Stories told that Kokiri children would die once setting foot outside of the forest. Link stood inside the large tree trunk as if he was waiting for something. Right in front of him was the path to Hyrule field. The outside world looked far different already from his hometown. The sky was clearer, the sun was shining through white and thin clouds floating in the sky. The trees, however, weren't as green and filled with leaves as in the forest. They looked much sadder.
''What are you waiting for, Link? Let's go.'' Navi said as she noticed for how long they had been standing there. Link nodded slowly. He wasn't the one to believe those stories. He thought the Kokiri children were just scared to leave their protected place. Link knew Navi would be there to help him at all costs, too. He ran out of the tree trunk, ready for his new adventure.
Not far away from them, a large, brown owl was resting in a tree on clear day time. The owl made a sound as if calling for the young boy to come to him. ''Hoo hoot! Link... Look up here!'' Strangely enough, the owl seemed to know Link's name. ''Hoo... It appears that time has finally come for you to start your adventure! You will encounter many hardships ahead... That is your fate. Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times! Go straight this way and you will see Hyrule Castle. You will meet the princess there...'' Link wondered how this strange owl knew about him. He had never seen the animal before in Kokiri forest. ''Ah... yes. From your puzzled look on your face, I can tell you're wondering how I know your name. Hoo... The Great Deku Tree once told me that one day there would be a young boy leaving the forest for important matters. Well then... you must go now; I'll see you around. Hoot hoot hoot ho!'' The owl spread its large, brown wings and flew up in the sky to leave the new hero by himself.
Running further, Link entered a large open field. The wind breezed through his hair. Far up ahead laid the castle. Link had climbed up a hill to have a better view on it. That was where they had to go. Inside that castle, the princess could be found which he would meet soon enough. It was going to be a long walk still, Link knew. Link didn't know how much time already had passed from saving the Great Deku Tree and leaving the forest, but he noticed the sun was going under. Hopefully, they could reach the bridge in time before night time, but he highly doubted it... He would need to find a place to spend the night. The longer they would wait, the later they would arrive at the castle. Hopping down the hill, Link started his travel to Hyrule's castle.
His guess was right. The castle was too far away to reach it by now. He probably had walked a few more hours by now, how many he did not know. The sun was going under and it was growing darker and darker. Link already could see the bridge going up to make it impossible for trespassers to enter at night and other dangerous things. He had no choice but to look for shelter and spend the night somewhere. There was a thing Link did not know nor expected. Maybe this was why the Kokiri didn't leave the forest and especially not during the night. Out of nowhere from underneath the ground, something dug up. Link stopped his walking, stepping back in surprise. Something like a head - shaped in a skull popped up, boney hands pushing itself up from the ground. It was a Stalchild. It wasn't only one, more starting to dig their ways up from underneath the ground.
''Watch out, Link!'' Like zombies, they walked up to Link. The blond grabbed his sword and shield. Now he understood why people feared to go out at night. The Stalchilds swung their arms to attack the boy. Link swung with his own Kokiri sword to make them stay away, hiding behind his shield at the same time. It clearly wasn't safe to stay outside at night. Three Stalchilds were trying to corner the boy. Link ran away as fast as he could - luckily for him the enemies were pretty slow. It was too risky for him to attack them all at once, one of them surely would try to attack him if he didn't watch out. As he ran away, something even bigger dug up from the ground. A large Stalchild that was almost two feet bigger than the others tried to grab Link.
The boy stepped back as it stepped up to him. His arms were trembling, wooden shield rattling from the trembling. It reached with its hand to the fairy boy and Link only dodged it in time. He ran towards an entrance of a place, up against a small hill. The enemies still walked after him, but once out of sight, they didn't seem to care much for him anymore. Link hurried his way up, thinking they were after him still. He opened a door of what looked like a barn. He pushed the door closed behind him as fast as he could. Only then he felt safe.
He had no idea where he was until he heard a cow. ''Mooo!'' Link jumped in surprise at the sound, turning around. There were animals inside this place, filled with cows and horses. He tiptoed around to not make any animals afraid of him, but unfortunately, he stepped on a pitchfork causing it to clatter on the ground next to a small horse that looked very young. The horse got startled a lot, kicking with its feet. Link got pretty startled by his own action and by the horse. It had Link let out a startled yell and he walked away from the horse as fast as he could. His first time out of the forest absolutely didn't start great... Everything had been very tiring for him so far too. All the fighting, losing the Great Deku Tree, traveling his way now to the castle. Link found a large pile of hay somewhere far from the horse. The blond decided to just lay there and get some sleep, hopefully, tomorrow would be better...
It had been an awful night. Link was used to a much nicer bed. He got woken up by a chicken and the cows making lots of noise in the early morning. Some hay poked out of Link's blond hair, sticking to his clothes too. He dusted it off him, standing up and fixing his hat right on his head. He yawned, stretching his arms out. ''Good morning, Link!'' Navi greeted the still sleepy boy after coming out from underneath his hat where she had been resting. ''Are you ready to go further? We must reach the castle today!'' And now they had plenty of time to get there too.
The monsters were gone. The open field was normal again. The sun was shining bright, some birds flying in the air. ''Look!'' Navi bounced up and down in excitement. ''The castle, it's closer than we thought!'' Right across from where they had spent the night was the castle. The bridge was down as it would allow for people to enter it at day. This sure saved them some time. Clearly awake now, Link started to run with Navi flying as fast as she could to follow him. He stopped right in front of the large, wooden bridge to look up at the gate. This was Hyrule's Castle... He ran over the bridge to enter the place.
The first thing he reached was a busy market. There were many people buying or selling things, such as food, flowers or weird items. There were a few normal shops too. Some people were dancing to music that was played, some children were playing or running after dogs. It was such a lively place. Link honestly felt like an outsider; it was very noticeable that he came from the forest. He even felt some people staring at him. Navi hid inside Link's hat to hide from the people.
There was one little girl in a yellow dress with long brown hair standing all by herself. She didn't play like the other children, she seemed to be about Link's age. She noticed Link staring at her, giving him a kind smile. ''Hey, your clothes. They're different... You're not from around here, are you?'' Just as Link had guessed, it was very noticeable that he wasn't from this place. Link shook his head. ''Ohhh... You're a fairy boy from the forest! Now I see it. My name is Malon, nice to meet you! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch. He went to the castle to deliver some milk and hasn't come back yet... I am waiting for him, but he takes so long.'' It sounded like she was waiting for quite some time now.
There wasn't much time for Link to stop and chit-chat with strangers. He had to meet the princess. The girl didn't seem to mind much that he didn't want to talk anymore. Although meeting the princess was important, Link couldn't resist the urge to look around at the market, especially not with the smell of food roaming through the air... Only then the boy realized just how hungry he had gotten from his journey. His stomach growled and he placed a hand on his stomach. The princess could maybe wait for a little longer, he wanted to have something to eat first.
There was a huge line for everything, which showed just how busy it was. Being so short wasn't funny either, Link couldn't see how far he stood in line. He jumped up and down behind the tall adults who blocked his view. It was useless. Link huffed, crossing his arms against his chest. This was going to take forever. But since he was so short, maybe it had its benefits. This brought Link an idea. He snuck out of line, getting on his knees to crawl through and slip past the people who were waiting in line. He got behind one person who was buying food, grinning to himself now that he had cut the long line. But not everybody was pleased with his idea. ''Ahem.'' Somebody cleared his throat behind Link. The boy turned around, facing an angry, tall man who grabbed Link by his tunic and pushed him out of line. Link stumbled over his feet by the action, his hat almost falling off his head. He should have expected this. With a huff that his plan had failed, Link pushed his hat back in place.
The wait was long. It was as if that line would never end. Link had given up and sat on a bench, letting out a deep sigh. His stomach still growled. The sun was about to go down and he hadn't been able to buy something to eat yet. He was absolutely starving by now. After a while when he looked up, he saw the line completely gone. The man behind the food stand was about to pack in his things to close for the day. Right away the boy jumped up from his seat and ran towards the man, waving with a hand to let him know he still had a customer. The boy pointed at some apples he'd like to buy, grabbing his money bag. The man flashed the boy a smile. ''These are two rupees each, boy. But I'll give you a little extra because you're last. You'll get a free apple from me along with it.'' The kind man said and handed two apples to Link. The boy smiled brightly at the seller, paying him two rupees for the one apple he had to pay for. In the end, he felt like a lucky guy.
He waved goodbye to the seller, walking over to the bench again to sit down. He eagerly ate the apple. Link poked his hat with a finger and Navi snuck out from underneath it, wondering what he wanted from her. The young hero lifted a small piece of apple he had cut with his Kokiri sword, handing it to the fairy. Fairies didn't exactly need food, but he felt that sharing would be the right thing to do. ''For me?'' Navi asked, surprised. Link nodded his head, leaving the piece resting in his hand palm. Navi flew towards it to eat it from there. ''Thank you!'' She appreciated the offer a lot.
It was late, but Link had to go meet the princess. He left the empty market to walk the path to the castle. He got to the entrance, but the gate, unfortunately, was closed. There was a guard standing next to it. ''Sorry, kiddo. No entrance allowed. Especially not little kids like you. Now, shoo.'' The man spoke, waving with a hand to shoo Link away like he was a cat. Frowning, Link walked away. He needed to speak to the princess, but it wasn't going to be the easy way. He needed to sneak inside the castle and get past the guards somehow...
There must be a way to get past the closed gate. Not far away from him, Link heard something like a singing tone. As he followed the sound, he spotted a girl standing. It was Malon. What was she doing here? ''Hey!'' Malon greeted as she stopped singing her song. ''Are you going to the castle, fairy boy? Would you mind finding my dad? He still hasn't returned. He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing to do for an adult, haha!'' Malon laughed at her father's silly action. ''Oh yeah, if you'll look for him, I'll give this to you.'' She showed him a small egg. ''I have been incubating this egg very carefully. Please take good care of it.'' Link had no idea what he was supposed to do with this egg, but he took it from her just in case. There must be a reason as to why Malon gave him this egg. When their conversation had ended, Malon went back to humming her song.
Glancing around, Link looked for a way to get past the guards. He noticed a vine growing on the wall. He stepped up to it, placing his hands and feet on it to climb all the way up, now he had a nice view from high up to see where he had to go. Like this, he could at least get past the guard unnoticed. Yet he still had to be careful. Far across on him there was another guard standing above the gate. Link made sure to make himself smaller so he hopefully wouldn't see the young boy sneaking around. Link decided to jump off so that he would on the other side of the closed gate.
He was about to walk up straight ahead but quickly stopped as he saw two guards waiting. This truly wasn't going to be easy. He hid behind a rock to see where he could sneak past them. There was something like a hill he could climb up to. He got past the guards, needing to be on his own guard the whole time and could only pray that they wouldn't see him. He kept himself low. Link needs to consider himself lucky maybe that he was wearing a green tunic, it was the perfect cover in the grass. He got to a pretty high wall. It had rocks they could be used for climbing. He climbed all the way up, noticing from far two guards guarding the entrance to the castle. Silly them, they had no idea the boy got past them! Link jumped down, landing in water and letting the strong flow take him away. With an uncomfortable expression on his face, Link climbed out of the water once he got completely past all the guards. His clothes once again were soaking wet...
With his hands, the boy pushed himself out of the water. He pulled his boots off to empty them, they were soaking wet from the inside. Link hoped the sun could dry him up, he hadn't noticed it was already this early in the morning now. The whole night he had been up to sneak past the guards. Just as the sun raised up, the egg Link had gotten from Malon started to hatch. A cucco hatched out from it. Link still had no idea what he was supposed to do with it. He put his boots back on, standing up. Not far from him there was a sleeping man. He was pretty big and had a mustache. Link assumed this was Malon's father because he was asleep. The man seemed to be mumbling some inaudible things in his sleep. Only then it hit him as to why Malon had handed him the chicken. Placing the chicken down, it started to make a loud noise. Its feathers flew around as it jumped up and down.
''U-Uwoooa- H-Huh? What in tarnation!'' The man got startled by the cucco, woke up abruptly and looked around himself. ''Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?'' It was clear that Malon's father didn't appreciate it that his slumber got interrupted. The man then noticed Link standing. ''Hello and who might you be?'' His voice still sounded very tired. ''Yep, I'm Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. I went to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to get some rest and I guess I fell asleep...'' The man excused. ''What?! Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now!'' The man seemed to be a little worried to get scolded by his own daughter. ''I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me! She's really going to let me have it!'' As fast as he could, Talon started to run away to get back to his daughter who had been waiting for him all night.
''What a parent!'' Navi got out from underneath Link's head. ''Leaving his daughter alone like that. But, hey! Look, there seems to be an entrance there. You will probably fit through that. Let's give it a try!'' Across from them, there was a mini waterfall with a small entrance leading to the castle. It was too far and high to jump right away to it. They would need some help. The boy looked around and noticed a few wooden boxes with a cow picture on it. The boxes must be the milk Talon delivered. He could use these and stand on them. He tried to pick one of them up, but it was way too heavy to carry it. Panting, Link decided to stand behind it instead and push it all the way until it fell in the water. One wasn't enough. He did the same for the other box, placing it on top of the other box. Now it was high enough to jump from there to the other side. It would require getting wet knees, but he couldn't complain. He crawled inside, Navi hiding under his hat. They were close now...
Inside, it almost looked like a mini garden. Link hid behind a wall, to carefully look around. There were guards walking around everywhere, he needed to be careful. They seemed to be walking in circles, all he needed to do was get past them without getting seen. Whenever the guards would stop and face Link with his back, the boy would rush to the other side, only to hide behind a wall or hedge. Again, he was lucky to be wearing green, it was a great disguise. Inside there were more guards which meant the princess must be very close now.
The end was in sight. He waited for the last two guards to not pay attention before rushing to the entrance of where the princess was. And there she stood in the courtyard. A girl who seemed to be about Link's height and age stood with her back towards the young hero. She didn't seem to notice anything. Startled, the princess turned around when she felt something was behind her. She covered her mouth in surprise. ''Ah! Who?!'' She asked as she saw the boy in green. ''Who are you?'' She repeated. ''How did you get past the guards?'' Nobody could ever get past them. ''Oh, what's that?'' The princess asked as she saw Navi flying above Link's head. ''Is that...a fairy? Then, are you... Are you from the forest?'' Her surprised and worried look changed into a more excited one. She put her hands together in a hopeful manner. ''Then... then... you wouldn't happen to have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you? That green and shiny stone... Do you have it?''
Of course, the boy had it with him. Link nodded his head. The princess laughed at what she had hoped was true. ''Just as I thought!'' She felt relief. ''I had a dream... In the dream, dark stone clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule. But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds and lit up the ground. The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy. I know this is a prophecy that someone would come from the forest. Yes, I thought you might be the one.'' The princess told Link about her dream; it felt a lot like something Link had been dreaming about too not long ago. ''Oh, I'm sorry! I got carried away with my story and didn't even properly introduce myself! I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.'' She gave a bow with her head in greeting. ''What is your name?''
Link told her his name; Navi rested on top of Link's hat. The boy gave a bow with his own head back to be polite. ''Link... Strange... it sounds somehow... familiar. Okay then, Link. I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone.'' Link had no intention of telling others about this. He nodded his head to promise he would keep it a secret. ''The legend goes like this...'' Zelda started, looking Link straight in the eyes to have his full attention.
''The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule. The power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands. If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity... If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil... That is what has been told... So, the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones.''
''That's right... The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And in order to the door, it is said that you need to collect three Spiritual Stones. And another thing you need is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend... The Ocarina of Time!'' Zelda explained, telling her story to Link and hoping he understood everything. ''Did you understand well the story that I just told you?'' The princess asked. The young hero nodded his head. It was a lot of information to take in, but he did understand it.
''That's great! I forgot to tell you...'' The princess glanced behind her, revealing a small window. ''I was spying through this window just now... The other element from my dream... the dark clouds... I believe they symbolize that man in there. You can take a look if you'd like.'' She had made room for the boy to take a look through it. Link stepped up to it, looking through the window and saw a large man walking up who knelt down on a blue carpet. He had red hair and a dark skin tone wearing heavy armor. ''Can you see the man with the evil eyes? That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos. They hail from the desert far to the west. Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream... They must symbolize that man!'' The man behind the window seemed to be noticing that someone was looking at him, his gaze meeting Link's. The boy quickly stepped back, feeling caught. ''What happened? Did he see you?'' The princess asked the boy in green. ''Don't worry.'' She reassured him. ''He doesn't have any idea what we're planning... yet!'' It was a big secret plan she had in mind.
''I have told my father about my dream... However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy... But... I can see that man's evil intentions!'' There was a worried look on Zelda's face. ''What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And he wants to conquer Hyrule... no, the entire world!'' The princess faced Link, fear and worry in her blue eyes. ''Link... now you and I are the only ones who can protect Hyrule. Please!'' Anyone would call the princess crazy for this. Her father had all the right not to believe her because there was no proof if this man truly was evil or not. But since Link had the same dream as her, he believed her. The boy nodded, giving a thumb up to let her know he was prepared to help her. The girl laughed in relief, smiling happily at the boy's will in helping her. ''Thank you!'' However, her expression faltered back to a sad and worried one. ''I... I am afraid... I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come. We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it!'' She bravely spoke. ''You go find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does and then defeat him!'' It sounded like a good plan. ''One more thing...'' Zelda almost forgot. She quickly wrote down something on paper, making a letter with her autograph on it. ''Take this letter with you, I am sure it will be helpful to you.'' She handed Link the envelope who took it in his hands and put it in his pocket. ''I wish you the best of luck.'' With a nod, Link walked away.
At the exit there stood a tall woman waiting for Link. She had silver hair, tied back in a small ponytail. She was wearing armor, she looked very strong. ''I am Impa of the Sheikahs. I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. Everything is exactly as the Princess foretold.'' The woman had a pretty deep voice. ''You are a courageous boy... You are heading out on a big, new adventure, aren't you?'' She asked him, seeming to know well what was going on. ''My role in the Princess's dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby... There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen carefully...'' With her two fingers, Impa placed it against her lips. She started to whistle against them, using her fingers as an instrument to demonstrate the song to Link. Luckily for the boy, he had a Fairy Ocarina received from Saria when he left the forest. He grabbed it to copy Impa's melody. He placed the ocarina against his mouth, blowing against the small holes it had to create a melody. The song was surprisingly easy to play as it wasn't hard to forget. ''If the castle soldiers find you, there will be trouble. Let me lead you out of the castle.'' Impa said and brought the boy back outside without getting seen by the guards.
Not much later they stood outside of the castle, right in front of the bridge. ''You brave lad... We must protect this beautiful land of Hyrule! Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons, they hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire.'' Up ahead, far away, there was a huge mountain resting. It was going to be a big climb. ''At the foot of Death Mountain, you will my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain. Remember, the song I just taught you has some mysterious power. Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn this song. It will help to prove your connection with the Royal Family. The Princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones. All right. We're counting on you!'' Impa grabbed something, throwing it on the ground and disappeared in a flash - only smoke was left. Link got a little startled by the sound, looking around to see where she had gone to. She was nowhere to be seen.
A new adventure laid up ahead. Link wondered what kind of people the Gorons were, what evilness he would encounter next. But most importantly of all what that man Ganondorf was up to. What did he want from the king, why did he and Zelda have the same dream? It felt all so weird. Would he really be able to save Hyrule? He wondered what Saria would say about this...
