Chapter 1

"Hurry, Link! He's getting away!"

The boy named Link tried to run faster, but found that his added effort yielded no reward. Mido, the boy he was chasing, increased the distance between them until Link finally had to stop for respite. Mido walked back, short of breath himself, and held out an ocarina to his panting opponent.

"Here's your ocarina, Link."

"Thanks, Mido," Link replied, taking back his instrument.

"You're getting faster, you know," his rival added. "One of these days..."

Link sighed in despair. "But you're getting faster, too."

Mido grinned. "So what? You think that I, the Great Mido, would ever do less than my best? If you want the joy of surpassing me, you're just going to have to earn it."

Link sat down on the grass. "I guess I wouldn't want it any other way."

Mido crossed his arms, annoyance appearing in his features. "You guess? Where's your sense of pride? Where's your confidence?"

A green-haired girl ran up to the duo, beaming with satisfaction.

"Well done, you two! Every time, it gets harder to keep up!"

Mido waved a hand dismissively. "Not now, Saria. Me and Link are about to have a man-to-man talk."

"Oh, really?" Saria asked with a raise of an eyebrow. "About what?"

Mido planted his fists on his hips and took a wide stance. "Don't you remember what I always say? Real men keep their personal squabbles confidential."

Saria frowned. "So you were fighting again."

Mido lost his cool composure. "No, we weren't! I was just going to tell Link to be more confident!"

A girl with yellow hair approached the trio. "I guess you're not a real man yet, Mido."

Mido, realizing his mistake, flushed red and retorted, "If you don't have anything helpful to say, Fado, then you should just keep quiet!"

Fado feigned innocence. "I only want you to hold true to your word. What's so harmful about that?"

Mido folded his arms and gruffly turned away. "Nobody withholds information from Saria. You know that."

"Yeah," Link chimed in, with a twinkle in his eye. "It takes real courage to hold your ground against Saria!"

"Or real stupidity," Mido returned. "It wasn't that big of a deal, anyways."

Saria stood half in awe, not sure whether she should appreciate this reputation or not.

"Sure, I don't mess around, but I don't think I'm mean. Am I?"

Link quickly reassured her, "No, you're not mean. You're just... scary."

Seeing her expression falling, he amended, "At times. Sometimes. At least I think so?"

Mido rolled his eyes. "Where is your confidence, Link? Just say what you mean, and know what you mean. And, no, Saria. I don't think you're mean."

Seeing her relax in relief, he added, "Just scary."

Two identical red-haired girls called out from the fruit grove as Link, Mido, Saria, and Fado approached.

"Hey! Who won?"

"Did Link finally catch him?"

Mido patted Link on the back. "No, Remi. Of course the Great Mido got away again, but this kid may soon be able to outrun every other Kokiri in the forest!"

A chubby boy came out from the trees. "So Link lost again. You know, Link, if Mido was a real bad guy, and your ocarina was a princess, he would have gotten away with her."

The other twin asked irritably, "Why a princess, Lado? Any other girl would be just as important!"

Lado countered, "Who would kidnap anyone other than a princess, Solmi?"

A trio of shaggy-haired boys appeared as if out of nowhere.

One asked, "Why would anyone kidnap anyone?"

The second added, "It hardly makes sense."

The third answered, "I can think of a few theories."

Fado groaned. "Dosol, Misol, and Fasol. So the Know-It-All Brothers have joined the party. How grand."

Saria gave Fado a disapproving look. "Be nice, Fado. They're allowed here."

Ignoring her, Fado addressed the three boys. "So why are you here? Don't you have any innocent creatures to dissect?"

Dosol replied, "We're done with dissections for now."

Misol continued, "We were interested in the race, too. After all, it isn't every day Link beats Mido in a competition."

Fasol snickered. "Actually, it isn't any day. At least not yet. But that just makes it more interesting!"

Noticing Link's failing mood, Mido stepped forward and said, "How many times do I have to tell you? It isn't so much about winning as it is about doing the best you can. In that regard, Link did win today."

Mido smiled as Link's eyes brightened. "Besides, there isn't any shame in losing to one as quick as the Great Mido."