The journey from Hateno Village to Korok Forest had been relatively uneventful. Despite no longer having the Shiekah Slate, having returned it to Zelda upon her return, he had been making excellent time towards his destination. Deciding to travel light, the only equipment he had brought along was the Master Sword, his Hylian Shield, and a Savage Lynel Spear and Savage Lynel Bow that he had obtained from the last Lynel he killed.

He was about halfway between Kakariko Village and the Wetlands Stabel when he came across a small collection of Bokoblins surrounding some travelling merchants. He was mildly surprised by the boldness of the monsters attacking in the middle of the day, until he caught sight of a Golden Bokoblin wielding a Royal Broadsword among the group.

Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, he had quietly dismounted his horse and lowered himself close to the ground. Silently, he moved his way towards the battle taking great precautions to avoid detection. Once he had gotten close enough, he drew the Savage Lynel Bow quickly nocked an ice arrow. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the string back and took aim.

Once he was feeling confident in his aim, he released his grasp on the bowstring at the same time he exhaled the breath he had taken. Before the ice arrow cleared the bow, there was a near silent, non-electrical spark as the one arrow quickly multiplied into three separate arrows.

Time seemed to slow as the Hylian Champion watched the arrows draw closer to his target. The Golden Bokoblin was still focused on the weary travelers, completely unaware to the danger behind him.

The instant he was sure that the arrows would hit their mark, Link sprinted forward as fast as he could.

As soon as he began running all attention shifted away from the cornered merchants, each Bokoblin turning to see who had interrupted their hunt. Unfortunately for the Gold Bokoblin, the very second that he turned around he came face to face with the three ice arrows. It had no time to respone as all three struck it directly in the face, inflicting heavy damage on the creature as well as freezing it in place.

"Three red, two blue, and one gold," the hero took a quick mental count as sized up his opponents, his mind racing to come up with a plan of attack. The red ones were by far the least threatening, two of them holding only blunt Boko Spears while the third was unarmed. The blue ones were a little more of a threat, one holding what appeared to be a Dragonbone Club and the other with a Spiked Boko Bow.

Finalizing his strategy, he sharply changed directions and headed directly for the archer, his arm reaching behind to grab his shield at a moments notice.

The club wielding Bokoblin wasn't going to give him a free path however, the monster quickly placing itself in between Link and the other Blue Bokoblin before letting loose a brutal horizontal swing.

Changing targets, the Hylain Champion managed jump to the side just before the club managed to make contact with his head. The familiar feel of adrenaline filled his body as he felt everything except what was directly in front of him melt away. Drawing the Master Sword, he lunged forward in a flurry of attacks, hacking away at the Bokoblin still stuck in its downswing

By the third swing the monster was dead, and he felt his surroundings fade back into his view.

"That's one."

Before he could move however, the Hylian Champion let out a small grunt as an arrow sunk into his arm. The sound of a bow snapping caught his attention, and he instantly brought his shield up between him and the other Blue Bokoblin.

Slightly irritated from being shot, Link speedily closed the distance between him and the bow-wielder. The monster had no time to react as it was quickly cut down, it's weapon making a small clatter as it fell to the ground.

"Two down, four to go."

Turning around to face the remainder of the creatures, Link caught sight of the Boko Spear racing towards him. Swinging his shield outwards, he felt metal meet wood as the Red Bokoblin stumbled off balance. Taking advantage of the monster's disorientation he wasted no time in getting close and disposing of it.

"Three left, one frozen, two mobile. One has a weapon the other is unarmed."

Reacting on instinct, Link dropped to the ground just as another Boko Spear passed through the space his head had been occupying. Getting back to his feet he made a quick pivot with his legs, unleashing a deadly spin attack that easily dispatched the spear-wielder.

"That leaves two-"

His mental count was interrupted as something hard collided with his right side. Flying a few feet to the left, he hit the ground before rolling a couple more feet. Giving a pained grunt, he shakily rose to his feet to catch a glimpse of what had struck him. When he caught sight of his assailant, he let out a small curse for letting himself be so careless.

The final Red Bokoblin had picked up the Dragonbone Club and was currently spinning it overhead as fast as it could. It must have picked it up while he was distracted with the spear users before sneaking up on him waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Chastising himself for discounting the monster just because it had been unarmed, Link shook his head slightly to clear it. Sheathing the Master Sword, the Hylian Champion once more pulled out his Savage Lynel Bow along with a normal arrow. A quick shot later, and the final red Bokoblin fell to the ground before exploding into purple mist.

"One left."

As soon as that thought passed through his head, Link heard the sound of ice cracking. Turning to the direction the noise was coming from, he saw that the Golden Bokoblin had finally managed to break itself out from its icy prison.

Its freedom was short-lived as Link quickly shot another Ice Arrow directly at it, freezing it in place once more. Stowing his bow, he ran over the the dropped club before grabbing it off the ground. Making his way over the frozen monster, he pulled the club back before letting loose with a heavy swing.

The force of the attack shattered the coating of ice on the monster as well as sending it crashing to the ground several feet away. The monster let out a small groan as it slowly raised itself to its feet. The Bokoblin looked up slightly only for the Dragonbone club to come flying right into its face, sending it sprawling back on the ground while losing its grip on the Royal Broadsword.

Not granting the monster any time to recover, Link dashed forward and grabbed the weapon before it could be retrieved. Once his foe managed to get up again, he was instantly on the offensive, slashing and hacking away without mercy.

He kept up the attack until finally the Royal Broadsword shattered, once more knocking the Bokoblin down. This time the monster didn't get back up, it remained on the ground. The creature gave a low moan of pain, before it exploded into purple mist.

"Zero," the Hylian Champion finished his count down as he set the Hylian shield on his back. Looking down at the ground, he raised an interested eyebrow at what the monster had left behind.

"A ruby and a sapphire, that's more than they usually have."

As Link crouched down to collect the spoils from the Golden Bokoblin, he let out a small sigh as he heard footsteps slowly approach him.

"Here we go again," he mentally prepped himself as he stood up straight and turned to face the person he had just rescued.

Link sized up the approaching merchant. He was a young man with shaggy light brown hair, seemed to be a medium build that was a little taller than the Champion. He was wearing a simple Hylian Shirt and Trousers with black boots. As he got closer, Link saw the gleam in the man's bright green eyes and knew exactly how this conversation was going to go.

"That was incredible," the merchant exclaimed while gesturing wildly with his hands. "I've never seen anything like that, you killed all of them so quickly and with so little trouble! Even when they hit you, it seemed like it hardly bothered you at all!"

Link quickly held up a hand in an attempt to get the merchant to calm down. Seeming to understand what the Hero meant, the man paused to take a breath before his eyes widened.

"I am so sorry, in all my excitement I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Shiro, I'm a travelling merchant" the man said extending his hand, which Link respectfully took.

"I can't thank you enough my friend, we had been travelling to Zora's Domain to try and sell my wares, but we were suddenly attacked by that horde of awful creatures," Shiro continued as the two broke off their handshake.

"We? So, you're travelling with someone else," Link asked.

"Oh, how forgetful of me," Shiro said as he gently slapped his palm against the head, "I forgot to tell her that the coast was clear!" Turning over to the wreckage of the cart, the merchant let out a loud yell, "Maria, it's safe now! Come over here and greet our the one who rescued us!"

From behind the wreckage came a young woman with shoulder length black hair. She was wearing a light green dress with a white shawl over her shoulders. Slowly, she made her way over to where Link and Shiro were standing.

"This is my wife Maria," Shiro began as he took her hand in his own. "We've only just married, and she was so excited to join me on my job. When those monsters attacked us, I thought that I had brought her to her death. I can't thank you enough for your help Mister," the merchant trailed off, realizing he didn't know the name of his rescuer.

"Link," the hero responded, mentally bracing himself as he saw recognition flash within Shiro's eyes.

"Link…why does that name sound familiar," the merchant muttered to himself as his wife's eyes widened significantly.

"Here it comes."

"Link, that's the name of the champion that vanquished the Calamity alongside the Princess was it not? Are you THAT Link," Maria questioned excitedly, bouncing up and down slightly on the balls of her feet.

Biting back a groan, Link gave a short nod. Upon receiving confirmation, Maria let out a loud squeal while Shiro took a step back in awe.

"Truly? You are the hero of the land? Well that certainly explains how you were able to handle all those monsters so easily," Shiro let out a joyous laugh.

"It is such an honor to meet you! How can we ever repay you for your help," Maria asked as she stepped right in front of Link, grabbing his hand with hers.

The Hylian Champion shuffled awkwardly and looked off to the right, "That isn't really necessary, I don't really need anything."

"Nonsense," Shiro chuckled, "it isn't every day that the hero decides to grace you with his presence as well as save you from violent creatures. In fact, if of my goods survived, their yours free of charge!"

Gently pulling his hand away from Maria, Link took a small step backwards and slightly shook his head, "No, I can't just take your merchandise after you were attacked, that just wouldn't be right."

Shiro gave a sad smile, "It's okay, with my cart destroyed I can't be a merchant anymore. Though thanks to you, I still have a chance to find some other work and enjoy time with my wife. The least I can do is give you the last few items I had as thanks."

Link took a deep breath and ran his left hand through his hair, "Fine, I'll accept your generosity."

"But," he continued, silencing any reply Shiro was about to make, "I won't accept it for free." Reaching into his bag, the hero pulled out two rubies and two sapphires.

"The monsters dropped these; it should be enough to pay for a majority of a new cart."

Shiro's eyes were wide as Link handed him the gems, to his side his wife let out a few sobs of disbelief.

"I can't accept this Sir Hero, you were the one who killed the monsters, these gems are rightfully yours," the merchant stammered.

Link shook his head slightly, "If they are mine, then they are mine to give away. If you won't accept them as payment, then consider them a belated wedding gift for you and your wife."

Wiping a few tears, Shiro stood up straight before bowing slightly. "Very well, it will be my honor to accept your gift. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Yes, we cannot thank you enough hero," Maria began tearfully, before her expression changed to that of pure excitement, "Also I've always wanted to ask, were you really alive 100 years ago!?"

Link put on a false smile as he held back another sigh of frustration.


Link let out a breath as he relaxed on the bed he had gotten for the night. After helping retrieve any surviving items from Shiro's cart, he had managed to make it to Woodland Stable a little past nightfall.

He glanced over to his adventure pouch that was leaning against the bedframe. Shiro was right when he mentioned that most of his stock was destroyed. After all of their efforts the only things that were able to be recovered was a handful of bomb arrows, a couple stalks of Hylian Rice, and a few Hearty Radishes, certainly not enough to provide enough to live on for any amount of time.

Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but feel bitterness slowly rise inside him. All throughout the time he spent with Shiro and Maria, the two would always try to dissuade him from helping too much. They didn't feel it was necessary for him to offer assistance and that it was their privilege to do things so he wouldn't have to.

"Couldn't they see that I just wanted to help, that I wanted to be of assistance to them?

Rolling onto his side, he opened his eyes as he stared out the open stable doors. He watched the trees sway in the wind while someone sat at watch next to the glow of a fire.

"If wish life could always be this simple, if only I didn't have to be known as the Hero of Hyrule."

With that, he closed his eyes once again, while rolling onto his back. As he felt his consciousness fading, he gave a silent prayer that this sleep would be a dreamless one.


Link dismounted his horse as he entered into the Korok Forest. He had gotten up at the crack of dawn and quickly left the stable to avoid any potential recognition from the other guests. Normally he wouldn't have cared too much, but after the encounter with Shiro yesterday, on top of all the other frustrations he had been having, he really didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

Thankfully, he had managed to have a peaceful rest with no dreams that he could remember. His luck continued as the rest of the journey was free of any monsters, and so as he entered the woods, he was feeling much more rested and energetic than normal.

Following the trails from his torch, he quickly made his way to the familiar sight of the Great Deku Tree and a multitude of Koroks. The hero giving a soft smile as the sound of the Deku Tree's snoring reached his ears.

As he approached the Master Sword's pedestal, the snores cut off as the forest deity opened his eyes followed by a large yawn.

"Oh, it is you. I see that you have come to return the sword to its resting place once more. I must admit, you held onto it much longer than I expected."

Link looked up to the Deku Tree in surprise, his eyebrows furrowed in an unspoken question.

"You are not the first to wield that sword. Many legends over time have each taken their turn taking up that sword to fight against the darkness, something that I am sure you are familiar with. At least you were 100 years ago, maybe you still haven't recovered those memories yet."

Link folded his arms and glared at the guardian of the forest in slight annoyance.

The Deku Tree gave a slight chuckle, "I apologize, I meant you no disrespect I was merely thinking aloud. As I was saying, the sword has served countless heroes over the ages and every time those heroes would vanquish the evil plaguing their lands, they would return the sword to rest back where they found it shortly after. I had been expecting the same for you, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you would defy my expectations."

Clearing his voice, the Deku Tree continued, "It is a wise decision to leave the sword here, it is still in need of recovery from your time with it both now and 100 years ago. Although peace reigns now, there shall undoubtably come a time when it is needed once more. However, I must warn you, by replacing the sword here there is a good chance that you shall never draw it again. Unless evil shall rise once more in your lifetime, I find it highly unlikely that the sword will allow itself to be drawn until it finishes restoring itself. Are you prepared for that?"

Link silently drew the sword and stared at its blade. He had wielded it for so long that it was hard to remember a time without it. Yet he knew that it was time for them to part ways, for now at least.

Raising his head to meet the guardian spirit's eyes once more, the Hero gave a definitive nod.

"I'm ready."

With those words, the Hero of Hyrule grasped the hilt in both hands before thrusting the blade downwards with all of his might. The blade slid into its pedestal and a bright, golden light erupted from the point of contact. Slowly it died down, the sword now fixed immovable in the ground.

Slowly, Link let go of the sword and took a step back before letting out a deep breath.

"The sword has fallen into a deep slumber," the Deku Tree began, "it will take some time for it to be ready to wake up again. Do not worry, I shall watch over it as long as it remains here no matter how long that may be."

Link gave an appreciative nod, "Thank you Great Deku Tree, I know that it will be safe with you. I hope that it will be fully restored by the next time that it is needed."

The Deku Tree gave a small grunt of agreement before falling silent for several minutes. Link was just about to turn to leave when the forest guardian spoke up once more.

"Something else is bothering you, your spirit seems deeply troubled by something."

The Hero froze mid-step, before turning back to the Deku Tree. Seeing the slight anxiety in the Hylian Champion's eyes, the guardian of the forest continued, "I will not pry into these matters, as I sense that they are not something you wish to discuss. I will warn you however, to be careful in your attempts to find peace with these feelings. Many people have suffered due to hasty action in times of desperation, much like Hyrule did 100 years ago. Find your happiness but do it wisely."

"Thank you, Great Deku Tree, I'll keep what you've said in mind," Link spoke softly as he turned to leave once more.

This time, the forest guardian let the champion take his leave. Watching silently as he sensed the negative emotions the Hero was feeling begin to churn wildly.

"May you find peace young one."


Link was slowly walking towards the exit of the woods, his mind racing from what he had done in the forest along with the words the Deku Tree had spoken to him.

"Well, I really did it. I returned the sword that seals the darkness to its resting place, I guess that's one less purpose I have now. I know that it needs to recover, but to potentially never use it again for the rest of my life? At this rate there really will be nothing left for me-"

His thoughts were cut off as he felt a weight dig itself into his midsection, the air in his lungs being forcibly expelled as he fell onto his back.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry Mr. Hero!"

Struggling to catch his breath, he managed to sit up enough to see a Korok standing next to him, the leaf on its face resembling a three leafed clover.

"I didn't mean to run into you, it was an accident, oh I'm so sorry! It's just that we've been hearing weird sounds in the forest, and we thought it was just a prank by Hetsu to get back at us forstealinghismaracaseedsbutitwasn'tandthenIgotlostandscaredandIwasrunningandnotlookingandthenIranintoyou-" the Korok said, speaking faster the longer he went.

"Stop, calm down," Link stated holding up his hand as his breath returned to him, causing the Korok stopping its rambling. "Now, what's going on?"

The Korok inhaled slightly, "Well lately we've been hearing strange, whistling like sounds echoing through the forest. At first, we thought Hetsu was just trying to freak us out in return for stealing his maraca seeds, but then even he got freaked out by it. We've tried following it, but every time we get close all we hear is this creepy laugh, and then it just stops. We're not sure if its some monster that is trying to make its home here or if it's something else entirely!

The Hylian Champion was intrigued, maybe this would be a nice distraction from the troubling thoughts that clouded his mind.

"If you'd like I could check it out for you," he offered, the Korok staring up at him in surprise and gratitude.

"Oh yes of course Mr. Hero! We would all feel so much better if we knew that you were searching for this thing!"

Link held back a chuckle, while he was frustrated by the Hylians' borderline worship of him, the childlike innocence of the Koroks made it a bit more tolerable.

"Alright then, so what does this "whistling" sound like?"

The Korok looked up slightly as he thought about how to answer, "it's sounds like someone was whistling a song. The whistling itself isn't really what's so scary, it's how hauntingly it fades in an out at random intervals. That and the laugh that occasionally accompanies it makes it sound like some sort of ghost haunting the forest."

Link loosely grasped his chin with his right pointer-finger and thumb as he pondered the words of the forest spirit.

The hero was about to ask when the sound could usually be heard when a soft melody flowed into the part of the forest the two were standing in. The Korok went rigid, "There it is again, that's the sound!"

"So, this is what has all the Koroks spooked, strange it sounds sort of upbeat almost like one could dance to it. Not really the kind of sounds one would expect from a ghost."

Straining his ears, Link quickly began to move in the direction where the music seemed to be emanating from. Just as the music began to grow louder, it suddenly dropped in volume to the point it was almost inaudible. The hero stopped dead in his tracks as he took a couple steps back to stay within range of the song.

"That's interesting, I see what that Korok meant about it fading in and out randomly. I wonder if this is like the wind paths that guide to the Great Deku Tree."

Walking slowly, Link carefully followed the sound of the music, always walking in the direction where he could hear it the most clearly. After what felt like hours, he found himself overlooking a small clearing. In the clearing were several large, wide tree stumps along with a small river that flowed out a gentle waterfall to his left. Listening carefully, he quickly climbed off the small ledge he was on and continued to follow the melody.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of a small tree on the far side of the clearing. Looking up he took notice of the ladder that connected to a raised platform directly that appeared to be connected to the tree. Level with the platform was a hole in the tree, where the whistling sound gently flowed out from.

Ascending the ladder, Link stepped into the opening and was surprised at what he saw. Within the tree was a small circular room with what appeared to be a table to his left and a small, stone sink to his right. Directly across from him a man in a brown cloak and hood sat on a small bed, in his hands was a tiny blue ocarina that he was gently blowing into. Suddenly, the man stopped playing and looked up at the Hylian Champion.

"Ah welcome, it's been a while since I've had any visitors here," the stranger began, "please take a seat if you'd like."

Wary of the man, Link slowly moved his way over to the one chair in the room next to the table before quietly sitting down; neither Link nor the stranger's eyes leaving each other as he moved.

"Well, I imagine you didn't come all this way for nothing. So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Link was silent as he considered exactly what to say, before finally he spoke, "Some of the forest spirits were restless about that song you were just playing. They asked me to see if I could find where it was coming from."

A sad smile made its way onto the man's face, "I see. So even the children of the forest no longer recognize this song anymore."

Suddenly a bright grin replaced the somber one, "So you volunteered to go and help out the forest spirits huh? You must be quite the nice guy!"

Taken aback, Link quickly composed himself before responding, "Well I wouldn't go that far, I was in the forest to take care of something earlier, and one of them ran into me as I was leaving. It seemed like a good distraction from some other things I've been worrying about, so I decided to give it a shot."

"I see you're quite humble too," the stranger chuckled, "however you mentioned that this would be a nice distraction from something. What could possibly be so terrifying that wandering through an endless magical forest in search of strange noises could be more appealing?"

Link gave a slight frown as he looked off to the side, "I'm not sure I really want to talk about it with you. My closest friends can hardly understand it, so how could you, a complete stranger, possibly understand?"

The figure gave a small smirk as he leaned forward, "Try me."