A/N: I'm back! I'm here, and I'm actually updating! :O

Look, don't be disappointed, and don't let your hopes up, either. I certainly love writing, but writing is extremely difficult. I told myself to keep a few chapters ahead, so I could keep a schedule in updating, but my writing is so inconsistent I don't think it's worth it.

So, I'll just leave this out for people to feed on.

AzHasANewName1: Sorry about that! If you're willing to tell me what's confusing, I'd love to hear from you!

GreenTunic: I think I understand what you mean, but I won't jump to conclusions. Thanks for the review!

Enjoy!

Slight pain gripped the edges of Link's head. This happened every time, and he wondered how he hadn't gotten an immunity to it. He was almost nauseous, right there in the forest, about to throw up. As he got on his feet, he could barely stand straight, being so dizzy. Plus, the bright lights were so… bright. Everything was absolutely blinding. The trees around him did nearly nothing to block out any of the sunlight, so those harsh rays intruded right through his eyelids. All of the light, after being in darkness for so long, was always perceived to be so bright.

He couldn't understand.

Groaning in discomfort, he rested his hand on a tree to regain his bearings. This was always one of the hardest parts to get used to, only surpassed by the deaths of the princess. Those were peerless. Never in his entire life would he ever be able to overcome the trauma that came from witnessing Zelda dying.

What did it take to move on?

He couldn't let Zelda die this time. He'd do everything. For now, he'd never let her out of his grip… maybe. She would never like that, actually. Princesses always wanted their own time, so Link would have to find a way to protect her even when he wasn't in the immediate position.

It was still all so confusing. What exactly happened after the princess died? What about all the previous instances?

He was stuck in this loop that restarted every time the princess died, which had happened every time in different ways.

He couldn't remember how long ago it had been, back in an alternate world in time. In that exact spot, he watched Zelda get killed by Ganondorf, whom he didn't seal. She looked as clueless as he was, wondering who the strange Gerudo man was, what he was doing there, before getting her body cleaved in two.

Shuddering, he forced himself to relive that scene every time. It was one of the only ways that he kept going forward. That fueled him forward, keeping him on his toes, and setting his mind straight. Such a thing could never happen in the future. A smart man wouldn't allow it.

"Hello, mister!"

Falling back onto his bottom, he glanced up to see a young boy, looking energetic. He looked ready to take on everything the world had to offer with his full attention and positivity, filling everyone's buckets in strides.

"You've been there awhile now. Are you alright?"

Patiently, the boy stood by Link's feet. His excited eyes were calculating and curious, but there were manners coming from the kid. There was no pushing for Link to get on with explaining, nor was there any urge for him to tell the kid to go shoo off. He had some sort of friendly demeanor.

Mido. He met him every single time. The short boy with blue eyes and long, pointed ears, always wearing a green cap.

Finally, he trusted that his own feet would hold his body. They proved to be trustworthy. Everything felt weak, unnatural, and completely unordinary to him. Feeling his face, he confirmed that his own body was indeed the body of Link. It never felt like the body of a hero in the start, just a young man in a forest.

Now regarding Mido, he brushed off dirt from his clothing. "I'm alright, thanks." He rolled his shoulders, tested his fingers, swallowed, and licked his lips. Things were… slightly different. If everything was the same, though, that would be concerning.

Then, he tested his gassiness. Belch.

Mido jumped back, shocked. The kid then burst out laughing, pointing at Link's beaming face.

Still the same.

The day was brightening by the second. It always felt so friendly to him after he woke up, and it lasted a long while. Getting used to this new body of his wasn't going to be an easy task, but he had done it many times, already. According to Link's working eyes, they'd gotten used to the light. It was a new opportunity for him, as the hero of Hyrule.

Calming down, Mido scrutinized Link's features for a moment. He giggled, then asked, "So, what's happened to you? My name's Mido, and I just came across you asleep on the ground not too long ago. Now, you're here!"

Sometimes, he couldn't handle this little ball of energy. Mido was almost like a dog for the moments they were together. He took up anyone's full attention, but it was for the benefit of the hero, not selfish reasons. Mido was a good child that helped him along.

There were only a couple things he could tell him right away. His name was Link, he'd just woken up with no recollection of how he got there, and/or he'd just witnessed the princess of Hyrule get impaled by a long rapier-like sword of malice and evil. In the past, Mido would ask him what his name was, and then it'd get into a conversation about swordplay.

This time, however, he would hope to initiate the swordplay. There was a plan forming in his mind, and he hoped that it would actually work this time.

"My name is Link…" Lamely, he trailed off. Mido politely waited for him to continue. He was a blessed thing. The goddesses were merciful to put him here at the start of every journey. "I don't remember a thing of my past."

Frowning, as he always did, Mido looked concerned, but also slightly clueless. It wasn't his job to help Link remember… whatever he was supposed to remember. So, he just shrugged it off. Gesturing for Link to follow, he pointed around. "Our village is this way. I'll introduce you to my friends, and then you can tell me more!"

Link smiled at the boy, but he still felt lost. Mido's village was a place of such familiarity, the hero could practically draw a floor map of the entire village. It was small enough village, with no more than thirty residents. Even when it was so welcoming all the time, he never fully understood why he awoke in a forest next to that village, only to be awakened by the same kid, with no memories of how he got there.

The only memories that were actually present were the ones of Zelda.

Thrust.

He felt a tremor pass through his body, which got Mido's attention. Worriedly, the young villager gave him a naive look of hope, from the perspective of a child trying to encourage someone Link's age. Mido wisely said nothing, though.

"So, my village is a super nice place. We have some cuccos and horses, and that's a lot of work. I don't really like how cuccos are. In one second, they're just being the little annoying cuccos that they are, and suddenly they're in your face! Like that!"

As they went on, Mido continued on about the village he was so proud to live in. Link popped in every once in a while, but the conversation was never about him. He preferred it this way, so he could understand what his situation was, then move out to do his duty.

He was very animated. Even being a few steps ahead of Link, he constantly turned and his full front to his new companion. His arms were spinning and dancing in the air, twirling in the sign language that only children knew. Every action performed by his hands would be accompanied by the show of his face, along with his words. It seemed that he was getting passionate about the topics on hand.

"So, here we are!" Spreading his arm out toward the village in a forest clearing, Mido shook his legs gleefully. "Aboda village!"

It looked the same. Right at the edge of a forest, Aboda was constantly littered with fallen leaves and branches. Just as the two of them walked onto the pathway, the forest crunched underneath their feet. The path led into an opening between a small fence, welcoming them in. Houses could be seen past the fences, along with lots of green. This village was well taken care of, so Mido had a right to be proud. All in all, it had the familiar Aboda-like feel to it.

He didn't waste any time to gape at the village. Mido was already trotting up ahead, calling Link.

Laughing, Link bounded after him, the welcoming village child. It would be better to stick around, as it always was, anyway. He could pick up some things before he left routinely on his journey.

He was led first to the village mayor, Bo, who greeted him amiably. Link shook his hand, bowed slightly, and proceeded with the common courtesies. A man like Bo was someone who could be respected, as it was most likely his doing that got the village into the state that it was in, and maintained it.

Next, Link found himself walking by the small 'hang-out' zone, currently occupied by the boy by the name of Groose, and a couple of his friends. They were sitting on logs and having what seemed to be a pleasant conversation.

Mido stepped back to look at the group. One of the bunch, Ghirahim, waved at Mido with a smirk on his face. Quickly, Mido found the pathway to look at. "That's the bully zone. You should stay away from it."

"Oh?" Link questioned. This was new. He never thought that this would be considered the bully zone to Mido. They always passed the area, but some timing must be different. He must've rushed the conversation with Bo, then. Before, this area was only occupied by Groose, lying on his back.

"Yeah, that's Groose with the red hair, Ghirahim with the white, and Cawlin with the blue. They're mean, sometimes."

Eh, it was expected. Mido was a young child. Ghirahim was an old, mean bully. Things tended to happen when an old, mean bully came into contact with a young child.

"Let's move on," Mido said hastily. He wanted out.

For a while, Mido went on a tangent about how the path was badly paved, and he always got hurt when he played games. Link could imagine that falling onto hard gravel would be painful, especially when running around.

"Saria and I never liked this area, anyway. The front end of the village is much nicer to play around in."

Nearly tripping himself, Link stumbled after tripping on a large rock. He immediately rest himself and pretended it didn't happen, but Mido's look at him caused him to flush slightly. Shaking it off, Link just shoved his hands in his pockets and walked forward. "You and your sister know the village grounds pretty well, don't you two?"

Mido stopped walking. He looked at his older companion in absolute shock, obvious on his face.

Kneeling down, Link pointed at the boy's kneecaps. "I mean, if Saria has knees as smooth as yours are, then both of you must know the best of places to horse around in."

"How," Mido stuttered, incredulous, "how did you know Saria was my sister?" He had flickers of suspicion in his eyes; that much was obvious. Both ears were twitching slightly.

Uh oh. I wasn't supposed to know that until later. "Well…" He wasn't good at improvising. This was why he had to keep those memories in the front of his mind! He needed something to have a basis on, so he wouldn't get stuck into situations like this! "I remember that I used to play with my sister all the time." Yeah, that sounded reasonable. "It would only make sense that she's your sister."

They paused. "Didn't you say that you couldn't remember anything?" More doubt welled up in the calculating gaze he was currently receiving. Something was going wrong, so something would need to be explained. When something needed to be explained, things went wrong.

Putting up a how could you undermine me so facade, Link responded with, "Mostly. I forgot most of it." He rushed through his words. He was starting to falter. "I think I'd remember my own sister. She… she died."

Immediately, Mido deflated. He looked at Link with sadness. To give it as much effect as possible, Link looked at his feet, hiding his face.

"That's sad," Mido whispered. The conversation had drifted away from a panic zone, but now the world was crying.

Hmm… the mood was set, he pondered and gave him a nice, hearty slap on the back for all the good deeds he did today.

Saying nothing, Link jumped to his feet and shook his head violently. Planting his feet, he glanced at his friend, who had his interest piqued. "Race you to that building over there." He pointed at the weaponmaster's dojo, just at the bottom of the path. They were going to head over in that direction, anyway. It was the way that the swordplay got into the conversation.

"What?" Mido must've noticed the change in mood, and he welcomed it with a childish smile and bright eyes. "You already lost!" As expected, the snarky little child dashed away, down the path. His feet pounded into the gravel, making a mess of the path.

I don't have a sister, Link told himself. He'd just lied to Mido. For some reason, that gave him a flicker of guilt within him, eating up his pride.

Sputtering, he bounded after Mido, keeping a couple feet between them. This little race felt like a short race, simply packed with adrenaline, and not much more to it. He ran after Mido, making sure he didn't start giving his all, then watched the kid's hat fall off as its owner shook his head violently.. Taking a quick detour, he reached over, picked up the hat, and kept on going.

Being the fine, young gentleman Link was, he let the younger boy win… until the last couple meters, when he dashed ahead. As they passed, he faked a yawn.

"Hey!"

"What?" Link skidded to a stop and touched the wall of the Dojo. "I won." He kept his hand there as he watched Mido slow down and pitifully tap the wall, out of breath.

"No fair," he wheezed. The boy rested his hands on his knees, gasping, then fell onto the ground.

Strangely, the body of this new hero was not as fit to stamina. He felt slightly out of breath, which was completely abnormal. Barely even noticing the gulps of air he was taking in, his body screamed at him for pushing it so hard in the sprint. Link used to be able to run across all of Hyrule Field without breaking a sweat, but now he couldn't even race a little child without going completely fatigued. This was going to be a problem.

That little trip from the fence to the dojo may have been longer than he thought. From his old mindset, that would've been nothing more than a stretch on the legs. Now, he realized that he needed to readjust his mind to his underdeveloped body.

"Well," he sighed, "I just lost my tour guide of the day." Shrugging, he started to walk on ahead, knowing that the squeak of shock coming from Mido would be followed by a sudden burst of spent energy.

He heard two footsteps, the second slower than the first, then a thump. "I need—" Gasp. "Gimmeamoment…"

Let the poor boy have a moment.

No matter. He was just annoyed with himself enough that he had no wish to continue. It would take awhile before he would be able to surpass his previous trial.

With the time he had, Link decided to check in with the old weaponmaster of Aboda village. Telling Mido exactly what he was doing, in which he got no response, not even from when Link threw his cap onto the boy's face, he headed into the dojo.

As he opened the doors and walked into the small building, he was met with silence. The door handle was cold under his hand, giving him an unsettling feeling, complemented with the dim lighting and screeching noises, or lack thereof. Closing the door, he called out, "Hello?" The silence was overbearing. Where was that old man?

Stepping silently, even though it was probably empty, he looked around at the walls. It was a small room with a connecting back door, weapons on racks everywhere. Some pots were strewn around, and he recalled breaking all of the poor man's pots. Link would always come back to find them replaced, then break them all again and scavenge for whatever he could find in the pots. Even when the weaponmaster had been so furious multiple times, and even forced Link to pay him a grand number of rupees back, there was no regret. Well…

It was worth it. In fact, he should check if it was still worth it. Never know what's in a box until you open it. It might be a gift.

Randomly picking a sword of interest, he drew it off the wall and tested its weight. The blade was slightly thicker than he preferred, and is hilt to blade weight ratio was slightly awkward, but it was doable. He swung in the air a couple times, letting the familiar sound of the air getting cut ring into his ears. Echoes played back to him, relaying the intimidating lack of life in the room.

Finding the old swordsman in the recesses of his mind, he locked his sights on a single pot. It was rather small, but there was no need to suddenly step the game up from nothing.

Here I go, he told no one in particular, not even himself, really. The pot stared back at him with its blueness, grayness, and swirling whites.

"Hya!" The sword was an extension of his arm as he swung it downwards in a quick slash. His whole body snapped and released into the attack, willing his arms to have the same strength they used to have. Just as he anticipated the crack of the pot, his sword was stopped with a clang!

Shocked, Link drew back and rolled off to the side instinctively, albeit rather slowly. Someone just threw his sword off its course, and he'd thought he was alone. Link's sword was at the ready.

"You. What are you doing?"

Link blinked. A very serious man met his gaze, along with the tip of an intimidating looking harpoon. The white wisps of hair seemed to rally the man on, spiking in many directions. There was a glare on that face, and Link realized he did not look very good in this position.

An old man probably just woke up to find an unfamiliar boy in the dojo, about to smash open a pot with a stolen sword. He was trespassing.

He let the sword point fall down to the ground. His other hand flailed in front, in a useless attempt to placate the man he'd been confronted with. "W-wait! I'm not—"

And then they were in a duel. The man struck quickly, faster than his age spoke of. His harpoon was at Link's chest, just about to get brought up to his chest before Link retaliated with an upward swing.

Link darted back and was about to drop the sword, but his opponent came in swiftly. He was met with thrust after thrust, and all feeble attacks that Link tried to insert were quickly parried. He felt a rising panic; would the man kill him for intruding and attempting to create destruction? It was obvious that his body wasn't acquainted with his mind, so he couldn't react in time, nor could he swing swiftly enough.

"Orca!" he screamed in the midst of a parry.

The man's eyes widened before he executed a series of thrusts and swings that left his harpoon tip at Link's throat. Said tip was dangerously close to his throat, and one single misstep could be a very painful death. Being threatened with a very sharp object, he stilled.

Woah… chill…

"Why do you know that name, boy?" He was still being glared at. It didn't feel so great to be glared at. The harpoon tip did not lower, nor did it waver. Such things in this room were extremely warm, even getting hot. That just me? Can't just be me. Man, I'm starving! What I would do for some nice—

Finally, it seemed like they weren't trying to kill each other. Neither of them reacted to each other's sudden movements. The man definitely noted Link's eyes flickering. For some reason, his eyes did not cooperate, and would not stop having their own panic attacks. Link dropped his weapon, then flinched from how loud the metal clanging on the wooden floor was.

The white-haired man didn't shake or tremble at all. He pushed a little further, forcing Link to step back until his back was against a spear rack. Suddenly, his entire body was enveloped in coldness, his backside being so from the cold metal of the blades. If he moved in the wrong direction too quickly, boom. No more flexing your rear.

Staring right at the harpoon at his throat, Link held his hands up. "Orca's your name… I, uh, am a huge fan of your swordplay!" He smiled sheepishly.

Link, I think you're getting better at your improvisation!

Orca narrowed his eyes. He wasn't amused.

'I think you're getting better at your improvised courtesy,' Link said to himself before he died! Then, everyone in the vicinity burst into laughter!

"I see. What are you doing here, then?"

Slowly, Link brought his hand down onto the harpoon tip, put two fingers on it, and lowered it down. Reactionless, Orca swerved the harpoon around his finger and brought it right up to Link's eye. He brandished it, obviously trying to be threatening. Link felt threatened. The man succeeded in trying to be threatening.

"I just wanted to talk to you…"

After a second's pause, the tip lowered slowly. Freedom!

"...and maybe pick up a few tips?"

The current situation finally gave Link's immediately future a life. He had the liberty to move without worrying about any wrong direction leading into a loss of a body part, or life. No longer threatened, he was only halfway through a relieved sigh before the harpoon was replaced with Link's old sword.

"Let's start now then, boy," Orca hissed with more of an annoyed scowl than a glare. "Dodge my attacks."

"Wha—"

He was interrupted by a swift swing from the side, which he darted away from. That swing was followed by an uppercut, and Link managed to sidestep before getting sliced.

Orca was extremely fast for his age, he reiterated to himself. Also, I have no weapons. Am I supposed to be able to get a weapon in the middle of this?

The relentless swings of the weaponmaster kept going, and they barely missed nearly every time. All of this action no longer brought up panic, but it instead reinvigorated him and brought him back into the state of adrenaline and battle.

This was still unfair, though. An experienced weaponmaster was trying to beat up this poor, innocent, young teenager, who couldn't retaliate, and who definitely didn't save all of Hyrule from another big, scary man.

His mind was running quarter kilometer bursts, though. Every moment after a thrust, he analyzed his situation for a split second before getting attacked again in a new, unpredictable direction. He imagined the room in his mind as he ducked beneath swings, rolled out of the way of slices, and darted away from thrusts.

If only he could he led into an area where he could pick up a weapon and do what he needed… then he might have a chance survival. So far, zilch.

Finally, he was being forced into the prime corner of the room. Planting his feet into the wood, he saw the next swing coming, and promptly whipped up the sword leaning against the wall to block the hit. It was more delayed than he'd expected it to be, so Orca's blade cut a shallow gash into his shoulder, but he was holding against the blade of the weaponmaster.

Hissing from the sharp pain, he snapped his left hand down and pushed the other man's sword out of the way. He promptly muted his shoulder's screaming, and did nothing to deal with the new, fresh blood tickling his arm.

He rushed in without hesitation, and only after a couple of parries did he notice Orca's face turn into a prideful smirk.

Just as Orca was about to disarm Link, as the battle was inevitably heading toward, the man pushed his hand outwards and firmly commanded, "Stop."

He stopped. He listened.

Orca flipped the sword and laid it against the wall while he approached Link's hesitating face. "You are a boy with much potential. If you trained for even a couple weeks, your sword arm will be enough to best me. What is your name, young man?"

My name, he thought. If only they knew.

"Why," he gallantly announced, sheathing his weaopn before realizing he didn't have a sheath for his sword, "I am known as Link." Spreading his arms out, he ignored the falls of sweat coming in deluges.

"Wow, Link! That was amazing!" a high-pitched voice chirped from the door.

Both of them looked over to see Mido barely containing his excitement. He repeatedly observed the situation again, completely enamoured, and seemed to have a completely blown mind.

Behind him was a girl who looked from over Mido's shoulder timidly. They shared the same eyes, but her hair was a stark contrast to his, being a vibrant shade of green. Half of her face was hidden, but Link still knew who it was.

She was relatively important in his quest. He needed to talk to her, anyway.

He approached Mido and set the sword away. "Woken up, I see," he taunted. "Is this Saria?"

Of course he already knew the answer, but he needed to see Mido's head nodding vehemently, once again causing his cap to fall off. Saria was there to pick it up, this time. She leaned over and looked at it strangely before letting it fall back onto the ground.

"Yep, this is Saria!" Mido stepped aside and pushed his sister forward, who immediately ducked her head and mumbled her greeting. Over time, he put together her words and concluded that she was saying, "..."

She was extremely silent all the time. Although she was the older out of the two, there seemed to be massive barriers that kept her from talking out freely.

"Young Link," Orca said behind him. The three of them glanced up and was confronted with the weapon master's sharp gaze, formulating ideas for this little bunch that just walked into his zone. "I don't take training casually. If you're up for it, let us start without the interruptions." His eyes flickered over the two younger children.

Appearing to be dismissed, Saria ducked behind the corner. Mido realized what the implementations were a moment later, and he rolled his eyes. Kicking his hat on the way, he stepped out of the building and went after Saria.

Link felt the annoyance radiating off of that kid even after he left.

"Well then. Are you up for another spar?" Already, his new trainer was in a fighting stance, and there was definitely going to be no way out of this. He picked up his neglected sword and nodded. It was game time.

They sparred for a couple hours, providing Link with more than enough information about the parts that he needed to work on. Even though he kept track of all the mistakes he was making, his body did not respond to them. Every step in the wrong direction was counted, every stab in the wrong angle was noted, and every failure to parry was stored away.

Finally, after a long spar of getting nowhere, he fell to his knees in exhaustion; it was incredibly unnerving to be so exhausted. It would take some time before he could have limitless stamina, yet he wondered if he were even improving at all.

Sometimes, life never seemed to move on. Stamina never increased, intelligence never sparked, and emotions were never placated. Such things moved forward inch by inch, ever so slowly, but it made Link agonize in impatience. When would he be able to sprint across the entirety of Castle Town again? Wasn't it easy to keep a deadpan inside the same as it was outside? When can I be like I used to be again?!

Just as Link predicted, he was getting impatient. Patience was never one of his virtues, as he was so rudely reminded all the time. Still, he always woke up with an even less amount of patience than his immeasurable amount before!

The flames inside of him were another part. They refused to cool; they refused to chill.

Looking up, he glared at the fire in the back of the room, not at all helping his mood.

However, Orca was just so apathetic to Link's cries and pleas, and he simply did not do anything about it! Instead, after sauntering to the back to grab a nice, refreshing, cool drink of water, the weaponmaster was poking at the fire, making sure it didn't die out.

You can kill that fire. I don't care one bit.

The fire kept on burning bright, flames eating at the stick. It danced and danced, not once caring that Link was glaring at it, gaze hotter than the hottest flames, stars, or princesses…

It was probably time to leave and find something else to do. Orca seemed preoccupied with his own little fire, anyway, so he could be spared the hassle. Plus, the door was conveniently open too, so… no minding as I just fireball out of here.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Link."

Darn! The old man saw me!

"Uh… of course!" He didn't look back, and he knew Orca didn't either.

Outside, the sun was setting. Long orange rays split the houses, leaving behind trails of color. Here at the bottom of the hill, the shadows of the village were everywhere.

There wasn't much to do, he thought to himself. This part was always a blur, because he always dove into the action too quickly. Now, there was a plan formulating in his mind, and it did not involve Aboda Village in the slightest.

Find the Temple of Time in the forest

Obtain the Master Sword and train with it

Beat up Ganondorf to a pulp

Keep the princess alive

Well, it worked every time, until Zelda died… every time.

Thrus—

"Stop, Link!" he screamed to himself. "No use torturing yourself!" He slapped his face to get the image out of his mind, then smashed the palm of his hand into his forehead after his previous attempt failed.

Why didn't the princess ever stay alive? What always killed her?

This was what always caused him to come back and relive her death, over and over again. That was the part he did the worst on, as all the other parts were flawless.

Shut up, Link. You forgot to seal Ganon one time.

He grunted. "That was a one-time folly for beginners."

It still plagues your mind, though.

"It does for you, too!"

I am you. Of course it does.

Soon, he found himself crawled up in the shadow of the dojo, talking to himself, before he realized that the village was nearly silent. Although his mind was in turmoil, he couldn't risk the embarrassment. Mido would laugh at him for ages, and if anything ever reached the princess, relating to him talking to himself about her death, which hadn't happened, according to anyone, he would be the Hylian Joke.

He jumped to his feet, then peeked around the corner of the dojo. Gazing through the doors, all was silent.

No one saw him writhing in torture about royal people dying in hallucinations, or whatever.

Next on his list was to find the Temple of Time. This was relatively easy, because the temple was always in the same place. It looked nearly the same, too. Some of the moss and vines were weaved differently, but all inner structures were exactly the same.

The difference was in the trees, though. He could never find his way through the trees a second time. Everything about them was different, especially the directions they pointed to. They tended to drag people's eyesight toward one direction, and that was never the same.

Preparations were essential for later. Bokoblins were surely roaming about, and they could pack a heavy hit in numbers.

Now, where was Mido's little home? Usually, Link wouldn't spend much time at the dojo, and the kid would quickly get Link to settle in his own home, but thing were a little off.

Would Mido mind if Link suddenly came in and… just slept on his bed? Seemed like a really nice idea, abstract, and beautiful.

Like a certain princess, he thought to himself.

Still, a bed would be nice. Nothing bad could happen if the child actually came in and saw Link in his bed, right? After all, they were essentially best buddies, as they came to be in the first day, every time.

So, the journey of traveling to his self-proclaimed abode came and passed.

He came from the back, but wanted to inform Mido that he'd be staying. Before he knew it, he saw Saria sitting by the front door, her head down.

The girl was silent as usual, doing nothing but curling in on herself. Soft light came from a candle at her feet. She didn't seem very interested in the flickering light, though. Instead, she was blanking out into her lap, her short hair falling in front of her face. Something about her spoke of distress, for some reason.

She wasn't a main character, but she wasn't minor, either. Best see what was happening. The provisions and the sleep could wait. Plus, she was kind of in the way to the house.

"Hey, Saria," he called softly as he came nearer.

His arm was extended, as if she was a wild animal that he was trying to tame, like a Cucco. He never had figured out how to get those silly things to calm down, and just extending a hand did nothing to appease them. Saria wasn't a Cucco, though, and she definitely didn't need to be tamed. Also, there was nothing he needed to appease, and nothing would be appeased from his extended arm anyway. Such a thought caused him to drop his arm and instead scratch his neck… for some reason.

Her head perked up and saw him quickly when she visibly shook on the spot. There was an unspoken turmoil going on in her mind, shown through her eyes, but everything else was pure shock, or maybe apprehension. Still, no words came from her mouth.

"You alright? Where's Mido?"

"L-Link…"

The first thing she said to me was my name, he realized. That wasn't too weird, though. After all, it was Mido that just barged into the peaceful situation happening in the dojo and called out Link's name as if he was a show animal. Saria, had an extremely flawless memory, too, so nothing was surprising with her mind.

She remained on the ground, staring at Link, searching his face, and glancing at his left hand. Obviously not going to be warmly welcomed, he made a space for himself.

The girl was small, that was for sure. As he sat down next to her, she barely came up to his shoulder, even while he was slouching.

Her eyes went back to the gravel. "Mido," she whispered, "is in the forest."

That was strange. "How come?"

Inconspicuously, she shrugged, then fell into silence. She didn't know, either.

Well, they had this fun little moment together. He wasn't much for a silent peace between two people, but if she wanted it, then it was alright. It wasn't completely silent, either. One would be able to hear the forest winds and the night ambience of insects, along with some of the people doing end-of-the-day activities. Water was being sloshed places, the sounds of the Cuccos were getting quieter, and the 'bully zone' was empty.

Coming back to Saria, he noticed her biting her lip. She must've realized she was doing such a thing because she stopped as soon as his eyes fell onto her. Then, the quakes came back.

It seemed that she had something extremely urgent to say. Even if she was rather shy, this was a level of introversion that he'd never seen in anybody. Why was all of this happening?

He turned his body to face her. "Do you want to say something?"

It must've been something relating to Mido, then. She was probably just worried for her younger brother, who got into reckless situations all the time. It was to be expected for anyone that cared at all, and she was as caring, if not more, than she was shy.

Actually, her shyness might just come from Link himself. He was a complete stranger to him, barely a friend of her younger brother, and now he was sitting peacefully next to her, trying to get her to say things that were on her mind, obviously distressing her.

As he was about to tell her she didn't have to say anything, and hopefully later on find a place in their house, she spoke. "I do know why Mido's in the forest."

Maybe Link's imagination brought up that shrug. He nodded his head, allowing her to go on.

"He's… hunting for bokoblins."

"What?!" He was already on his feet. Mido, this little kid of barely 12, was off fighting creatures that Link sometimes had problems with? What if the monsters were of a high status, and they were that much stronger than Mido had thought? Those were killing machines that did exactly what they were meant to do!

Gods, that kid was reckless, but he was this reckless? What was he trying to achieve?

Begging Saria to look at him, he crouched back down in front of her. "Where is he? There's no way he can fight off those things."

The poor girl became panicked or something, as her blue eyes started flying in all directions. They came to rest on Link's shocked face, being just as shocked. Her legs came closer to her body.

Guiltily, Link backed away from her, but still asked the question again.

"He's by the village, and he's really strong. You shouldn't worry about him."

There was no way Link couldn't not not worry about that kid. Even if he wasn't Saria, he was still the first friend he met. He also happened to be his only way to sleep! "Bokoblins are stronger. I need to go. Stay safe," he ordered.

Well, this little trip to prepare himself to go the the Temple of Time just took a massive detour. Mido was now his first priority, and this trip might take longer if the bokoblins were in a large group, or if they summon more monsters. If moblins or bulblins come along, this would be difficult.

Even if Mido were strong, he couldn't face off fifty monsters, just to get one horn. It certainly wasn't worth it, and it would cost him his life. Link would have troubles getting out of that unscathed, and one scathe on the Hero was a death of a Hylian.

He was about to go dash back to the dojo to retrieve his sword—he started to like that blade; it was lighter than even the Master Sword—when Saria stopped him. "Hey, listen to me," she sibilated urgently.

"Gosh, Saria," he chided. "Mido's in a lot of danger. I love talking to you, even if you're really quiet all the time, but this should—"

"Stop, Link."

Did he just say too much? She must be angry for him being so intrusive, then. He should probably stop and find a better way than to just rush off on a girl who was obviously being tormented by her unspoken words.

Mido can wait. He might be stronger than you think. Give him a bit, and if people start screaming, then you'll know the bokoblins have raided the village and he's already dead!

Wait, why would there even be so many bokoblins? Didn't Saria say that he was simply out hunting? Certainly there wouldn't be a raid on the village, then. Those were terrifying monsters, but the term 'hunting' was too much of a neutral connotative word to cause alarm. He was overreacting.

Sighing, he sat back down. She was no longer shaking, but her eyes have gone hazy, staring off into the darkness of the village…

"I…" She trailed off.

It's alright. Mido's not dead. Saria won't lie to you. In fact, he should probably just sleep. If he woke up just fine, Mido was just fine. He would never just die like that, anyway. Boys with hard hearts and intricate, naive courtesy are harder to kill than cockroaches.

The girl, though… "Saria, speak to me." He didn't dare turn her head his way, though. If she so happened to be cursed, for some reason, then he wouldn't want that.

It had been said before that people were cursed if their eyes weren't aligned correctly, and the girl's eyes were definitely not on point. Strangely, it was as if she was going through a hundred years' worth of trial and pain.

Then, her eyes turned into something reminiscent, just to her. How old was she, anyway? He never actually figured it out, because something extravagant or divine would happen, and then life didn't matter, or something. It was strange, almost stranger than her activity of the present.

She opened her mouth. "I remember."

The world blanched. What was that supposed to mean, though?

Whirling, her head turned to his. "I remember everything, Link."

Published: February 4th, 2019