Author's note: Here we are! Chapter four! Sorry for the cliffhanger last time but I couldn't resist. Please, tell me what you think in a review! I'm dying to know what people think of this crazy story! ^_^ Enjoy!


Chapter Four

For a moment, Link stood frozen with shock. Time seemed so slow as the intruder turned toward the entrance to the Sacred Realm, as Conrad fell.

"Father!" Link shouted, breaking free of his stupor. He knelt down next to his father.

"Link...you are the Protector...and...the king...save Hyrule."

"Father," Link cried. "Please! I don't know what to do!"

"The Sage of the Forest...find the sage...Kokiri Forest. You must save Hyrule! GO!" With that word, Conrad passed his sword to Link, folding his son's hand around the hilt of the sword. "Go, my son, do not waver in your destiny." And with those words, Conrad closed his eyes, his hand dropping from the sword, breathing his last.

The doors to the temple burst open. Link stood and turned, raising the sword. But there was no need to fight. A few Sheikah, including Camilla, stood in the entrance. Camilla took everything in with a shocked expression.

Tears streaming down his face, Link ran out of the temple, barely glancing at the Sheikah. Where's the Kokiri Forest? he wondered as he dodged several large skeleton warriors that seemed to have overrun the town since he had gone into the Temple of Time in the first place. But he made it safely out of town.

As he ran across the drawbridge, an immense pain on the back of his hand brought him to his knees. There was a Triforce symbol on the back of his hand, and it glowed brightly, the bottom right glowing brighter than the rest. His eyes widened. It was just like what happened to the Hero of Time. He, too, had possessed the Triforce of Courage. But it wasn't that that surprised him. It was the fact that the Triforce, which his forefathers had protected, was no longer in the Sacred Realm.

He looked up, tears still streaming down his face. Right now, it felt as if he had no courage to go on.

"Link?"

Link looked around. Zelda stood over him. She had scratches on her face, her hand gripping the hilt of a sheathed dagger. "Link, you are hurt?"

Link shook his head no. He couldn't find the words. After a few deep breaths, he stood, grasping his father's sword tight. "I need to get to the Kokiri Forest. But I don't know where it is."

"I know where to find the entrance. Shall I show you?" Zelda suggested.

"Please."

Zelda nodded. "This way," she said, starting out towards the south. Link followed her.

The Sheikah glanced at him. "I am sorry, Link, about your father."

Link looked away, the tears still rolling down his cheeks.

For a long while, they walked in silence. Then they came upon a small stand of trees. Zelda stopped and motioned toward the center of the trees. "Here. This is the way into the forest."

Link peered into the trees and saw an entrance into another, deeper forest. The Triforce on his hand tingled, reminding him of his duty. He glanced at his companion. "Where's your mother, Zelda?"

"She and the other Sheikah are trying to force the skeletons out of the town or to kill them. She told me to get out of the town so I wouldn't get killed. I'm not a fully trained Sheikah warrior, so I would not have lasted very long in battle." She looked at him. "You are going in, are you not?"

"I...I'm afraid to go alone."

"Then I shall come." She smiled and started forward. Link watched her for a moment and then hurried after her.

They entered a mysterious forest. Fairies flew through the air. Before them was a bridge made from wood and ropes. Link and Zelda stopped, looking around with curiosity. Link forgot for a moment the troubles he had left behind in the world outside this dense forest.

"Who goes there?"

The voice echoed through the quiet grove. A mere boy dressed in green walked up to them, eying them suspiciously. "No one is allowed in the Kokiri Forest, by order of the Sage of the Forest."

"That's who we need to see!" Link exclaimed. Perhaps this job would be easier than he thought it would be.

"State your names, and I will see if you are good enough to meet with the Sage."

Link and Zelda exchanged a glance. Zelda spoke up first. "I am Zelda-Aurea, daughter of Camilla and Vorges of the Sheikah Tribe."

The boy looked at her. "A Sheikah?" Zelda nodded. "Very well, and you?" The Kokiri turned to Link.

Link swallowed. "I am Link, the Protector and the un-crowned king of Hyrule."

The Kokiri stared wide-eyed at him. He looked around and motioned. "Come, quickly." He led them into a forest village. Many of the Kokiri looked at them, whispering to each other. Link tried to ignore the stares. He felt out of place because all of the Kokiri were children.

"Wait here," the Kokiri he and Zelda were following ordered as they stopped near one of the many houses. The Kokiri went in, but came out a second later, looking perplexed.

"You looking for Saria, Mido?" one of the Kokiri asked as she passed the house carrying a basket of fruit.

"Yeah, where is she?" Mido replied.

"Said something about the Forest Temple," the other Kokiri said. Mido sighed and muttered something. He motioned to Link and Zelda to follow, then led them off. "Listen, you have to stick close," he said as they entered an even darker forest. "People get lost in here and never come back. They say they turn into monsters."

Link and Zelda exchanged a fearful glance. "You're taking us to find the sage?" Link asked.

"Yes. She's deep in the Lost Woods."

They walked in silence, wining their way through the trees. Mido was obviously very confident in where he was going, and soon they arrived at what looked like a maze made out of hedges which they entered without hesitation and began to navigate through.

After a few moments of winding through hedges and climbing some stairs, they reached an old building. The entrance was high above the ground, and there was no way to get up to it, save for a tree that had only one branch above the entrance.

Link looked around. He saw no sage, only another raised platform, similar to the one in the Temple of Time. He did hear music though, coming from the Forest Temple.

"Saria!" Mido called. "Hey, Saria!"

The music stopped. For a moment there was silence. Then a girl with a bandaged arm walked out of the entrance to the temple, immediately spotting Link and Zelda. She jumped down from the entrance, using the tree to slow her decent some and landed on the grass.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Mido said.

"Yeah...sorry," the girl replied. "I only told one person I was heading out here." Then she turned her attention to the others. Her eyes widened at the sight of Link. "I am Saria, the Sage of Forest. And who are you, warrior? You remind me of a friend from long ago."

"I'm Link," Link replied. He noticed a quick look of shock on the Sage's face. Then she nodded. "No wonder." She sighed. "You remind me of Link, the Hero of Time. I knew him long ago, when he was just a boy growing up here in the Kokiri Forest."

"If you do not mind me asking," Zelda spoke up, "how could you have known him?"

"We Kokiri are immortal." That was all the sage said. "Let us go back to the village, and you can tell me why you have come." She began walking away from the temple.


Saria shook her head sadly. It was just her, Link, and Zelda in the sage's house, sitting around a wooden table made from a tree stump. Link and Zelda had just finished telling her of what had happened at the Castle Town in the past two days. The sun had set and crickets chirped loudly outside the cozy building.

"I feel it's partially my fault. That man you described, he came here and stole those gems: the Spiritual Stones. I saw him and I should have stopped him...or rather tried harder to stop him. My question is, why did you not stop him if you are the Protector?"

Link looked away. "There's nothing more to protect." He laid his left hand on the table, showing off the Triforce symbol. "It's Courage," he said.

"So the Triforce has been split once more," Saria said softly. "That must mean that that man may have gotten Power. And if he did, where could Wisdom ended up?"

"I do not think you have to search far for Wisdom," Zelda said. "I have it." she pulled off her right-hand glove and showed them. True to her word, she did have a Triforce on her hand.

Saria was surprised, but she didn't show it. She thought hard. This Link was so similar to the Link she has once known. Would he...?

"What do you know of sword fighting, Link?" she asked.

"A little bit," Link replied. "Why?"

"You're going to have to fight. You said that your father told you to save Hyrule. But that's not just why I was asking. Are you left-handed?"

"For the sword, yes," Link answered.

"You may be the one."

"The one what?"

"There is a saying amongst us Kokiri, and I believe the Gorons have one similar to it, that says that history always repeats itself. I never really believed this until now. The Triforce is split into three pieces, Hyrule is on the brink of danger, you are a left-handed swordsman and bear the Triforce of Courage. It all happened before. You may be the one who can wield the Master Sword and vanquish this new tyrant. You could be...the next Hero of Time."

"That can't be true. I don't even like to fight!"

"But you fight because you want to save your people and your kingdom. I can see it in you: you will do whatever it takes to save Hyrule, even if that means going against your highest standards and wielding a sword." Saria looked at Link closely. "You seem hesitant though."

Link sighed. "This Triforce is supposed to give me courage, but I find myself afraid to do what I must."

"Which is why you have Zelda here to help, and, of course, I will help you as well, as best I can while still keeping the forest protected. I cannot leave for very long in these darkening times. But then again, it's been such a long time since I did anything really adventurous."

"You have my support, Link," Zelda said. I will go with you to whatever end this journey shall take us."

Link took a shaky breath. Then he nodded. "What's the first step towards saving Hyrule?"

"The Master Sword. I know where Link left it. It may be a long journey to get there, but we will be able to do it. We can leave in the morning."