by: Froggy
Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'. I could not claim I do, for I am not that cool. Rating: G Author's Note: The first in a series of various little things that I think are important moments in the game. I collected dialogue, but of course, I'll clean it up a little, since dialogue is alwasy 'blocky' in games. They aren't in the game's time order either. I'm also gessing that Link is eighteen in his adult form, which would make him eleven in his child form.
Getting Big
Link moaned softly, roused from some sort of deep sleep by the feeling of his sore shoulder muscles and an unfamilar, raspy voice in his ears. "Link...Link...wake up, the chosen one." Slowly, slowly his eyes opened, the darkness still swirling around the edges of his vision. Link surveyed his strange surroundings, lifting one arm to run his hand through his thick golden hair. The place he was in, which he most certainly did not recognize, was all made of stone, with a strange eerie light to it. There was water all around, or what looked like water...falls, rivers, pools. Navi! Where was Navi? Link looked around him frantically, then finally found her floating, as always, around his head. He smiled to himself, comforted by her presence in this strange place. He squinted, trying to clear his vision. Then his eyes fell on the source of the strange voice he'd heard earlier. A short, mostly bald man in a red robe stood before him. It seemed strange to Link that he should be taller than an adult... Carefully he shrugged that thought off, just looking thoughtfully at the man in front of him, waiting politely for him to speak. Link was to confused to initiate any sane conversation anyway, and Navi hadn't offered him any advice. Usually she helped so much... "I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages..." the short man started. Link's eyes locked onto the old man's as he continued explaining the Sages. Link understood the story well, he'd been told it for a long time, ever since he could remember, all his eleven years... When the tone of the old man's conversation changed, Link focussed his attention back to his words. "Link...Don't be alarmed...Look at yourself...!" the man said earnestly. A small twinge of fear ran through Link and he was almost afraid to look down at himself. What would he see? He'd felt a little strange ever since he'd awakened... Slowly he lowered his head to find himself staring at a pair of large leather boots. Distinctly larger than he remembered. 'So, my feet got big?' he wondered silently to himself. Slowly he moved his eyes up his body, taking in the broader shoulders, the muscular torso hidden under his loose tunic and tight bodysuit, the hands, so big, hidden in huge gloves that left the tips of his fingers exposed. He ran his eyes down his arms, his shoulders, again. So...big...grown up...he was a...a...man... 'All of me got big!' he thought, blinking quickly, confused. Navi, who had always been blessed with the gift of understatement, decided to choose just then to speak, "Look Link!" she exclaimed in her small, sweet voice, "You're big now!! You've grown up!" There was a certain awe in her voice, a certain respect. Startlement turned into shock as he looked down at himself again, completely forgetting Rauru was there for a moment. Then he remembered, and his head jerked up to look at the little man. That's why he seemed so short... "What's happened to me?" Link demanded, startled at the voice that came out of him. So much deeper and stronger than his little child's voice that couldn't be distinguished from a girl's. Oh, Malon couldn't call him 'fairy boy' now...a sudden twitch of glee moved through him. What child hasn't dreamed of knowing what they willl look like when they grow up? "The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil ones may never touch..." Rauru started, and Link's impatience started to overwhelm him. Even though he didn't say a word, didn't move, his body had become tense with his impatience, "Only one worthy of the title 'Hero of Time' can pull it from the Pedestal of Time...However, you were too young to be the Hero of Time...therefore your spirit was sealed her for seven years. And now that you are old enough the time has come for you to awaken as the Hero of Time." Rauru explained. Startlement and vague joy were replaced by an all-consuming shock. So. He'd lost seven years. Link stared at his boots, a little pang of anger coming up in him. Did this quest matter so much that he'd lost nearly a decade of his own life? Seven years that he could have spent with Saria, playing the Ocarina together in the Lost Woods. Seven years he could have spent getting to know the transient people in the Castle Market, or learning to train Epona with Malon and her father. Seven years. Gone forever. What would he find when he left here, what would happen to him? Would Saria remember him? Would she even know him with this strange new body? Tears welled up unexpectedly at that thought, but Link held them back with force, cleared his face, and looked at Rauru again. The short Sage was explaining what had happened in the years Link had been 'gone'. Ganondorf taken over. The land in ruins, prowled by monsters. Link, himself the only hope for the salvation of Hyrule. Slowly the pain he'd felt was replaced by righteous anger, no longer at Rauru for stealing a decade of his life, but at Ganondorf for ruining Princess Zelda's beautiful kingdom. For destroying his home in the Kokiri Forest, for hurting his sworn brothers, the Gorons... He put aside his pain at losing so much of his own time, and prepared himself for the new challenges he was about to face. Rauru gave him the medallion, and when Link stepped forward to take it, he tripped over his own feet. After the initial embarassment, when he was used to walking with his new long legs, Link took the medallion and held it up proudly. He would save Saria from her imprisonment in the Forest Temple, he would save the other Sages. Rauru beamed him back to the Temple of Time, and Link left on his new adventure.
Author's Note: I dunno. I would be bitter for a while if someone stole a decade of MY life! Anyway, please tell me what y'all think! And thanks to my brother, KKC for dictating what Rauru said to Link!