Disclaimer: I own nothing

Paradise

The flower was small, and fragile. He made sure it never withered.

Chapter 1

Kokiri Village had once been in a vast forest. A popular legend said that it used to be populated by a race of child-like beings, ones that never grew up. However, there was no longer a forest to speak of. The trees had died long ago, and the only grass that grew was a sickly yellow color. The people of this village were like a tight-knit family, despite the fact that none of them were actually related. They were lucky that none of them had starved to death yet, seeing as nearly all of their crops were taken as "tribute."

But this time, it had not been enough. One of their own had been taken.

"We can't just leave her!" sobbed Pamela.

No one else would speak. They all knew what those raiders would do to Saria. Everyone was trying their best not to think about it. Secretly, everyone wished that they could fight back. Ordinarily, they would have. However, these raiders were agents of Ganondorf, and as such were virtually untouchable.

There wasn't a soul alive brave enough or stupid enough to stand up against anyone who bore that madman's flag. Besides, they had no weapons beyond aging farm equipment. Any guns that they once had were taken as "tribute" long ago. Pamela's sobbing stopped abruptly when she looked up. The others followed her gaze.

A stranger was walking through the gates. His dirty blonde hair almost entirely obscured his eyes. The wind pulled at his fading green jacket. The leggings of his ripped and worn jeans were caked with dirt. A long, thin object hung from his back, completely wrapped in a white material that looked like it might have been bandages. They were, miraculously, still clean. A single, weathered backpack hung from his right shoulder.

When he noticed that he was being stared at, he looked up. Everyone felt a strange power behind his deep blue gaze. He stood still, and did not speak a word. After a few moments, Mido stepped forward.

"What do you want? We've got nothing left to take, so get lost," he growled angrily.

They all expected the stranger to retaliate in some way, and demand the rest of their food or supplies. Instead, he simply lowered his head again, and turned to walk away. Suddenly, Pamela found herself running forward.

"Wait! Please!"

The man stopped, and looked at her. His eyes lingered on her tear-stained cheeks for a second before he met her gaze. She began to tear up again.

"Please! Some raiders to the west of here! They... they took our friend! Please... please you have to help her before they… they…!"

She began to sob again. The man looked at her for a moment, and then changed direction. He started walking west. The villagers watched in stunned silence as he headed straight for the raider's camp. After a minute or two, Mido ran after him.

"Wait! Wait, are you serious? You'll get killed! Those guys, they're part of Ganondorf's forces! You…"

His yelling seemed to fall on deaf ears. The stranger kept walking. Mido stared angrily at the back of his head.

"You're insane!" he shouted.

The man walked for a long time, perhaps an hour or two, before he saw the raider camp. They appeared to have set themselves up in an old group of ramshackle wooden huts. He could hear the sounds of laughter and yelling coming from several of the huts. He walked right up to the edge of the camp before he stopped. A few of the raiders noticed him.

"Hey, what the hell is that guy doin'?"

"Get lost, kid!"

"Yeah, we're Ganon's crew! You wanna die?"

When a feminine yell sounded from a hut near the center of the camp, the man began to walk again. Three raiders got up and stood in his way. One smiled sickly at him.

"Ohh, I see. Here to save that little bitch, huh?"

"You got balls, kid," laughed the second one.

"The boss ain't done with that chick yet. Maybe we'll give her back when he's done. Or what's left of her, anyway!"

The stranger stood still, looking between the three men. He made to move forward again when a second scream sounded, but one of the men grabbed his arm.

"Okay, that's enough. Beat it, or-"

He was cut off by a fist slamming into his face. Blood poured from his broken nose as he gasped with pain and stumbled back. The second raider was hit in the stomach with a fist before he could react, and then, as he was doubling over, an elbow slammed into the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground.

"Holy sh-"

The stranger kicked the third raider right in the face, breaking several teeth and knocking him to the floor. The raider with the broken nose pulled out a pistol.

The stranger grabbed the pistol as it was being leveled at him. He pressed the clip release with his thumb, and then twisted the gun out of his opponent's grasp. He spun it around and slammed the weapon against the side of the raider's head, taking him down for the count.

This little skirmish hadn't gone unnoticed. Two more raiders came out of the nearest hut.

"What in the HELL is-"

Both men did a double take as they saw three of their comrades lying in a heap at the stranger's feet. One of them pulled out his gun with a practiced motion and aimed directly at the stranger's head. The stranger looked up. He raised the hand still holding the stolen pistol. For some reason, the raider couldn't shoot. Somehow, he knew that he was already dead.

The stranger pulled the trigger, and a single bullet flew from the chamber. It pierced the raider's throat, and he dropped his gun while falling to his knees. He placed his hands over the bleeding wound, gurgling, as warm redness spilled from his mouth. The second raider barely had time to blink before the stranger's now empty pistol smacked him in the face.

As he reeled back, the stranger rushed forward, grabbed him, and slammed him into the wall of the hut, head first. He fell, unconscious, to the dirt. The stranger was alerted by sounds of movement, and ducked behind the closest hut just in time. Two men came out of the adjacent shack, and a single man stepped out of the central one.

"Shut up! The boss is tryin' to be a gentleman, and all this god damn noise isn't…. What the hell? What's going on?"

The three raiders instinctively took out their weapons. The stranger, from his hiding spot, quickly assessed the situation. One had a simple revolver, one had a sawn-off shotgun, and the third man had an aluminum bat. He planned his moves. He waited. The single raider with the bat moved to inspect the closest of his fallen comrades, while the other two went to check out the three that were farther away.

Perfect.

"Oh, crap… who did this?"

The raider knelt down.

The stranger quietly moved behind him. He reached out and, silently and effortlessly, snapped his neck. The stranger picked up the dead man's bat and walked towards the remaining two. The poor fools weren't even looking in his direction. He stopped just behind them, and tapped the left one's shoulder.

As the raider turned, a metal bat swung out and collided with his face. He felt his jaw break and several teeth get knocked loose. He fell backwards. The other raider turned just in time to be elbowed in the stomach. He involuntarily bent over, and the stranger cracked him upside his jaw with the bat. He loosened his grip, and the baseball bat fell.

By the time it hit the ground, both raiders were incapacitated. The stranger turned his head to look at the central hut, where sounds of a struggle were now audible. As he walked towards the hut, the stranger reached into his jacket. He withdrew his own handgun as he was walking up the steps. When he reached the doorway, he flipped the safety off and made sure a round was safely in the chamber.

When he was inside, the stranger saw a large man attempting, and failing, to restrain a green-haired girl. The man, obviously the leader of this small group, heard footsteps.

"It's about damn time! Finally quieted down out there! Who was making all that damn noise?"

The leader turned around. There was a loud bang, and two seconds later the wall was splattered with brains and blood. The large man had fallen lifeless to the floor. The stranger lowered his weapon and walked forward. The girl, terrified, let out a scream and backed away from the blood that was now pooling under the raider's corpse.

"Stay away from me! Stay away!" she yelled as she crawled away.

But when she had finally reached a corner and put her back to the wall, she noticed that the strange man had not shot at her yet. She looked up at him. He had put the gun away, and was looking at her, eyes filled with sorrow. Somehow, she knew that he would not hurt her.

He knelt down, and held out his hand. She took it.

The stranger shifted the pack for the third time in the last ten minutes. He was not accustomed to carrying two bags at once, Saria had guessed. The entire time they had been walking, he had not uttered a single word. She was so busy staring at the man beside her that she forgot to step carefully, and failed to conceal a wince as pain shot up her left leg.

The stranger stopped and looked at her. Saria noticed that she had unconsciously grabbed his arm for support. She let go immediately.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I'm okay, really. It… it doesn't hurt."

The last part was said unconvincingly, as a tear formed in her eye and rolled down her cheek. The next noise she made was a squeal of surprise. The stranger had scooped her up in his arms and was now carrying her bridal style across the field of dead grass and dust.

"Thank you," she said softly.

The stranger continued to walk in silence.

The sun was beginning to set, and Mido could hardly believe that he was still waiting by the western entrance to the village. He knew that Saria and the man were both probably dead. But whenever he tried to go about his usual business, he would find himself spending most of his time staring west anyway. He sighed. The sun was almost completely gone now, and any feeble hope he had was gone.

Mido scowled and turned to walk away. He look back for what he promised himself would be the last time. The silhouette of a man was walking toward the village. The others had noticed too. The usual miserable silence was replaced with an awed silence.

"Saria!" Pamela cried, and she rushed towards them.

The others followed, and Mido was not far behind them. The stranger let Saria down, and her friends crowded around her and began to cry and cheer and laugh. Mido looked at the stranger.

"I don't believe it," he said.

Then, Mido did something that he had never done before. He dropped to his knees, and bowed his head. The group had grown silent, and all eyes were upon him.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Mido said.

"How can we ever repay you?"

The stranger said nothing. Instead, he dropped the second pack that he had been carrying in front of Mido. He then started to walk in the direction he had initially been walking. Just as he crossed the threshold of the east gate, he heard a voice behind him.

"Wait!"

It was the green haired girl. She was moving as fast as she could toward him. He stopped and turned toward her. She was bent over, gasping for breath for a few moments before she managed to speak.

"Please… at least tell me your name," she panted.

The stranger looked at her for what seemed like a long time. When Saria looked up into his deep blue eyes, she was surprised to find that a strange array of emotions were washing over her. It was like he was telling her, without words, about his life. There was much pain, much sadness, and much suffering. But there was also happiness, buried deep inside of his being somewhere.

However, the strongest feeling that flowed into her was one that she had not felt in a very long time. This man, this stranger… he still had hope. And somehow, Saria felt like she had hope too.

The stranger leaned in and whispered a single word in her ear. She smiled softly, and he turned and walked away, disappearing into the distance.

Mido opened the pack. He and the others gasped at it's contents. There was food, and ammunition, and guns. The stranger had taken everything of use from the raider camp and brought it back to them. Burning with a newfound determination, he stood up and faced his fellow villagers. No, not villagers. As of today, they were his comrades. He looked them each in the eye. They all had the same passion reflected in them. He raised his fist to the sky.

"No more running away! It's time for us to fight back!"

The Kokiri cheered, and began to prepare for war.

Night had fallen. The moon and stars shone upon an old and crumbling structure, forgotten generations ago. In this place, the grass and tress still grew. This had once been a temple, a sacred place. The stranger stood before it. He took in it's ancient beauty. He felt sorrow for the crumbling stone, and joy for the flourishing plants. He bowed his head and put his hands together in a silent prayer.

When the sun rose once more, the stranger was gone.

A/N: And here we are. Or something. I'm just going to apologize in advance for all future chapters being rather short. Sorry, but that's just sort of how it turned out, haha. I'll be able to update this fairly quickly, as the story isn't a long one. About seven chapters, give or take. So so, if you would like me to continue, please leave a review :D