need. And if it runs out of oil, you come see me to get it refilled!"

"Yeah, I will, thanks." Link said quickly and then turned around with the lantern in hand.

He ran past Epona, giving her a quick pat on the side as he went. He wasn't worried that she would walk away without being tied, she had always been a good horse and stayed almost exactly where Link left her, she would only wonder off when she was hungry and the food around her wasn't good enough.

Running up to the tunnel entrance, Link walked a little ways into the darkness before he turned the lamp on. Holding the flame out in front of him so he could see, he moved forward cautiously. The ground under his feet was wooden, made that way so it would be easier to walk on with heavy loads of wood if the cave ever got wet from rain. It was also easier for Epona to walk on when they had to take her through to the darkest part of the forest.

Link walked up to the first turn in the path and lit the torch there; just as he turned around he had to duck to avoid a bat. Hooking the lantern onto his belt, Link grabbed his sword and when the black bat came at him again he swiped it out of the air, loosing sight of it in the darkness as it was swung away. Link kept his eyes on the spot where it had vanished before he turned and continued on his way. He followed the path as it slopped to the right for a ways before it turned left. Here he had to take the lantern and burn away a spider web. Moving forward he dodged a rat that suddenly lunged at him and again wacked it away with his wooden sword into the darkness.

'Man, what is with the animals in here? They don't normally even bother with any humans passing by.' Link thought to himself as he continued down the path.

At the next turn he felt a sudden pressure around the ankle of his boot and looked down. There was a Babaku plant with its teeth wrapped around his ankle. Taking the sword he quickly swung down and copped the long stem that connected the head to the body of the plant. Once it vanished he took off his boot and looked at his ankle. Once he was sure that it hadn't punctured his skin, he put his boot back on and moved on. There were different twists and turns in the tunnel, though Link had gone through it so often he knew the way so he didn't waste anytime to make it out into the more dense part of the woods.

Stepping out into the open area, Link cursed under his breath. The area had extremely large trees through the clearing that was open to them. The trees were so large, that it would take a good couple of minutes just to walk around the trunk of one tree. It was said that this forest was once a sacred place where a race of forest sprites used to live. Long ago there used to be only one ancient tree in these woods that guarded the beings, and the fairies that lived among them, over time though the sprites had died out, and the large trees began to take over, no longer tamed by the sprites. Now the only thing that really lived in the area was the light fog that swam around the bottom of the trees. Sometimes this light fog would get heavy at night or first thing in the morning, so the people of Ordon had built a bridge to run from the entrance over to the other side of the area to where the forest was less dense. Link had cursed because that bridge was completely destroyed.

Link walked over to it and shook his head, bending down to look at the damage. 'This is getting odd, this bridge was fine two days ago, Rusl and I crossed over it and back and it didn't even shake under our feet, there's no way it could have just collapsed like this.' Link stood back up and moved around the side of the bridge, walking down the slope that lead to the bottom. He was lucky today; there was barley any fog at all to hinder his vision, which was probably the only thing that saved his life.

Just as he reached the bottom of the slop, a goblin jumped out from the side swinging a club at his head. Link ducked and rolled out of the way, blowing out the lantern as he did so. Getting back to his feet Link twisted around the goblin as it moved to hit him again and wacked it behind the head. Once it was dazed Link took the opportunity to beat repeatedly at it, the slightly sharp edge of the wooden sword cutting into the creature. Eventually the thing fell to the ground and vanished in the same strange matter that the Babaku had.

Link stared at the spot where the goblin had vanished and strapped the sword to his back. If these things were in the woods, he had to find Talo as fast as he could, he couldn't afford to waste anymore time fighting them. Making sure everything was strapped to him as tightly as it could without it paining, Link took off running. As he moved among the large trunks of the trees more goblins seemed to come out of nowhere and chased after them. Their shorter legs though made them fall quickly behind, and it was not long after they started to give chase, they gave up and went about mopping around the trees. It took Link about ten minutes to get to the other side of the little hollow, having to dodge the goblins. When he got to the other side he took out the two goblins that were standing at the top of the slope and let out a string of curses.

There was a gate built there from some time ago to keep people from the place behind the trees because there was an old temple there. The temple was at the heart of the oldest tree in the woods, which was rumoured to be the ancient tree that used to guard the area. There was a fear that there was a curse on the temple and that if anyone were to enter the area or if anything from the temple got close to the village, then people would begin to die. It was the curse that people believed killed all the forest sprites that used to frequent the forest. Over the years though the story of the curse died off, and the previous mayor of the village finally allowed men to enter that part of the woods. When nothing happened to them, or the people in the village, the door was left open to get more wood. Now though, the gate was closed again, and locked. Link would have to find a key.

Sitting down on the slope for a minute, Link kept an eye out for any other goblins that could go after him. He thought of all the places around the area where a key could be hidden. He worked in the woods for the past seven years, since he was fifteen and could handle work this hard. He had often wondered through the woods with Rusl looking for the best wood until all the small trees and branches had been picked cleaned and they had had to move to the inside. A thought occurred to him and he stood up, moving down the slop and back tracking towards the other side again. About halfway there he found what he was looking for, an old opening that was just big enough for him to walk through.

As he walked into the opening a bunch of bats came at him, and he had to fend them off with his sword. Moving up the path he found another goblin, blue skinned with brown dirty pants, just like how the rest of them had looked. He took the goblin out quickly and found what he was looking for. Sitting on a ledge behind where the goblin had been standing was a chest. Grabbing onto the side of the ledge, Link pulled himself up and opened the chest. Sitting inside was the key he was looking for. Hooking it onto his belt and making sure it would not fall off; he headed back to the gate.

When he reached the gate he could see through the bars that there was another goblin on the other side, though facing away from him. He figured it was there to keep someone from leaving, and his heart sank. If Talo had been taken by a group of goblins, Link wasn't sure he would be able to get him back on his own. He had to go on though and make sure the kid was at least still alive and if he could get him out, he would. Link carefully unlocked the gate and slid it open on silent hinges. Walking up to the goblin, Link quickly plunged his wooden sword through him. Link gagged slightly as the goblin slide off his sword and burst into the black smoke. He wasn't used to fighting, and it was the first time in his whole little journey that the sword had gone through a goblin. Wiping the blade on the grass Link continued on his way.

He entered into a brightly lit clearing surrounding by the common cliffs. In the center were two more goblins, which spotted Link and ran towards him. Dodging to one side, Link smacked one goblin a couple times before he had to swing around in the other direction to keep from getting clipped from the seconds' club. He took a couple more swings at the first goblin to get rid of it before he started with the second one, quickly finishing it off also. Once the two were gone he looked at the area where they had fallen for a moment. He didn't understand how easily he was handling the goblins. He had practiced with a wooden sword before, but never up against a real live enemy. Rusl had also taken it easy on him, so he didn't know how he was handling the blade so well.

He shook himself out of his reminiscence and jogged towards the other side of the clearing, moving into the next open area which was where the entrance of the temple was. It was a large opening, the ancient tree sitting in the center of it, the trunk and roots driving deep down into what seemed to everyone as an endless pit. This is where the forest ended, there was nothing beyond the cliffs to either side and no area could be seen behind the giant tree. The entrance to the temple was at the trunk itself, a long large root that ran from the tree to the mainland had been carved to make a long bridge so people could enter. How it was carved or by whom no one knew, but it was very obvious that was the only way to enter the temple.

Link jumped as something squawked to his left, but when he looked he saw it was just the crazy bird that could talk, trying to sell it wares. Link shook his head, what an odd thing to have in the middle of the forest, a bird selling things, mostly potions, but it was still very odd. Link walked slowly towards the temple, though he didn't believe in the curse he had still never gone up the path to look into the temple, no one now alive in the village had. Suddenly another goblin jumped out at him, and he reacted just as fast as he had with all the other ones and took it out quickly. Once the goblin was gone he was standing next to the bridge and he could hear a commotion up near the temple. Looking up he could see Talo and the monkey in a crude wooden cage with two other goblin guards.

Link ran up the bridge as fast as he could, sword in hand. When he came out onto the small rectangle where the entrance to the temple was he rolled towards one of the goblins and stabbed through its body again. He didn't gag this time, which he didn't even think about as he moved around the cage to take out the other goblin also in one smooth movement, the wooden blade oddly going through it cleanly. He didn't have time to think about it though, the sun was starting to set and he needed to get both himself and Talo out of the woods before night fell.

"Duck down you two." He said, and once the pair in the cage duck down, Link began to hack at the weak polls, which gave under the pounding blade. When there was only one of the poles left, Link grabbed the top of the cage and hauled it off. The monkey stood up clapping its hands and then ran away once Talo also stood up.

"Link…." Talo started, but Link shook his head.

"Not now, we need to get out of the woods, stay close to me and be careful, you've been through the woods, you know they're filled with goblins." Link commanded.

Once Talo nodded Link grabbed his hand and jogged back down the ramp, not full out running since Talo would not be able to keep up to his pace. They made it through the rest of the woods with no problem, and Link finally slowed down when they exited the main tunnel that leading back towards the village.

"If you hadn't come, Link…Gee, me and that monkey would've gotten eaten probably! She's actually a pretty nice gal, that monkey…She tried to protect me, so we got captured together. Um, Link….you're not gonna mention this to my dad, are you? He's always telling me to never, EVER go into the forest, 'cause he says it's dangerous…So you really can't tell him! Really! You have to promise!"

"I promise I won't tell your dad as long as you tell no one about the goblins in the woods, I need to tell the adults so there won't be a panic, alright?" Link said looking down at Talo.

Talo nodded his head and then ran back towards the village as Link grabbed Epona's reins. Before he could move past the opening that lead to Hyrule field though he heard someone call his name.

"Link!" Rusl came running over to him. "My son told me Talo disappeared into the woods and had not returned. I came as soon as I heard…But it looks like you have brought him home already…I apologize. Such a task should not fall to you. Tell me, have you noticed how strange this wood seems lately? I feel…uneasy about what may lay in wait…Anyway, Link…Tomorrow is finally the day. You will be departing for Hyrule. I think it is a good thing I have given this task to you…Good luck! And return safely! If you are lucky, you may even get to meet Princess Zelda! Ah ha ha!"

Link shook his head as the two walked back towards the village. When they reached Links house Rusl waved goodbye and continued on into the main village. Link looked up at Epona and brushed his hand over her nose a couple times and spoke to her, telling her what a good job she had done that day. Giving her a quick kiss on the nose, he moved over to the ladder and climbed up to his own house to get to sleep since he had an early start the next day.

Link was sitting with his arms lying across his knees, which were bent up so he was sitting up straight not really seeing the goats he was supposed to be watching. It was the next morning, the day he was supposed to leave, and the dream that never changed, that he had almost every night now, had in fact changed the night before. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath as it came rushing back to him, something else that didn't normally happen, he usually always forgot most of it by this time of day, but there it was, clear in his mind.

He was standing on the bridge again, just as he always had been. This time though it was actually him, the way he looked now with his light brown hair stuck up all over the place and his blue eyes, but he was dressed in the clothes he always was in the dream. Green tunic with his under clothing to give his body some more protection, soft leather boots and that green hat. It was different though, the dream, it felt so much more real then it usually did, more real then it ever had. And besides the fact that he looked like himself, all the other aspects were different too, and they scared him.

The large built man was standing at one end of the bridge, hands gripped in anger at his sides, face snarling. He was in a different kind of leather armour this time, it was more of a desert style then anything, or at least from what Link had seen in books to be desert style, there were no longer any desert people in the land of Hyrule as far as he knew. The man looked older though, and darker, more evil, and his eyes burned with the anger and hatred that was also in his voice.

"He is MINE!" The man yelled across the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was the girl Link had always seen before, but she too was different. She was no longer crying, in fact she had the look of anger on her beautiful face, and her appearance had also changed. Her face was the same, Link knew her to be the same girl because of that, but other things were different. Her hair was now down to her waist, a rich auburn rather then simply brown, and it was pleated in a long braid then in a pony tail. She was also dressed in very odd clothing. She had a long skirt that hung low on her hips, done all in black except for a long wide strip of deep green that ran down the center of it. She wore a sleeveless top that ended just below her ribs, also black in colour though when certain light hit it, it matched the green in the skirt. She had black sleeves separate from the shirt that ran from just below the shoulder down to her wrist, tight enough that when her muscles moved the shape of them was reflected in the material. Her eyes seemed to glow like a fire as they stared back at the man, piercing him just as surely as the arrow she had aimed at his chest would.

"I will die before you have him." She shot back at the man.

Both people were red hot with anger, and Link was stuck in between the two. He was on the same bridge, but there was no water where there used to be, only black emptiness. If he jumped he would surely die, so he was caught in between the two, and he had no weapon to defend himself.

"So be it fool girl, if you do not give him up then you will also die. It did not have to be this way, I was willing to spare you and your sister, at least she is not so fool as you to stand against me." The man kept speaking.

"My sister has not given in to you yet, I can assure you that. You may have trapped her but she is far from powerless, and you will fall to us in the end." The girl said in a cool calm voice.

To this the man threw back his head and laughed….

"Hey, Link!" A voice called, pulling Link back into the present time to see Fado running towards him. "So, almost time for you to get goin', huh, Link? So how's about we finish up early today, bud?"

"Sure." Link said standing up, plucking a piece of grass as he did to call Epona over to him. Once she was there he climbed up.

"Ok, then! Let's get started!" Fado said and ran out of Links way.

There were more goats in the field today then they had the other day, about twenty of them since more needed to graze. Most of them were close to the barn already, so Link moved Epona around the other edges and whooped to get the goats moving. As usual there was one who decided to run the other way, and Link had to move around it several times before he got it to go where he wanted to. Finally he got the last one in, it wasn't such a hard thing to do, the goats seemed almost happy to be back inside the barn.

"Hoo, boy, but y'all can herd!" Fado called to him as he ran up and closed the gate. "That was a minute and twenty nine seconds faster then usual! Well, that about wraps 'er up for today, so how's about y'all head on over to the mayors place?"

Link gave a small nod and waved goodbye as he made his way over the gate of the ranch with Epona, thinking that the trip was going to be a nice change from looking after the goats all the time, not that he minded, but it would be nice to have things be different for a couple days.

As Link trotted Epona down the path towards the village he spotted Ilia walking out of her house, looking just as happy as she had the other day at the spring. She spotted Link and turned to call her dad out of the house and then ran to meet Link. As Link sat on Epona's back, Ilia walked beside them, talking about his trip and how long he thought it would take him to get there, and how long he would be staying.

"Ah, done herdin', for the day Link? Well, nice work." Mayor Bo said as the two reached him. Link got off his horse and trotted over to him. As he reached him the mayor put his arm around his shoulders as he pulled him away a little from Ilia, who had stayed where she was to pet Epona. "The royal gift Rusl told you about is ready, so you should get ready for your trip to Hyrule castle. Now, the royal family requested this gift specifically, so it's real special." The mayor continued. "It'd be…bad…if the representative of Ordon were to be late for such an occasion, you get me, lad?"

"The path before you is a long one, my sweet horse…." Ilia said to Epona as she petted her down, "but please bear Link safely along it. Wait….what's this?" The men looked over their shoulders to see Ilia bend down towards Epona's leg, and then she sharply stood up and turned to them. "What's happened? She's injured, isn't she!" The two men had fully turned towards her by this point, and Link flinched at the accusation, he had forgotten about the plant yesterday in the woods. Ilia stormed up to Link, even causing him to take a step back as she shouted at him. "Link! How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping fences didn't you!"

"Now Ilia," The mayor said, standing in between the two but off to the side so as not to step directly into his daughter's wrath. "There's no need to be so harsh on Link…"

"FATHER!" Ilia shouted turning on him, "How can you be so easy on him? You're the MAYOR! You should start acting like one!" Both men stood next to each other, heads hanging down in shame. "You poor thing." Ilia said turning to Epona, which gave the men the chance to peak out of the corner of their eyes to look at each other. "It'll be alright, Epona. I'll take you to the forest spring right now." Link and Bo lifted their heads and watched in disbelief as Ilia walked Epona past them. "Once we sooth you in the spirits spring, you'll feel better in no time!"

"W-wait! Ilia!" Bo called as he watched his daughter continue to walk away. "Why, without Epona….The gift won't get delivered in time!" He looked back to Link. "Oh, this won't do…."

"Don't worry, I'll go get Epona back from her, pack my stuff, and meet you back here within the hour so I can get started." Link said, and headed towards the spring.

When Link entered into the little clearing where his house was located, he found that the kids were, again, standing around there. Beth was over by his house, and Talo and Malo were standing by the exit leading to the spring. Colin was by the entrance from the village, and when Link appeared he looked up at him.

"….Link, are you going to see Ilia? Maybe it's just me…but those guys don't normally let people through…Um, Link, you think….You think we can go see Ilia together?" Colin asked.

"Of course, come on Colin, they'll let me through somehow." Link said, and the two walked over to the other boys.

"Hey, we've been waiting for you, y'know, Link." Talo said.

"Yesterday was sooo much fun! Yeah, chasing that monkey was great!" Malo chirped in.

"I was just telling Malo here about how we wanted to show it to him, but we let it go instead!"

"Oh, you didn't get caught, Talo?"

"Oh! Colin!" Talo said when he spotted the other boy behind Link, ignoring his brothers' comment, "Way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job."

"Yeah," Malo started up, "thank a lot! We got scolded by our dad something awful. I thought it was never gonna end…"

"I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well, there's no way I'm gonna let you pass!" Talo said, and then looked up past Link shoulder, were the end of the sword was sticking out. "Oh, hey, neat! Link! Lemme borrow that wooden sword! If I'd had that wooden sword yesterday, I could've handled it all alone, definitely! C'mon! Let me borrow that wooden sword right now!"

"Fine." Link said after looking at Colin's crestfallen face. Link reached up and unhooked the sword from his back and handed it over to Talo. "Just be careful with it."

"Whoa! YESSS! With this thing….I'll show 'em!" Talo said as he took the sword and ran over to the scarecrow to try practicing with it.

"Link," Colin said stepping in front of him. "Thanks….those guys are always teasing me…What's so fun about swinging something like that around, anyway? I hate it…It's scary….But when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you, Link! I don't want to learn about swords or anything, but could you teach me how to ride a horse sometime?"

"Of course, Colin." Link said smiling down at him.

"Can you? You have to promise!" He said and turned to run off down the path towards the spring.

Link watched Colin run ahead, allowing him time to talk to Ilia on his own before Link showed up. Out of all the youth, Link was the eldest and then came Ilia a couple years younger then him. Beth was next, then Talo, Colin, though they were all very close to the same age, and finally Malo. Colin wasn't as adventurous as the other two boys and he had a hard time getting along with them, so when he could he spent time with Link, and while Link was working, he would stick with Ilia for the most part. Colin just lacked self confidence and allowed the other two to push him around. Shaking his head Link started off down the path towards the spring, hoping to get Epona back soon since he had to be leaving.

When Link got to the spring entrance though he found the gate was locked. Looking through the poles he could see Colin talking to Ilia, and Epona was in the water next to them. Shaking his head in frustration, Link turned around and moved back down the path some. Where the area opened up wider on the sides, Link followed the short cliff to the side where he found a small tunnel which lead through the cliff. Crouching down he shimmied his way through and came out on the other side, which was the spring.

As Link stood up he dusted himself off, and looked over to Ilia as she spoke to Colin.

"I had no idea…I hadn't heard the details about Talo's capture…But, Colin…." As Link walked over towards her, Ilia turned around and moved to grab Epona's bridle, but the horse snorted and shook her hand off. "So you still prefer your master over me, huh, Epona?" Ilia asked the horse, taking a step back and looked over to Link. "Don't worry about your horse, Link. Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together. But, Link….Can you at least promise this? No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything….out of our league, please. Just come home safely."

Link smiled and nodded, knowing that she was just worried something was going to happen to him on the trip. As Link moved to stand over by them, the ground started to shake violently. All three widened their stance to keep their balance as they looked around to see what was happening.

Suddenly the gate behind them was shattered as a giant boar thundered in, riding it were two monsters Link had never seen in person, but had read in books that they were a smarter kind of goblin, more like an orc. Ilia was the first to move, giving a soft cry she turned and made a run for it, past Link and Colin. Before she could get very far though the orc on the back of the boar shot a blunted arrow that struck her in the back of the head, knocking her out. Link spun around and took one step towards her before the other orc knocked him over the head with a club. The world spun before Link's eyes, and the next thing he knew was nothing.

When Link opened his eyes he found that he was lying on his back in the spring. Above him was a black hole outlined in small squares in the sky above him, and everything had an odd orange tint to it. Slowly standing up he looked around, and then everything that had happened came rushing back to him. He quickly looked around but couldn't see Colin or Ilia. Running from the spring he turned towards the woods, knowing that they would not have gone to the village. Link ran across the bridge with his head down, not paying attention to where he was going until he reached the other side and slowed.

In front of him where there should have just been another path leading to Faron woods was a wide black wall with the edges done in orange. Link cautiously walked up to it, watching as patterns danced across the surface. As he got close to it a giant hand snaked from the wall, and before Link could do anything, it grabbed him and pulled him into the portal.

Link woke up on the ground again, this time flat on his stomach. He tried to push himself to his knees but pain coursed through is whole body. The world seemed to be grey in colour, or at least everything was dull, he couldn't be sure, he couldn't get a good look. As Link looked down at his hands the pain worsened, and then a triangle appeared on the back of his hand. Fire raced along his skin, the pain was so intense his vision was blurred by unshed tears. It felt as it all his bones were moving around inside his skin, shaping themselves differently then his human torso, there was an itch along the outside of his skin that felt like hair was growing, and then, just as before, Link knew nothing as he collapsed on the ground.

What Link didn't know was that there were very odd creatures that moved around him. There were only two as they walked up to him. They knew that he was different, he hadn't gone like the other humans had, there was something very strange about him, he would have to be brought to the boss. One of the creatures grabbed him by one of his hind legs and began dragging him towards their destination, over a days journey away.

Behind them, up in the air, a strange little imp like being watched the whole event. She had seen everything, had seen them pull the human into the world of Twilight, and then watched as he had changed. She grinned to herself; this must be the person the princess was looking for. Now she would be able to get somewhere. What a pity, such a young human was now into the mix of things, he was pulled right into the twilight.