Link woke in a place he hadn't been in in years: his tree. This was the tree that he'd stayed in during his younger years before he knew of his destiny as the Hero of Time. Memories flooded his head, and he had to fight to keep back the tears of joy.
He equipped himself with his gear and exited the one-room house. He walked out onto his porch, breathed in the air, and leapt to the ground: a good eight feet. He rolled to absorb the fall and got up running.
He drank in all of the familiar sights: Kokori Shop, Kokori Stream, and Saria's House, as well the whole of the Kokori Village
He took a right and ran to Saria's home. He entered and found it deserted, but recently stayed in. Link gazed around and quickly determined that Saria was nowhere to be found. He grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl he found, not having had breakfast, and began to eat it.
He stepped out of Saria's house. He placed the Ocarina of Time to his lips and played Epona's Song. Epona came trotting up to him. He kissed her nose and stroked her back.
Suddenly a platoon of Hyrulian soldiers came marching into Kokori Village, led by an officer. They walked up to Link and the officer saluted the hero. "Are you Link?"
Link nodded.
"Come with us," the officer ordered. "Princess Zelda has commanded us to escort you to the Temple of Time."
"I can be at the Temple of Time in a few seconds without your escort," Link informed him. Link began to bring the Ocarina of Time to his lips once more.
"The Princess's orders stand," the officer said. "You are to come with us."
"Very well," Link breathed. He mounted Epona and gestured for the platoon to lead on.
They marched out of the Kokori Forest and entered the great expanse of Hyrule Field. This was a journey that would take up the remainder of the day.
Link gazed at his "companions." They wore full suits armor. The sun beat down upon them and Link wondered how they tolerated that sweltering heat. He wore only some light mail, his tunic, his leggings, and his boots. However, they wore full suits of armor.
It was not until two hours later that the officer introduced himself to Link. He reached his hand up to Link and, not stopping walking, said, "Captain Ramiro."
Link grasped the captain's hand and said, "Link." He was surprised by even this show of formality.
About one hour after that Link dismounted. He walked like that for several minutes when suddenly the ground erupted from underneath the foremost members of the platoon, sending them flying.
A giant creature came flying into the air, elevated by giant propellers on its topside and underside. It spun faster than any other creature could and it was made up of jelly and hatred for humans. Several of its babies detached themselves and sent themselves after the platoon.
Link recognized the monstrosity immediately: it was a creature that had been nicknamed a "peahat."
One soldier screamed. Link hit Epona on the rear and she went running to safety. The soldiers readied their weapons: spears mostly, but Captain Ramiro carried a sword. Link unsheathed his gilded sword and held his shield up. He'd faced quite a few peahats, but these soldiers weren't ready.
The peahat used hits underside propellers as blades, and they were being used effectively. They hit one soldier in the midsection, but his armor protected him. He went flying into the air, but several baby peahats went after him. Link threw his shield at them, and one fell to the ground, wounded.
Captain Ramiro held up his sword and Hylian shield. He charged at a baby peahat and smashed it with his shield. The baby fell to the ground, mortally wounded from the impact.
The mother peahat attacked two soldiers. It swiped one's legs out from under him, but the other was not so lucky. A spin of the propellers and the soldier was decapitated.
"Fayore!" Ramiro cried, crying one of the goddess's names.
Link had had enough of this. He sheathed his sword and pulled his bow from his back. Reaching for his quiver he grabbed an arrow and fitted it into the string. He waited for a sure shot at the peahat's underside and fired.
The peahat was stunned momentarily, but then came after Link, recognizing him as a threat. Link fired two more arrows at the peahat, and it fell to the ground, dead. The jelly that made it up was absorbed into the ground, and it was no more.
Epona, faithful as ever, came trotting up to Link. "Put your wounded and dead onto my horse's back," Link ordered Ramiro.
Ramiro was still staring into space: there was still one surviving baby. It was slicing up the dead body and sucking it into its underside. The captain was about to attack it, but Link put a hand on his shoulder.
"Leave it," Link said, "such is life. I'm sorry."
Ramiro gestured to have his wounded put on Epona's back. "We'll have to stop by Lon-Lon ranch to borrow another two horses. Besides, some of that milk will do our men some good."
Link nodded sadly.
* * *
They entered Lon-Lon Ranch, sad expressions on their faces and their morale lower than low. Link and Captain Ramiro led them, both had mud and blood on their faces. Link led them to the stable across from the house and knocked on the door.
A tall but scrawny man opened the door. Link greeted him with a glare that sent daggers up his spine. "H-hello."
Captain Ramiro pushed Link aside and said, "Can you fetch Talon, Ingo? We need some help. We've got wounded, and we need some Lon-Lon Milk, as well as a few extra horses."
"Of course, sir." Ingo walked to the house and disappeared inside.
Link told Ramiro to help the wounded off of Epona's back. When this was done Link mounted Epona and trotted off to the fenced in area where Malon tended to the horses during the day.
Link walked up to Malon who was singing Epona's Song to the horses. Epona trotted up to his former mistress and licked her face. Link dismounted and embraced the singing girl.
Malon blushed. "Welcome back, fairy boy."
Link pulled away. "It's good to see you, Malon. How's the ranch?"
Malon shrugged. "It could be worse. The cuckoos are laying more eggs than we can sell, and the cows are giving more milk than ever. Daddy is even helping Ingo."
Link nodded, smiling at Talon's laziness. "I'm back, and I'm going to the Temple of Time at the Princess's request. I don't know what it is, but it's important enough that she sent a platoon of Hyrulian soldiers to escort me."
Malon looked at him with furred eyebrows. "Why are you stopping here then? You should be traveling to the castle."
"We ran into a peahat along the way. We've got casualties, and seeing as how Lon-Lon Milk has so many healing qualities..."
Malon nodded. "I'm sure Daddy will give you some Lon-Lon Milk."
Several hours later Link entered the Temple of Time. The platoon had escorted him to the entrance, but he went inside on his own. Gathered at the doorstep to the Door of Time were the Sages.
He walked up to them, quickly, anxiously. They were all there: Rauro, the architect of the Temple of Time. Saria, his good friend from childhood. Darmia, his Goron Brother whom he shared the kinship that all warriors shared. Ruto, the Zora Princess whom he had loved and still loved secretly, though circumstances prevented their togetherness. Impa, the guardian of Princess Zelda. And Naborou, the Gerudo thief who had helped her people recover from the downfall of Ganondorf. Finally, there was Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, the Seventh Sage, and Link's good friend.
Link unsheathed his sword and walked up to Zelda. He stabbed his sword into the floor and knelt. Then he said the formal words that were not necessary, but were a ritual: "I, your humble servant, am honored to serve you again, great princes."
"Rise, valiant knight," she said with a lifting motion of her hand. "Sir Link, I need the Ocarina of Time."
Link nodded and pulled it from a pouch within his tunic. She bowed her head and she did likewise. Then the Sages formed a semicircle around the Door of Time and Zelda stood at the focus of it, directly in front of the Door.
Then all of the Sages raised instruments. Rauro merely sung, so he had his instrument ready. Saria placed an ocarina, the one that Link had returned to her after he received the Ocarina of Time, to her lips. Darmia already had an array of drums in front of him. Ruto lifted a fishbone guitar. Impa merely brought two fingers to her lips for a whistle. Naborou lifted a Hispanic guitar to her chest.
Then, at Zelda's signal they began to play the Song of Time along with her. When it was finished the Door of Time evaporated, revealing the chamber that held the Master Sword, which was imbedded in a block of granite.
Zelda returned the Ocarina of Time to Link and gestured to the Sword. "It is yours, Hero of Time. You will need to spend no time in the Sacred Realm, as you are an adult in the eyes of the magic now."
Link nodded and walked to the Master Sword. He placed his hands upon the handle and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "I can't."
His words permeated the air. Zelda gasped but Saria hushed her. "No, Link, you can't. Not yet, anyway."
Suddenly a circular glow of blue light descended from one of the many windows in the chamber. As the light descended Link could make out two wings and two feet. The light said, "Welcome back, Link. I'm ready for another adventure, how about you?"
"Navi," Link breathed.
"Good to see you, Link," the fairy greeted.
Link nodded and turned to Zelda. "Now I'm ready."
Zelda smiled a beautiful smile. Link placed his hands upon the blade and lifted. He was momentarily blinded by a flash of brilliant white light...