Prompt Eight – Where did Everybody Go

Timeline – Take's place between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

Where did Everybody Go?

An outcast. That was a term Link become familiar with at a very young age. He was nine years old the day Navi came to him. By that time, he was well aware of why all the Kokiri treated him differently. He had no fairy. After a Kokiri child is born, a fairy companion is chosen for them before their first year is up. That never happened for Link. Year after year he grew up, but no guardian fairy was blessed onto him.

For the first few years of Link's life, he was too young to realize that the other forest children treated him differently. As he grew, the boy slowly became aware of the treatment. Conversations would suddenly stop when he approached, no one ever offered to teach him anything, or join in on a game they were playing. They would cast odd, and uneasy glares in his direction when they thought he wouldn't notice. They'd stare at him, while whispering to each other behind their hands.

He was different. The boy without a fairy. Being different was a sin in their books. Link sometimes felt like he was carrying a disease, and anyone that came near him could catch it. In some ways, he felt like it would have been better if that was the case. That was at least a more understanding reason as to why he was being ostracized. There was only one Kokiri that didn't treat him any differently, and that was Saria. Even though the Great Deku was the Kokiri "Father" of sorts, Saria was the one who actually raised him and she was much more of a parental figure then the old tree ever had been. And though she had always been there for him in his younger days, the fact that he was not a Kokiri child at all, but a Hylain caused a rift to happen in their relationship.

They still cared deeply for each other, but the knowledge that he was Hylian made them both aware that their friendship would never be the same. He would grow into a Hylian man, and eventually pass away. Though Saria did not awaken as a sage like she did in the future, she would still remain a child, destined to live in the forest for the rest of eternity. Since the Great Deku Tree's death, Link no longer had the protection the deity offered, to stop him from becoming a Skull Kid.

So knowing that it would be the most painful thing either of them did, Link entered the forbidden forest one last time, to have a tearful goodbye with the only person in this world he knew for sure loved him. Fate can be so cruel…

Then there was Navi. For a while the young hero had thought she loved him like Saria did. She had never left his side even once, during their adventure through time. She protected him, and gave him advice. Cheered him up when he was feeling down, both physically and mentally guided him through his dark moments. But in the end she ended up leaving him too. Barely a moment passed since he was sent back to relive his childhood, when she floated away into the sunlight without a single word. That was the last time he saw her. That was the moment Link began to doubt whether she really loved him or not. Even if she had to leave because he wasn't Kokiri and couldn't have a guardian fairy, she could have at least said good bye.

The boy had such mixed emotions when it came to Princess Zelda. He was pretty sure she cared about him to an extent. But there were moments, in his thoughts that he downright hated her. Too often it felt like she only cared about him saving Hyrule. And everything she had done "for him" hasn't exactly worked out in his favor. First she tells him to pull the Master Sword, which ends with his spirit being sealed for seven years, given Ganon access to the sacred realm. Then she decided to send him back in time to relive the childhood he lost, not even asking for his own opinion on the subject. This left him with complicated emotions, having all the memories of being an adult. It sometimes felt like he was still mentally sixteen, yet forced to be inside his nine year old body. Then what does she do when the young hero goes to tell her about everything that happens in the futures? She doesn't go tell him to collect the spiritual stones again, or even take a moment to acknowledge everything they've been through together. Ok he should give her some slack in that area, as in that timeline, the Princess doesn't remember. As far as she's the concerned, it's the first time they've met.

What she does actually tell him, is to take the Ocarina of Time and leave! Supposedly this would stop Ganondorf from entering the sacred realm. So again that's another person in his life that walked away from him… or maybe in Zelda's case shooed him away. Actually when Link thought about it, it seemed like every person that ever showed him any kindness walked out of his life in some way. Except maybe Malon. There was certainly a special bond between the two that Link felt every time he visited the ranch, but it scared the boy. Link didn't want to risk getting close to her. For fear that she would walk away from him next.

The young hero currently sat in the middle of Hyrule field, musing over all this. He knew that he should probably do what Zelda told him, and leave the land. Would anyone even notice if he left? Something in his gut told him that no, no one cared about him enough to miss him. Where would he go if he left? It's not like he had friends or family to go seek out. He could always go search for Navi. He often debated on taking a journey to find out what actually happened to his fairy companion, but would that even be worth it? Why take the time to find someone who probably didn't even care about him?

Night had fallen some time ago, and it was beginning to get cold. So Link finally stood up from where he had been sitting and stretched his limbs. The moment he stepped off the path he had been resting on, a skeletal hand popped out of the ground, followed by another hand. They clawed at the dirt, until an unhuman like skull rose up from the ground. Seconds later a full Stalchild was out of the ground and clanking its way toward him. Another one had appeared on his other side. The child drew his Kokiri sword and began slashing at the skeleton until their bones broke apart and disappeared. But two more replaced them almost as soon as the previous ones disappeared. Link wasn't sure if he was ready to spend the rest of the night fighting these creatures. Going back on the path wouldn't work anymore, they've already been awakened.

It probably would have been a better plan to wait out the rest of the night on the path, or at least stayed on the path until he found some type of place to take shelter. But the boy had been so lost in his own pity party, that he momentarily forgot about the stalchildren. Running away didn't even help, as they were relentless and would just come after him. Link could have laughed at the irony. The only creatures in this land that cared enough about him to chase him when he tried to run away, were enemies that wanted to kill him.

With this revelation in mind, a deep feeling of utter despair fell over the young hero. Maybe it would be better to just give himself up the only creatures that cared about him right now. The boy dropped his sword, and collapsed onto his hands and knees. The first stalchild that reached him, quickly slashed at his body with its long dead fingernails. Link felt his tunic rip, and his skin get grazed by its sharp edges. The others had approached as well, and soon felt them all relentlessly slashing at his body. Stroke after stroke. He screamed and cried out with each hit, not caring if anyone heard him. Blood was beginning to pool around his body from all the slashes. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, morning came before they could finish him off.

With the sound of the crowing rooster off in the distance, all the stalchildren went back to the graves underground. Link was left a bloody mess on the ground. He figured that he would probably bleed to death now. He couldn't help but have another bitter thought; that even his enemies had left him. Maybe death wouldn't even be kind enough to give him the peace he was longing for. A nearby howl broke him of his bitter thoughts. Link recognized that howl, only a Wolfos could make that sound, and it chilled his blood. He cracked his eyes open, just to make sure it was really true. Sure enough a gray Wolfos, just a few yards away, was staring right at him. The boy already knew that he was too weak and injured to stand a chance against this creature. It would end his life, and it wouldn't be a peaceful one.

A low growl could be heard coming from the Wolfos mouth. Link quickly squeezed his eyes shut, and waited for the creature to run up to his defenseless body, and sink its teeth into him. That didn't happen however. Instead he heard soft cautious padding of paws walking hesitantly towards him. Then he felt its wet nose on the nape of his neck, and move down towards his legs. What was the Wolfos doing? Trying to decide which part of him would taste the best. Then he felt the wet saliva of its tongue licking gently at a wound on his arm. The boy was so taken aback by this, and the next thing he realized, the Wolfos laid down next to his body. The creatures own body wrapped around him like a mother protecting her baby. Then it began licking his face. For some reason, this creature that should be wanting to kill him like those stalchildren, had decided to take pity on him instead.

Even though he was receiving kindness from the most unexpected thing imaginable, Link couldn't help but wonder. How long before you leave me too?

Kind of depressing I know. I'm not a Link/Zelda shipper… unless you count Link/Tetra, I love those two :). But that's the closest I'll get to writing Link/Zelda. I'm especially not very fond of Ocarina of Time Zelda, she was kind of selfish and made some messed up decisions that annoyed me. I'm not into character bashing, so you won't see any of that. But I probably won't show Zelda in a very good light.