Hero of Time
….An Ocarina of Time fan fiction
"Doo doo deedle doo dee doo dwap weep a beeple honk honk a shmeeple," Sakina sang pointlessly that morning. The sun shone brightly in Kokiri Forest and it was a lovely, warm day. The insects and birds seemed to have their own orchestra going at the moment. Sakina climbed down from her hut and skipped over to the stream. She jumped in, giggling in delight.
"Hello!" One of the Twins shouted down at her from the shop roof.
"Hey!"
"You're getting your clothes all wet!" The Twin laughed.
"Yes, you should join me!" Sakina prompted, waving a wet hand towards herself.
"Hehe, that's okay, Kina."
"Your loss!" Sakina dove underneath the water, blowing bubbles wildly out of her nose making a veritable bubble storm around her face. Her hair floated around her face, tickling everything it touched. She opened her eyes and looked at the ground below. There was a rupee on the ground! It was red too. Sakina resurfaced for a deeper breath and went back down. She swam with a mission and managed to grasp the small jewel. She grinned triumphantly under water and came back up.
Sitting on one of the jumping stones, she got a better look at her prize. It glittered beautifully in the sun. Sakina pocketed the rupee and lay back on the warm grass. Her wet hair clung to her neck and cheeks but it was moments like these that she savored in the forest. The warm sun beat down on her skin and dried her clothes.
She looked around the small forest. A few Kokiri stood giggling together, their fairies zooming around, by the forbidden entrance to the outside world. Above the shop was the entrance to the Lost Woods, where most Kokiri were too afraid to wonder, though Sakina had ventured in many times. The Know-It-All Brothers, were, as usual, in their front yard discussing whatever it was they discussed; Sakina usually found their discussions annoying and presumptuous. They were nice, those three, but they really did think they knew it all. The Training Center was only populated by Gendao at the moment, who was throwing punches at an imaginary enemy. Sakina loved the Training Center and was quite the little fighter. Only Link would fight her now, because the rest of the Kokiri males were too angry at having lost to her, a stupid girl. They talked to her as long as she wasn't over by the Training Center; otherwise they remembered their losses to her.
Sakina tilted her head back to look at the bridge that connected from Saria's house to the large block way above her head. She loved climbing that bridge. It always sent a thrill through her stomach. Of course, Jenna always stood up there and looked around unless it was night. That was the only time Sakina would go up there, just to be alone. She would venture up there occasionally with Link or Saria, her two best friends from the forest. Jenna was all right, just rather ditzy. The same went for the Twins and Galitza. Marmena was all right. Sakina pretty much liked Marmena and Elfin. They were friendly and fun to talk to. But Link and Saria seemed to have a special bond with her that the rest of the Kokiri folk couldn't compete with.
Mido's house was being de-rocked by a bitter Henno. Stupid, lazy Mido. Mido was the boss-figure of Kokiri and pretty much always had everyone else doing his work. He had always been mean to Sakina, considering her and Link the lowest of the low.
I wonder if Link is awake yet. Sakina thought to herself. Link was her buddy, the other Kokiri without a fairy. She stood and raced over to his hut, water spraying behind her. Durgo was busy pulling weeds in front of Saria's house. He didn't even pause to say hi to her, but Sakina didn't care. In front of Link's house, she saw the blonde Link and green-haired Saria talking. Sakina jumped back, mildly surprised. Was it just her imagination or were two fairies flying above their heads. Saria clapped her hands together and Link began to walk away. Saria watched him with a mixture of excitement and… yes… it was definitely there… sadness.
"Kina!" The blonde nine-year-old rushed over to his friend. "You won't believe it…."
"You have a fairy?" Sakina had trouble keeping the jealousy out of her voice. She smiled feebly at her best friend. "That's great, Link!"
"Yeah… but… the Deku Tree… he's summoned me…." Link looked perplexed.
"Exactly, can we get moving?" The fairy asked in a high-pitched squeak.
"Why?" Sakina asked, squeezing water out of her long brown locks.
Link shrugged. "Guess I'm going to find out."
Sakina stared at her blue-eyed companion. Whenever she saw the blue eyes of the Kokiri, she was always reminded of her own green eyes. Everyone else in Kokiri had blue. And they all had a fairy, even Link now. She felt even more secluded than she ever had.
"Want to come with me?"
Sakina brightened.
"Yeah!" Together they walked over to the gap through which the great Deku tree lived. But of course, there was Mido, standing upright with his hands on his hips and his chest thrust outward.
"Halt!" Mido shoved a hand out to stop them. "What business has the fairy-less duo with the Great Deku Tree?"
"He summoned me," Link spoke softly. "And Navi… my fairy… just came this morning."
Mido's mouth dropped. "You… you have a fairy?" He spluttered.
"Yes," Sakina grinned at Mido's disbelief.
Mido quickly regained his composure. "Well, that's still no excuse to let you pass. You can't get by me unless you equip both a sword and shield!"
"That's not fair!" Sakina cried, outraged.
Mido had a smug look on his face. "Well, those are the rules, get used to them, green eyes."
Sakina was about to say something else when Link put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Fine," Sakina skulked off with Link. "Now we'll never get to see the Deku Tree."
"Yes we will. We can buy a shield."
"That we could, but what about the sword?"
"I… I don't know." Link looked worried. "But let's get a shield at least."
"Okay." Together they walked towards the shop.
"Link! Up here!" The Twin shouted. "You have a fairy!"
Link smiled and nodded benignly. He was so quiet around most people.
"That's great, Link! Did you know your fairy will point things out to you? It's very fun!"
Link nodded again and he and Sakina walked into the shop.
It was dim and ill-lighted in the store. Elfin stood inside the shop, leaning on the counter and talking to the Kokiri, Max, who was the shortest Kokiri in the forest. He was resignedly standing behind the counter, invisible to anyone not within a foot of the counter.
"Customers," Elfin whispered audibly. Max began jumping up to see who it was. His eyes were only just visible to the two nine-year-olds standing expectantly in front of the counter.
"What…" jump, "can…" jump, "I…" jump, "do for…" jump, "you…" jump, "today?"
"How much for a shield?" Sakina asked quickly.
"Forty…" jump, "rupees."
"Oh no," Link looked in his pocket, "I've only got twenty."
"So do I." Sakina said. "Together, we can own a Deku shield."
Link smiled. "Alright." They put their money on the counter. The little Max gave Link a shield that was just his fit. Link looked rather hesitantly at Sakina. Sakina grinned broadly and started walking out of the shop. Link strapped it to his back and followed. The bright sunlight caused the two Kokiri children to squint.
"Can we please hurry?" Navi squeaked irritably.
"We're trying." Sakina said respectfully. She always was polite to fairies, mostly hoping one day she'd get one too. Navi flitted anxiously about the two children.
"Where would we look for a sword?" Link spoke softly.
"I have an inkling," Sakina raised her eyebrows in an uncanny imitation of the Know-It-All Brothers. "Follow me." And she was off, jumping over the stones to land. Link followed close behind. Sakina scrambled up the side of the hill and jumped the fence to the Training Center. She turned to see that Link was following her. As they passed Gendao, he gave Sakina a funny look and turned away.
"Where are we going?" Link asked timidly from her side.
"The tunnel of Z." Sakina grinned.
Gendao turned to look at them in shock. "There's a monster kept in there."
Link looked at Sakina to see what she had to say about that. "That must mean that's where the sword is guarded. I mean, they always guard swords with monsters, don't they?"
Link shrugged. "Let's go then." He crawled first through the hole soon followed by Sakina. Gendao watched them enter and wondered silently if they'd return alive.
Rumble, rumble, rumble….
Weeds grew in a loop off to their left. They were in a small, yet bright, cave-like structure. They were walled in with a gigantic something. They ducked behind a wall together, breathing heavily. Link peaked over the side then whispered to Sakina.
"You wait here, I'll be right back."
He inched along the wall and disappeared.
Sakina began to chew on her thumb, wondering what she had gotten him into.
Rumble, rumble, rumble….
It was only seconds later that Link returned, grinning broadly, sword in hand.
"The Kokiri sword?!" Sakina breathed. "Amazing!"
Link nodded, flushed from excitement.
"What was the monster…" rumble, rumble, rumble, "uh oh…."
"No, no, it's just a rock, rolling around." Link shook his head.
"Oh!" Sakina laughed. "Brilliant!"
"Yeah," Link pulled out his sword and swung it. It screamed through the air as he pulled it every which way. He caught sight of a plant and cut it up. "Wow." He smiled. "Look, rupees!" He picked them up.
"Money plants!" Sakina grinned.
Link nodded happily and replaced his sword behind his shield.
"Now let's go talk to Mido," Link smiled in a way that suggested he would enjoy this encounter. Link crawled back through the tunnel.
"Heh, heh, heh." Sakina rubbed her hands together and crawled in after him. They emerged back outside with a feeling of triumph in their breasts and shared a quick smile. Gendao stared in amazement at them.
"Wow! You… you got the Kokiri sword!"
Link blushed and nodded.
"The Training Center was made for sword practice." Gendao's blue eyes grew wide into his shaggy blonde hair so that they nearly disappeared.
Link looked around and found some more grass clumps. He spun around and hacked them up. Gendao looked on in admiration. Sakina cheered. Navi had to ruin the rupee and slashing fest by begging them to get a move on.
"The Deku Tree has summoned you! Please follow me!" She flashed pink for a minute and went back to white.
Link agreed, jumped on top of a fence and back-flipped off.
"Show-off." Sakina teased, chasing after him. They headed over to where Mido stood guarding. "Actually, just a second. If you're going to have a sword…." Sakina ran off and returned seconds later, out of breath but something clasped in her hand.
"You're bringing a dagger?" Link asked.
"Yes." Sakina brandished it proudly. "Together, we will save the world!"
She, of course, had no idea how true those words would be.
"What?! You have a shield?? And what's THAT?! Is that the Kokiri sword!?" Mido was so red that Sakina thought he was about to burst. His blonde hair was standing on end with frustration. "That's not fair! How did you get to be the favorite of Saria? Huh? Well, I guess a loser is still a loser, huh?" And he stormed off, giving up his guard.
Sakina fiddled with her dagger nervously as they looked into the unwelcoming, dark, passage.
Link walked forward unhesitant followed closely by Sakina. Sakina adjusted her hair-band, wanting to look her absolute best for the Deku Tree.
Chomp, chomp CHEE!
"Agh!" Link fell back. A gigantic, fanged flower had sprung without warning from the ground. Link pulled out his sword and slashed at the creature, killing it immediately. Its stalk turned into a stick of some sort, but Link was afraid to go near it. Sakina decided it was her turn to take a risk and picked it up gingerly.
"A Deku stick," Navi explained impatiently. "Not great for destroying enemies but you can light them on fire."
"What was that flower thing?" Sakina asked, looking at her new weapon.
"A Deku Baba." Navi squeaked.
"Oh," she had once heard of such creatures from the Know-It-All Brothers, but they had been very vague. "Let's keep moving, shall we?"
Link nodded.
"Are you alright?" Sakina asked, realizing he might be hurt.
"Fine, it didn't touch me, just startled me." Link mumbled.
"Okay."
The two Kokiri children and a fairy emerged into a field where at the middle sat an enormous tree.
"Navi, O Navi, thou hast returned to me…."
Navi soared away from Link. Link and Sakina looked perplexed.
"Link," the Deku tree's mustache-like thing moved whenever it spoke, "Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares. A vile climate pervades this world. Verily, ye have felt it. The time has come to test thine courage. A curse has been laid upon me and I am dependent on thee to lift it." The Deku Tree looked suddenly to Sakina. "And ye, Sakina, though I did not summon thee, I did think that thou might come. It is time to test thine friendship. Art thou prepared?"Link and Sakina looked at one another. Link nodded."We are prepared to do whatever we must." Sakina spoke for both of them. "Good luck," the Deku Tree opened his mouth wide enough to admit two-stacked carriages. Navi flew back to Link and followed Sakina and Link into the tree.