One

Arg, where'd that damn Link go? I grit my teeth hard as I glance around Hyrule field. My brown and red eyes scan the horizon, towards the mountains, the Kokiri Forest, the castle town, and my attention is drawn to something flittering in the Lost Woods.

I softly whistle for my horse to start walking, but quickly kick her into a trot. The Lost Woods loom before us and I dismount the dark mare. The reigns are easy to tighten around a low hanging branch at the edge of the forest; it wouldn't do for her to go wandering into the woods and losing her way like so many a man and beast. Grass and low growing plants surround the trunk, plenty of grazing for the horse. You see, Link? I am capable of being considerate!

I walk warily to the entrance, keeping in mind that the Lost Woods is not named that for just any reason. Many a man has died here, not knowing which turn to take, which path is real, and which leads to certain demise. Most forget, or never know, that the only way through successfully is to follow the music that drifts on the wind; Saria's song, the song of my other half's, my "soul brother's" best friend. I perk up my ears to listen, scanning through sense of sound and sight, just in time to see another flicker of movement.

Startlingly swift, I whip my head around to investigate the movement, only to have it be a leaf. But a leaf is enough; I turn myself toward that direction and walk into the dark tree lined path thinking, I am coming, Link.

My original, the one from whose soul I was born, is naïve enough to leave a trail I can easily follow. Or perhaps he wishes for me to find him, which would be not unlike him. As I take turn after turn I find I have come to a dead end with only a small rabbit.

Cursing to myself at my stupidity, I kick at the ground, hitting a tree trunk and the rabbit runs off deeper into the forest. Immediately I regret this, having not eaten since dawn. Perhaps today is not a day of good choices. The path behind me has vanished, as it does in the Lost Woods, and I perk my ears once more to listen for the sound of Saria's song. A faint tune comes from my left, but I ignore it; the Lost Woods plays tricks, and the song from that direction is incorrect. Its pitch is flat, the instrument is wrong; Saria's song is played on the ocarina, not a flute, there's a difference.

I turn my head away from the sound, straining to find even the faintest indication of instrumentation. Only one other direction holds any promise of the way out; south. I continue at a trot, turning east once, then back south, following the strange melody. The wind picks up and carries the sound with it, making it impossible to hear, but my mare is already in sight. Her dark coat gleams a healthy shine and she stands stalk still as I approach. I've had enough time wasted in this forest, and I lithely sling myself into the saddle. I pull at the reigns so that I might continue on my way. Shit. I dismount and untie the horse.

Growling to myself, I swing my leg over the mare's back and pull her head around roughly. I kick the she horse into a canter and think again, Where'd that damn Link go? This time I will not be distracted by a mere animal. I have a vow to complete, a vow I made to myself the day that Link defeated me in the Water Temple, in the Hall of Mirrored Radiance. I grimace at the thought, slowing the horse to a walk.

She whickers in gratitude and I am suddenly aware that I do not know where I am. I draw my bow and cock an arrow, guiding the horse with my knees; thank the gods that she is a trained war horse. I survey the landscape around us. We had been heading east, toward the Kokiri Forest, and we have stopped only a few paces out of the tree line. I guide my steed into the woods without a sound, stopping her amid the closely woven branches of a patch of brambles.

A small doe rests on the other side of the thicket, grazing on small twigs and berries off a bush. Dismounting, I land on dry leaves and they crinkle under my boots. The doe's ears perk and it turns wide eyes toward my hiding place. My horse whickers softly, to the deer I suppose, and my prey takes a step back. It twists its head around at the sound of a twig snapped by its own hoof, a strangely loud crack for such a small twig. I can't afford to lose another kill, not when I need to eat, and I loose the arrow through and opening between the branches, the quiet twinge of the bow string and the whizz of the arrow drawing the doe's attention back to my cover too late. The slim arrow embeds itself up to the shaft in the doe's chest, just inches from its heart. I grimace and curse to myself, glad for the meat but put out with my horrible luck; usually I am a great shot, even better than my original, I can hit a rabbit between the eyes from more than two hundred paces out.

The doe is on the ground, whimpering disgustingly weak, and I retrieve the arrow. The doe screams in pain. Even I don't like a sound like that, and I draw one of my many daggers, plunging it into the deer and wiping it clean on the doe's fur once I'm sure it is drained of life. I unsheathe one of my sharper daggers and skin the animal swiftly and masterfully. I'll sell it later, once I've cleansed it of blood, so I store it away in my saddle bag. I carve slabs of meat from the carcass and build up a small fire with branches from the brambles. The acrid smoke stings my nose, but I bear it, skewering the meat to roast. I have little to no time with the sun setting; the wolves will be out soon.

I cook the meat just until it is no longer raw, but is rare and cleansed of most deadly disease, and eat it as swiftly as I am able. So as not to be followed for the meat of my horse, I leave the rest for the soon coming wolves.

I ride out, searching for shelter for a few hours rest at most.

Sure I may be searching for Link, but my main focus right now is Barron. All I know is that he's been terrorising small towns as I once did, although he's not working for Zelda.

Soon I come to a town, a town that I've heard Barron is coming to soon, but I do not enter, instead settling myself in a cave not far outside the burg. I'll stay here for now, being that I will be gone before anyone even knows I was here.