Cimar: Ok, time for chapter 1 in this new story. Forgive me for any errors it might contain since I wrote some of this while I had food poisoning... Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Muppets: I know we won't! Dohohohohohoo!

Cimar: Ohh, and by the way, thanks for all the reviews so far. They have really helped so keep it up and tell your friends. Especially if they can get rid of these two...

Muppets: We would like to be rid of you too! Dohohohohoho!

Chapter 1: Returning to Friends

"How is he doing?"

"It's a miracle he is alive being that long without a pulse…"

"For a child, he must be something special. I don't think that any normal child could survive something like that.

Link opened his eyes and squinted in the bright light. He tried looking around as his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness. It seemed like he was on a bed with curtains hanging around it. The smell of medicine filled the air and Link groaned inwardly…

A doctor's office…great. How did I end up here?

The curtain that surrounded his bed was semi-transparent so he was able to see straight through it and saw three shadows. One he could tell was a man and apparently a very large one at that. The second one was shorter and seemed to be bent over while the last shadow was smaller than the other two.

Must be a child…Link thought.

"Will he be ok?" asked the smallest shadow who by the sound of it was a young girl. "I know Grasshopper can survive anything, hehe."

Grasshopper? Where have I heard that name before…Link knew he had heard that name before yet could not place the voice.

"He should be ok now, young lady," replied the bent over man who Link guessed was the doctor. "Just don't bug him too much; he needs some rest and so do I."

Link removed the sheets and started forward to remove the curtains around his bed when a small redhead poked her face between the curtains.

"Yay! You're awake finally. It's about time you were asleep a long time. Almost a full day!" Link finally recognized the person in front of him.

"Malon?"

"Yay! You remember hehe!"

Remember, how could I not. I have known you for ages, well…used to.

"So…how long was I asleep?" Link asked as a large hand grabbed the remaining curtains and pulled them back.

"About 20 hours or so I reckon." The big form of Talon appeared as the curtains were pulled back and the large man smiled down at the young boy sitting on the bed. "The doctor says you were lucky to be alive since when we found ya, you weren't breathing."

"What I want to know is what he was doing next to the master sword and how he got in there" replied the doctor who was busy filing some papers into a drawer before turning around to face them, his large spectacles filling his face. "That room has been sealed for years and you just waltz in and find him laying there. I think he was trying to steal the sword for himself" The doctor said as he wagged a finger in Link's direction. "The first thing we should do is have the guards arrest him for trespassing!"

"Now Oblasious, you know as well as I that no one but the one the goddesses choose can wield that sword or could remove it from its pedestal." Orblasious snorted in disgust. "Now I don't know he got in there but I don't think he did any damage, the doors are shut so nobdoy can get inside."

"Well, I think he was trying something and I think that the king should know about it." Orblasious said testily.

"Well, you could do that…" Talon said as he scratched his head absentmindedly. "And I could ask for you to pay for all your debts that you owe me…" The doctor, who was fiddling with a beaker, dropped it, smashing it to bits when it landed. "Now, that's preposterous! I pay all, everything!" he started to blubber and complain about this and that as Talon, Link and Malon watched in amusement. After a minute, Orblasious threw his hands in the air.

"Fine! I won't tell but you have to forgive my debts to you Talon!" Talon nodded in agreement. "Sure thing. Great doing business with you doc." Orblasious mumbled something about 'this isn't right' before walking off to a back room and slammed the door behind him. The three started to laugh as Link got out of the bed and gathered his gear and equipment that was sitting on the bed stand next to him. They walked out of the doctors office and into the bright sun. Link's mood greatly improved just by seeing that shining orb above him in the sky.

They walked down the street a ways before anyone spoke.

"Well, your name is Link right?" Talon asked.

"Yep."

"Ok," They walked on in silence a few more steps before Talon stopped. "Link, what were you doing in the Temple of Time anyways? Never have I heard of anyone opening the door of time let alone grab the master sword. How'd you do it?"

Link laughed nervously, "Well, I saw the door open and went inside. I saw the sword there and tried to touch it." Great, now I'm lying to Talon, what next.

"So you don't know who opened it?" Malon asked.

"Nope" was Link's reply. Now I'm lying to Malon…great. What else can happen today?"

"Well, at least we know that you're a good kid then Link. Looks like Malon found a great friend."

They walked along the road a ways as it led up to the main market area, chatting aimlessly. Link's mind roiled with questions however, one stood out in his mind more than the others.

"So, how did you find me in there?"

Talon scratched his head and shrugged. "Well, Malon might have the answer for that one. She was the one who suggested that we visit the temple ter see ya don't ask me why." He looked down at his daughter and rubbed her head, messing up her head as she tried to keep it from becoming too disorderly, laughing all the while.

"I just thought that you might be there. I have seen you go in there before so I wanted to visit you again. I haven't seen you in about a week.

A week? What is going on here? I haven't been gone more than an hour because of the warping through time. Does all this have to do with the pain I felt coming back?

Link decided to take the opportunity to change the subject to something else before any other awkward questions were asked.

"So…what have you been up to?" Link asked Malon as they turned the final corner to the market.

"Ohh, nothing much. Just been getting ready for the big party at the castle tomorrow."

"Huh?" Malon looked over to see the look of confusion on Link's face.

"Ohh, so you haven't heard. They are holding some kind of party for someone. Not sure why or who though."

"Oh, ok." A party, I wonder for who? Link's thoughts were suspended for a moment as they reached the market of castle town and the hustle and bustle of the big city.

It shouldn't really be called a 'town' per se since by the size of it, it was a city. The market was teeming with life from all sectors of Hyrule. Hylians, gorons and gerudos all marketed their wares and were shopping for those items that they needed. People haggling with shop owners and the normal hubbub of the market raised a continuous din. Gorons bellowing out their prices for fresh mineral water, their 'special crop' and the many jewels found while they excavated their caves. Carts of fish rumbled down the cobblestone streets as they came from Lake Hylia delivering their goods and shoppers teaming around the many exotic fabrics and silks brought from the desert by traders haggled for lower prices. All in all, it was a sight to behold and Link took in every breath of it.

No more will I have to worry about being a hero to these people. No more will I have to see this town under Ganondorf's reign. He was relieved to hear the happy cries of children instead of the mournful moaning of the re-dead. It was a relief to find shoppers instead of deserted buildings and flags waving instead of dust flying in the breeze. It is good to be back.

"Hey Talon I'm going to stick around here for a while, is that ok?" The big man smiled, "Of course you can. Just remember to get back to the ranch before nightfall. Ya never know just what is out there at night. Don't want you falling into the hands of thieves now." Link nodded and started off towards one of the many stores.

As he left, Malon tugged on Talon's arm, "Can I go too?" Talon thought for a moment then shrugged his shoulders, "Can't think of anything to keep ya from doing so. Go ahead just be back by night."

"Thanks daddy!" Malon turned and sprinted off after Link who was about to enter into one of the shops.

Link pulled at the door to the bombchu bowling game when he heard his name being called from behind.

"Hey Link! Wait up!" Malon quickly caught up to him and stopped to catch her breath. "I hope you don't mind some company?" He grinned, "Why would I? I just was about to play some games." They walked in together into the bowling alley where a woman was sitting at the counter, fast asleep. Link rang the bell on the desk and the lady fluttered awake.

"Ohh, welcome to Bombchu bowling. How can I help you two?" she asked as she leaned across the counter to see them more clearly.

"We would like to play some games" Link responded as he pulled out a large purple rubee out of his wallet. The lady eyed the rubee, then Link before taking the rubee and handed them a bag of bombchu.

"Enjoy!"

Link won game after game while Malon kept on hitting the cuckoos that kept walking into her paths. Finally, she had one bombchu left and in her way stood a gigantic cuckoo. She sat on the floor and moped.

"I won't be able to get past that…that thing is huge…"

Link eyed the bird then smiled down at Malon. "Sure you can, just aim the bombchu this way," he said as he pointed towards the wall about 1/3 of the way down the course.

"How do you know it will work?" she asked.

"Trust me, I know."

Malon got up and grabbed the last bombchu in the bag and aimed at the spot Link told her to aim at. She let go of the bombchu and held her breath as it crossed the floor, ran up the wall and ceiling then came right down into the center of the target at the end of the alley. Fireworks went off as Malon screamed in joy.

"Thanks Link!" she cried as she gave him a big hug. He laughed along with her then together they walked toward the counter that held the prizes and Malon picked out a large stuffed cuckoo as a prize. They walked out of the building and back into the hustle and bustle of Castle Town.

"So, where to next grasshopper?" Link thought for a moment as he looked up at the sun to figure out the time. It was about 3pm so they had around three hours until the gates closed.

"Let's go visit the Happy Mask shop" Link exclaimed. The two children darted in and out of shoppers as they ran towards the shop and went inside. They admired the different masks and tried on several of them. Malon tried on the Goron mask to much laughter from Link while he tried on the mask of truth. They both giggled as Malon tried on the bunny hood. Eventually, Link bought the bunny hood for Malon and the mask of truth for himself. They exited the store with their items in hand and walked through the marketplace, eyeing the different items for sale until Link noticed the time.

"We go to get going, the gates will be closing in about fifteen minutes." Link said as they rounded the corner to the main road in Castle Town. Malon nodded as the two children walked briskly towards the main gate. They walked past the guards and into Hyrule Field as they saw the sun begin to set along the western mountains.

"We better get going. Dad will be waiting for us."

"I agree," Link replied as they started running towards Lon Lon Ranch. They were halfway across the field when they heard a wolf howl somewhere in the distance and a scratching sound starting to come from the ground.

"Malon put on the bunny hood and run as fast as you can!" Link said as he unsheathed his sword and watched as the first stalchild poked its head above the earth.

"What is that thing?" Malon cried as she started to tie the hood onto her head.

"A stalchild. You run ahead and I'll keep these guys off until you reach the ranch!" Malon nodded as she finished tying the last knot and felt a burst of speed as she started sprinting towards the ranch. Link tried to keep up with her while watching the stalchild's that started appearing more and more frequently. Malon was almost to the ranch when a rumbling in front of her stopped her in her tracks. A gigantic stalchild burst out of the earth in front of her, much larger than any of the others.

"LINK! HELP!" she cried as she watched it rear back and ducked as its massive hand swept the air right above her.

Link slashed at a stalchild in front of him when he heard Malon's cry and turned to watch her dodge another swing from the massive creature. He raced towards the monster while reaching into his bag for his boomerang.

"Malon duck!" he yelled. She dove to the ground as Link released his boomerang. It flew straight and hit the stalchild square in the head, freezing it in place. Link reached Malon and helped her up. "Come on, we need to get to the ranch!"

They ran around the stalchild and towards the ranch just as the massive being behind them unfroze. It wheeled around, catching Link in his shoulder and throwing him away from Malon. She turned as the monster turned towards him as Link started to get up, rubbing his shoulder.

"Link look out!"

Link looked up and saw the stalchild rear back, getting ready to attack. He jumped to his feet and rolled in between the monsters legs, slashing with his sword. The creature roared in fury as it toppled to the ground legless. Link sprinted towards Malon and grabbed her by the hand and raced towards the ranch and inside its protective walls. They ran through the small canyon leading to Malon's home and shut the gate behind them and locked it. The two children breathed heavily as they walked up the canyon.

"Well…that was fun." Link exclaimed as they made their way out of the canyon. Malon started to laugh. "Yeah. I guess it was, wasn't it."

"There you two are! I've been waiting around for you guys since before dark. You two gave me a scare!"

They turned to see a very anxious Talon running towards them then as he gave Malon a big hug.

"What were you two doing out there? Bad things come out at night yer know."

Link opened his mouth to speak but Malon spoke very quickly.

"Well, Link and I were playing in the market and he helped me win this prize and bought me this cool stuff. We saw the time and ran here as fast as we could where Link tackled this huge monster that tried to attack us. He beat it really good and we got here safely!" Malon finished, giving a simple smile to her dad.

"Well, I guess it is good to have him around then huh." Malon nodded vigorously.

"Ok, then. You two go eat supper then get ready for bed. We've got a big day ahead of us."

The two children nodded then scampered off towards the house. They ate their dinner quickly then started up the stairs with Talon following behind. They reached the bedrooms and Talon opened one of the closets and brought in an extra bed and sheets for Link to sleep on. Link settled down onto his bed as Talon tucked Malon in for the night.

"We've got a big day tomorrow so get some rest you two." The children nodded as Talon blew out the candle lamp next to the door. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight" Link and Malon said in unison as the door closed, taking with it the last of the light, leaving only the moon and the starts shining through the window to light their room. Link sat in his bed with his hands behind his head thinking about the day. So many things, so many questions…Why did they say I have been missing for a week? Why did I pass out when I put back the sword?

His mind flooded with questions and he laid there for several hours before sleep finally overtook him. He closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.

Outside the window, on top of the roof, the figure moved away from the window and leapt to the ground deftly; the moonlight silhouetting the person against the ground.

You think you are home now Link… The figure shook his head. It will be sad to witness when you finally know the truth… The figure turned and vanished into the shadows of the night, leaving a glitter of lights behind to mark his exit…

Cimar: Ok, well that ends chapter 1, onto chapter two!

Muppets: Better be better than chapter 1. We fell asleep looking at the title! Dohohohohoho

Cimar:...(thinks) (maybe I can pay them off...) Please leave a review to tell me what you think so far of the story. Next chapter will reveal many, many secrets so stay tuned! Both chapters 2 and 3 should be coming this Sunday so stayed tuned!