Beneath him, he felt movement. His body went up and down in time to the rhythm, her hooves clattering against the solid earth beneath her feet as she carried him over the grasslands. He swept his eyes left and right, taking in rolling hills stretching out as far as the eye could see in all directions. It was a vastness that he had never partaken of before, yet it felt intimately familiar. The wide, darkened gray sky spread above him, slowly lightening as dawn began to bless the awakening world.

The creature beneath him continued to gallop, the magnificent rust-colored horse dashing across the open plains. It wore no reigns, instead guided by one of his hands on the back of her neck and the pressure of his knees.

As she ran, he felt weight on his back, and could sense the bouncing of a blade in its scabbard, slung over his back, and the faintest motion of the secured, heavy metal shield atop that sheath. At his hip, there was a small blade the size of a dagger in his hands, and other items were slung across his back or on his belt: an unstrung bow, a pouch of small explosives, an elegant boomerang of wood and metal, a quiver of arrows . . . .

He guided his steed east, toward the rising sun, and the ascending light poked above the distant horizon, directly into his eyes, encompassing all with its brilliant rays . . . .

Then, darkness. In an instant, the light was stolen.

In its stead, there was only a cold wind and the beating of thick, heavy rain washing over his body and soaking his clothes. He squinted, trying to move through the darkness. Thunder rumbled overhead, and the pounding rain and the shuddering power of the storm drowned out all other noise. The mighty steed was gone, and his simple leather boots were all that stood between his tiny feet and the muddy soil. The strong, muscled arms of an adult were replaced by the small, short arms of a child, and the solid, comforting weight of his blade and shield had vanished, leaving only the tiniest of daggers in his hand. There was no bow, no bombs, no boomerang . . . Nothing but his clothes, and his dawning fear.

He pressed forward through the storm, and suddenly, a gleaming light broke through the shadows, resolving itself into a pair of torches that stubbornly refused to surrender to the downpour. Behind the torches stretched a vast wall, of solid white stone, which loomed as far as he could see in both directions. A flash of light and a bolt of lightning revealed a vast drawbridge in the center of the wall.

There was a crack of thunder, and over the resounding roar he could hear the rattle of chains as they started to move, and in the minimal torchlight the drawbridge began to descend. He stepped back, the clanking of the descending bridge echoing through the downpour. Moments passed, the bridge continuing to lower, and then it finally crashed to the dirt with an impact that rivaled the roar of the thunder above.

He stood there, hesitant, not knowing what would emerge from that drawbridge, until a figure of pure white appeared. It dashed forward, and within moments he could see that it was a grand white destrier, the horse galloping at full speed. A cloaked and hooded rider sat on the back of the horse, urging it on, and before the rider was another figure. He watched intently as the horse rode past, and felt within his gut that he had to see the riders, that they were more important than anything in the world.

He caught a glimpse of a young girl as she rose past, of blonde hair and frightened blue eyes. She looked down toward him, and he could see the recognition in her eyes as she spotted the little boy peering up at her.

Then she was gone, the white horse carrying her off into the thunderstorm.

Over the roar of the descending rain, he heard a snort, somehow deeper and louder than it should have been. He spun and was confronted with a titanic mass of shadow - a black horse covered in dark armor looming over him. Atop the steed sat a figure in equally dark gear, leather and iron heaped upon his massive frame and long, blood red hair descending from his scalp.

Yellow eyes, baleful and lacking in anything but contempt and raw desire, turned down toward him, and one of the figure's hands rose, shadow gathering around it.

Terror, more than anything he'd felt in his life, gripped the small boy as he stared up at the dark man and his evil eyes, and the gathering shadow leapt at him, engulfing his body.

Chapter I: Navi

"Navi . . . ."

The voice was ancient, filled with the vibrating power of wisdom beyond mortal memory. The voice resounded through the forest, carried along through the roots and between the branches of the tall forest trees, picked up and whisked along by the wind, and reached the one it was addressed to with urgent clarity.

The tiny sprite named Navi was dancing between the boughs, reveling in life just like every other creature in the Kokiri Forest, when the summons of the Great Deku Tree reached her. She stopped in mid-flight and wheeled on his urgent call, as all of the children of the forest would. Her tiny wings pumped as she flew through the woods, twisting between branches and trunks, zeroing in on his call. She arrived in moments, with only the speed one of her kind could manage.

"Great Deku Tree?' she answered as she flew into his clearing, sensing the urgency in his voice. The massive Tree dominated the clearing, rising up to the height a hundred Kokiri, like a tremendous wooden pillar supporting the entire forest over his trunk. His branches stretched off into the trees surrounding the clearing, melding with them and providing a solid green and brown canopy above the place he resided.

"Thou hast wasted no time, as always, dear Navi," the Deku Tree spoke, his words resounding across the clearing. He did not speak audibly, but his will was carried through the forest that he had protected since time immemorial, and was sent into the minds and souls of those he chose to speak with.

"I felt . . . When you called me, I could feel something was wrong," the sprite replied, drifting closer to the Deku Tree's front, where the bark was shaped into what resembled the wizened expression of an ancient man.

"Thine instincts are correct, Navi," he responded. "I require thine aid, for this is a task I cannot entrust to any fairy but thou."

"What do you need from me?" she asked.

"Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm . . . Malevolent forces are even now mustering to attack our land of Hyrule, to bring it under their vile sway . . . .

"For so long, the Kokiri Forest has stood as a barrier, to defend against the encroaching darkness, to deter outsiders, and maintain the order of the world. But before this tremendous evil, my strength is as nothing . . . .

"It is time for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey . . . The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth . . . ."

The tree remained silent for a moment, and Navi could feel a wave of empathic pain and torment, and she shuddered at the pain of the guardian spirit.

"Navi!" the Great Deku Tree suddenly entreated. "Go now, and find our young friend! Lead him to the treasure of the Kokiri, and then guide him to me.

"I . . . I do not have much time left. Hurry! Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest . . . Nay, the world, may depend on thee!"

"Link?"

His heart pumped, and he was running, recoiling from the enemy before him. The yellow-eyed monster laughed, his hand raised and evil power gathering there. Then came a flash, and a searing pulse of bright light -

"Wake up, Link!"

His eyes opened, his heart still pumping, and he felt the comforting, familiar heat of his woven blanket, and the softness of his leaf-stuffed bed. As the seconds passed, his heart began to slow, and he realized that it was just another dream, just like the last few nightmares he'd had over the last few days. He began to yawn, his eyes closing as he did so, and rolled over in his bed.

"Come on! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?" the voice growled quietly somewhere above him. it was tiny and high-pitched, sounding like little bells. He looked up, noting that it was dawn, judging by the light in his treehouse, and then his eyes fixed on a glittering blue orb hovering over his bed, gossamer wings poking out of either side of the sprite's globe of azure illumination.

"Mghaa?" Link moaned, sitting up, surprised to see a fairy inside his house. Forest sprites typically stayed out in the open air, and didn't bother Kokiri inside their homes. What was this one doing here?

"About time," he heard the sprite mutter, and he guessed from the soft, high-pitched tone that the fairy was female. Link shook his head, clearing away the mental sluggishness associated with waking up so suddenly.

"My name is Navi," the fairy stated, drifting directly in front of his face, forcing his eyes to focus on her. He could almost make out the miniscule physical form of the sprite within the brilliant globe of blue light. "The Great Deku Tree chose me to be your guardian."

Link was silent for a second, his mind trying to fathom just what the fairy had told him. His blue eyes blurred for a moment, and then refocused on the equally blue fairy. Then, he shot to his feet, shock cutting across his features as he fully understood what Navi had meant.

"Are you . . . serious?" he exclaimed, staring at the sprite, his heart thumping wildly once again. Navi bobbed, her equivalent of a nod, and Link burst out laughing with joy.

"A fairy! Yes!" He would have hugged Navi, but the fairy was far too tiny for that, so he instead quickly started grabbing his clothes.

"A real fairy! Finally! I . . ." he slowed as he put on his long, floppy green Kokiri hat, and looked back to Navi. "I've never had a guardian fairy before. Everyone else had one, but me . . . ."

"The Deku Tree chose me for you," Navi answered circling around him. "And he wants to talk with you, personally. But before that, he wanted me to help you get something."

"Anything he wants," replied the overjoyed Link as he put on his belt and boots. In his excited haste, the Kokiri had accidentally put the boots on the wrong feet, and he grunted as he switched them.

"The Kokiri Sword," she replied immediately, and Link paused. The Sword was a rarity in the forest, a tool forged of metal, and enchanted with the magic of the forest. It was a treasure passed down among the Kokiri of the woods, and only to be drawn upon in dangerous times. That the Deku Tree wanted him to find and take the blade wasn't a good sign . . . any more than the recurring dreams about the figure atop the black horse . . . .

"That's in the Sacred Forest Meadow in the Lost Woods," Link murmured with a frown, and he crossed the interior of his treehouse, a single-room home made from the hollowed-out interior of an old tree. He hopped over the low table in the center and rummaged through a small cabinet on the opposite wall, before emerging with a handful of brown nuts and some dried fruits. He debated bringing the Deku nuts for a moment, but the fact that the Deku Tree was asking him to get the Kokiri Sword convinced him to bring them along. They might prove useful. He also grabbed his little slingshot, and put all of the gear into a hefty belt pouch, before nodding to Navi.

"Okay, if the Great Deku Tree needs the Sword, I'll get it. And with you helping me out, this should be easy!" The sprite bobbed again, and Link ran for the door out of his house, throwing aside the woven curtain over the door and standing on the balcony outside his home. Stretching out before and to either side of his home was the village that he and his fellow Kokiri dwelt in.

Hollowed out trees and broken tree stumps had been fashioned into the homes of dozens of Kokiri, who wandered and played amongst the trees. The vibrant forest closed in around the clearing that was used for the Kokiri's home, and the morning sun cast its light upon the village as Link dropped off the balcony and to the grass below, not bothering with the ladder. The babbling of a small brook that cut through the meadow filled the air as the excited boy tumbled forward from his rough landing and sprang to his feet. Tiny forest spirits, seeming as motes of twirling and flying light, swirled around him as he rose and started running across the village.

"Hey!" the blond Kokiri shouted to a group of his friends, who were talking near the stream. He dashed toward them, waving his hands, and the group turned toward the excited Link. "Look, guys! Notice anything different?"

The knot of forest children stared at him for several moments, not comprehending, and then one of the girls spotted the blue light chasing after Link, hovering over his head.

"A fairy!" she squealed. "A fairy finally found Link!" Excited cheers filled the air as the assortment of green-clad boys and girls mobbed Link from all directions, just as happy as he was to finally be truly one of them. Link, for his part, only reveled in their attention for a moment, before realizing something even more important than telling his friends about Navi.

"I have to tell Saria!" he exclaimed, and broke free from the group. "I'll see you guys later!"

Link hurried through the village, pausing only to wave and yell the good news to anyone he came across. Word spread quickly in the village, and as he cut through the assortment of broken and hollowed trees toward Saria's home, the startling news preceded him like a scent carried on the wind.

Link had just rounded a home near Saria's dwelling when she came rushing out herself, and almost crashed headlong into Link. Both Kokiri managed to pull themselves up short, and instead turned the painful collision into a quick and joyous hug.

"I told you, Link!" she shouted, laughing. The green-haired girl broke the hug, and watched as Navi danced over head, floating up next to Saria's own guardian Eitel, and talking quietly. "A fairy did come to you!"

"Yeah, I know," he replied an open-mouthed smile on his face as he looked up at Navi. "This is incredible! I can't wait to show Mido."

"Oh, he's not going to be happy at all," Saria laughed, and looked up at the pair of sprites. "What's her name?"

"Navi," he replied, and then blinked, surprised that she could tell the difference between male and female fairies.

"Everyone in the village is talking about it," she added, looking back toward him. "Mido is going to be so angry! And you should probably go and thank the Great Deku Tree for sending her to you, too."

"Yeah, I'm going to speak with him soon," he replied, and glanced toward the south end of the village, where a twisting path led into the forest, to the Deku Tree's own meadow. He frowned, remembering Navi's words, and then patted Saria on the shoulder.

"I have to go. The Deku Tree asked me to do something important for him before I go meet him. Right, Navi?" The azure fairy bobbed quickly, and Saria nodded.

"Okay, Link," she said, and hugged him again. "This is great news! You're finally one of us!"

With that, Link departed, cutting back across the forest village to the eastern side of the wide clearing. Other Kokiri waved and cheered at the long-overdue news, but Link didn't have time to talk, and instead simply waved back. He didn't see Mido, unfortunately, because that would have made him pause to rub it in the Kokiri boss' face. He made it across the village without pausing and plunged into the eastern side of the forest. Within moments he was surrounded on all sides by towering trees and the verdant shade of a thick, healthy forest.

He continued running for a long time, and as the minutes passed and Link wound his way down the barely-visible forest trails, the woods became darker, and a light mist began to form in the air, which defined the nebulous boundary between the safer parts of the forest and the Lost Woods. For one who had not lived in the forest their whole lives, plunging this deep into the woods would be dangerous. There were few means to navigate the ancient paths and massive brown and gray columns that held aloft the green ceiling, and the magic of the woods caused the unaccustomed to become confused and disoriented. Many outside visitors to the forest had become lost forever amidst its mystical splendor, to never be seen again as they wandered, enraptured, amongst the boughs.

But Link had explored every inch of this forest, and he knew the Lost Woods better than almost any other Kokiri. Telltale signs - a bit of nicked bark here, a certain arrangement of roots there, a tree stump covered in moss in a particular pattern - told him he was on the right path. His familiarity allowed him to navigate the irregular patterns of fallen logs, stumps, tangled roots, and irregular dips with ease. He hurried through the forest with as much urgency as he could muster, and before the sun had risen a quarter of the way to its apex, his tiny legs brought him deep within the Lost Woods, where the power of the nature spirits was at its peak. Sunlight streamed down through a clearing in the middle of the Lost Woods, a place known as the Sacred Forest Meadow. He slowed to a halt, panting quietly at the exertion, and peered around the Meadow.

The Meadow was not very large or wide, but it was drenched in the power of the woods, the mist swirling and the myriad lights of a thousand spirits and sprites dancing through the air. Link could feel it weighing down on him, permeating his lungs as he breathed in, and slowly walked across the meadow, his feet parting the grass that covered the clearing.

At the far end of the clearing was a huge stone building, overgrown with vines, bushes, and trees. Vegetation hung close around the dark, yawning entrance. Though the building was ancient, the plants did not seem to be wearing upon the structure so much as a part of the shaped rock. It was as much a part of the Lost Woods as any tree, and he had no idea when it had been built, or who had done so. Link had never ventured inside, even his instinctive curiosity warning him to leave the temple be. It was one of the foci of power within the Lost Woods, the true dwelling of the forest spirits, and the Great Deku Tree had spoken of it being as ancient as he.

He had also known to avoid the object in the center of the clearing, just before the olden temple. The Deku Tree had spoken of stories in which swords had been driven into stone, but in this case, the blade had been driven into a primeval tree stump. Small and leaf-shaped, the blade was the size of a short sword in the hands of a Kokiri, forged of shining silvery metal. Its hilt and handle were made of carefully carved wood, and in the middle of the hilt was an embedded ruby, which seemed to have grown out of the wood like a knot on a tree branch. There were no signs of the passage of time on the blade, either rust or wood-rot.

Link slowly approached the Kokiri Sword, the deadly little weapon that the Kokiri had only taken in times of dire need. He hesitated, not immediately willing to draw the sword, for he knew the implications of being sent to retrieve it. From the stories he'd been told, the Great Deku tree rarely sent one forth to take it, and had asked him of all people, the one Kokiri who had never had a fairy before today, to do so. What did that mean for the forest . . . For him?

"Are you sure about this, Navi?" he asked slowly, hands opening and closing with anxiety as he peered at the elegant weapon.

"The Deku Tree said it had to be you," she replied, insistent. "'The boy without a fairy,' he had said. I can . . . sense what he fears, lurking in these woods. Something is very wrong with the forest."

With that he nodded, taking a long a breath, and extended both hands toward the Kokiri Sword.

"Awooooooooo!"

Both fairy and Kokiri whirled in time to see a massive gray-furred form burst through the trees at one end of the Meadow, glittering yellow eyes burning with malevolent intent. Slathering fangs filled a heavy jaw, pointed ears were canted forward with a hunter's interest, and heavy claws tipped its paw-like hands. The humanoid, canine-like monster darted across the clearing directly at the pair, forest sprites scattering in its path.

"Wolfos!" Navi and Link shouted at once, and the Kokiri's hand dropped to his belt pouch. The beast charged straight at him, and the Kokiri raised an arm to shield his eyes while flinging a Deku nut at the ground. It slammed into the ground and shattered, the magical seed releasing a blinding flash of light. The Wolfos was a savage beast, but it was not stupid; one of its paws rose in front of its face, shielding its own eyes from the detonation, and then leapt at its prey with a howl of vicious hunger.

The flash had slowed the beast for a heartbeat, however, and Link dove aside. The Wolfos crashed into the tree stump holding the Kokiri Sword the ground shuddering with the impact and a grunt of surprised pain. The beast recoiled, shaking its head, before whirling on the boy.

"What is a Wolfos doing here?" he hissed, grabbing another Deku nut. They were feral and dark predators, and were occasionally sighted within the woods, but this deep within the Kokiri Forest was directly protected by the Great Deku Tree. The idea they would even be able to come into the Lost Woods, let alone the Sacred Forest Meadow itself, was almost unthinkable - at least until this monster had appeared.

That entire thought went through his mind in a single instant, in the time it took the Wolfos' amber eyes to close on him. The beast rushed at him again, claws lashing out as it sprang forward. Link dove forward, rolling underneath the beast, its claws ripping at the back of his shirt. He spun as he came to his feet and smashed a second Deku nut against the ground right as the Wolfos whirled back toward him. It shattered, another flash of blinding brilliance struck the beast's eyes. The monster howled in pain as it rolled away, shaking its head in confusion.

"The Sword, Link!" Navi shouted, and he grunted in agreement, dashing for the embedded Kokiri Sword. His hands closed over the wood, the grains scratching against his skin, and he felt a tingle shiver up his spine. With a shout, he yanked the blade up, expecting it to be stuck and difficult to remove. Instead, it leapt free, with a surge of magic filling the air, and Link overbalanced and tumbled to his back, air escaping his lungs. He scrambled to his feet, carefully keeping the weapon away from his body, and whirled on the stunned Wolfos, the magical blade of the forest gripped tightly in his dominant left hand.

The werewolf shook its head, finally recovering its senses, and faced its prey once more. The amber eyes narrowed at the drawn blade, and Link could see a calculating intelligence assessing the changing situation. That, too, threw off the Kokiri; the Wolfos had only the most feral of cunning, and the thoughtful expression on its face was like nothing he had ever seen before.

The creature then leapt again, its howl filling Link's ears as he readied the unfamiliar blade. Though he had often had mock swordfights with fellow Kokiri using sticks, he had never used an actual metal blade before. In his hands it felt light, and to his racing mind it seemed like a toy before the huge, charging Wolfos.

The creature crossed the meadow in an instant, and Link swallowed his fear, letting out a sharp shout and swinging the blade across in a clumsy lateral slash at the Wolfos' chest. It leapt back, snarling as it evaded the striking blade, and dove forward again behind the sword, swinging a claw-tipped paw at the Kokiri. At that same instant, Navi dove down in front of the werewolf's face, and her azure glow intensified for an instant as she bobbed down before its head. The Wolfos, dazzled by the sudden attack, was caught off guard when the Kokiri Sword sliced into its extended paw and severed two fingers.

It howled and sprang away a dozen paces in an instant, then eyed the Kokiri with anger and hate as it cradled its injured paw. Instead of blood, which Link expected, he saw a dark purple and black flame bursting from the severed fingers, and the lopped digits on the grass seemed to collapse into dust. That fact made Link's heart begin to hammer out even faster as he put the pieces together: a Wolfos that thought intelligently, that could come this deep in the forbidden forest, and had shadowy fire instead of blood.

He understood now why the Great Deku Tree had called on the Kokiri Sword. Something terribly dark and evil was lurking in these woods now.

Link bit back the anxiety, his fingers tightening around the handle of the Kokiri Sword, and set his feet. Navi whirled around and took up a position beside him, ready to strike down and blind or distract. The Wolfos paused, cocked its head to the side as if it was hearing something, and then snarled once more. There was a finality to its tone, and Link thought he saw a deadly intensity in its calculating gaze.

An instant later, it sprang, howling as loudly as it could, the screeching bay clawing at the Kokiri's ears and making him flinch in pain. It closed in, and both of its arms rose, claws extended, to bury the boy where he stood.

They snapped down, burying into the soft dirt, as Link sprang backward. The Kokiri's boots touched the grass, and he then leaped forward, left hand coming forward in a fierce but clumsy thrust at the beast. The Wolfos recoiled, but the blade plunged into its left arm, nearly severing it. Link tore the weapon free, black fire raging from the injury, and the Wolfos cried out in agony. Its other arm slashed across as the Kokiri's face, but he ducked and spun beneath it, memories of his mock-fights with other Kokiri coming back to him. He rose, the blade stabbing upward, and the Sword's tip plunged into the werewolf's chest. The beast fell backward, howling in shock, pain, and fury, the blade tearing free.

Then the Wolfos hurtled forward one final time, jaws opening wide in a desperate effort to tear into the Kokiri's throat.

The Kokiri Sword dove into its maw instead, and burst out the back of the monster's head.

The Wolfos came to a halt as the blade did its work, and its yellow eyes stared at Link in disbelief as black fire began to burn up and down its body. The creature fell backward, and Link recoiled from the evil energy that escaped the monster's body as it was consumed by the flames, pulling the Sword free. The monster collapsed into dust and ash at his feet, which was then swept away by a burst of wind moving through the Sacred Forest Meadow, as if the Lost Woods was sweeping aside the evil that had come within is bounds.

All went silent once again in the Meadow, and Link's body shook. He slowly exhaled, not realizing he'd been holding his breath, and lowered the blade.

He'd come that close to death.

"Are you okay?" Navi asked him, and he nodded, breathing finally becoming steady again. Link glanced back down to the blade, and then around the Scared Forest Meadow, and shook his head.

"Let's get back to the village," he murmured, and started out of the Meadow. The Great Deku Tree would be able to tell him why so much was wrong with the forest lately.

Author's Note: You may have noted that several of the items Link carries have already been provided for him, while certain others have not. I was debating over how to give Link the Kokiri Sword, and I knew the method presented in-game was not quite satisfactory. So, I came up with the whole Sacred Forest Meadow thing to handle it. Unfortunately, this does nothing to help Link find a shield, or even a scabbard for his blade, but I do have that planned out. I'm currently working out what dungeon items Link should be getting over the course of this story, and where and when he gets them (as well as hammering out something relating to how I'm going to get these dungeons to work in a narrative and still keep them interesting) Suffice it to say, I've got ideas.

Speaking of swords, I tried making Link a bit clumsy with the sword in this opening chapter, but not a complete klutz. I will be developing his sword skills and specific fighting style as the story progresses, and there may be a few surprises down the line as to what he can really do with the blades he gets his hands on. You might have spotted at least one possibility in this chapter already...

As a near irrelevant side note, I wrote the Wolfos battle to Heroism off the Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun soundtrack. ...why am I using ambient electronic music from a sci-fi strategy game to write fights in classical fantasy fanfiction? I have no clue. Maybe I'm just nuts.

Until next chapter . . . .