He had been wandering for so long and he still hadn't found her.
It was deep in the Lost Woods that he had first started his search. He had left everything (everyone) behind. He remembered leaving and it still left an aching feeling in his heart. Her words were still with him ("I believe in my heart that a day will come where we shall meet again") and they taunted him almost incessantly. But he needed to find her. His friend. The only one who remembered what they had gone through together.
And then he had found Termina. Or rather, he was thrown into Termina. Where he had no choice but to save the town from impending doom. Where he experienced nightmarish events and saved people even if the cycle reset in a few hours. The same cycle the same days the same everything. The moon staring down at him the clock ringing in his ears (tick tock tick tock time's running out time's running out time's running o u t).
It was a horror that he would never want to experience again. There were too many chilling events, too many horrifyingly painful experiences and too many sleepless nights.
But he still couldn't find her.
Why did she leave (abandon) him? He only had his horse left. His only constant now. He found himself talking to her more often than not. She'd never respond, of course. But sometimes he found her answering. Or maybe that was him now.
It had never crossed his mind that he was lost. Lost in the Lost Woods? He'd practically grown up there. But after who knows how long of searching and surviving he had no alternative.
Days melded into nights. Nights became day. There wasn't much difference anymore. Sometimes he'd hear the swish of wings or the twinkling sound her voice made when she talked. But he'd look, searching, clawing his way around because he wanted (needed) somebody. Just to help (to keep him sane) get him back home (get out of this hell).
One day he just stopped. He didn't look around. He didn't look for food, or ride his horse around anymore. He just stopped functioning. There were no consequences. Sometimes, he'd close his eyes and he'd sleep. He never knew for how long. It often felt like longer than a nap. Maybe he was just really tired?
Another day he woke up and his horse (Epona Epona Epona) was gone. He was stunned. Stunned into tears. But eventually they stopped coming. Eventually he was too tired. He couldn't cry anymore. Why was he crying?
Sometimes he'd dream. He dreamed of a castle, of a girl, of monsters and of heroes. He found that these dreams once meant something to him but he couldn't remember. The girl was important. She said something about not forgetting. But he had forgotten. Forgotten what?
And one day he woke up and he saw darkness. It was so, so familiar but he realized this was different. It felt different. Then he got up. After days (it was years, centuries) he finally got to his feet. He walked. It was different. He felt strange (like he wasn't living anymore) but he did so anyways.
Strangely, he left the woods. It was odd and he felt angry because he had wanted to leave it earlier hadn't he? He walked paths that he somehow knew by heart but were strangely different. Then he saw someone.
A boy. He was blond and blue-eyed and it shocked him. The memories were slow to return but they came. He wasn't sure at first but he knew this boy was important. So he watched the boy.
The boy was young, but he had friends (family), and they were important to him. And he had a horse, just like his. He watched as the boy was pulled into the darkness. But he could do nothing about it. He was helpless. But the boy came back, and he freed the light as a wolf. Then once he became human once more (wearing his clothes) he waited for him.
And when the boy saw him he knew exactly what to do. He knew why he was here and he knew what he had become. But that did not stop him.
Because he was the Hero of Time.
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage."
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.
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somewhere out there there's a theory that after majora's mask link could never find his way out of the woods and became a stalfos which is why he appears as one in twilight princess. i'm not sure if that's my headcannon or not because dang, that's pretty frickin depressing but it was begging to be written especially since i've been playing majora's mask again.
oot link's got a tough life, man...i think i need to write more about him.