Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Zelda. In fact, I don't own any Zelda merchandise, either. I made a big, Hylian shield out of poster-board once for my Halloween costume, but that's it. Oh, wait! I forgot! I DO own a really cool Zelda shirt, but I think it's fake. Link's hair is a little bit TOO fluffed in the front, and it says "Zelda Gaiden" on it. But I thought that they'd changed Zelda Gaiden into Majora's Mask early in the production mode, but maybe that's wrong. Uummmm. . . yeah, I think that's enough.

Note: My old english might me a little off, but I tried my hardest. My Webster's Dictionary has all the grammar rules for Ye Olde English usage, but I still might have done something wrong.

Dragonclaw

By Sienna Moony

Chapter Two

Destiny's Beginning

The morning sun shone down on the small village, though blocked in some places by the heavy foliage. The sounds of happy children filled the air, their sprite-like laughter carried by the wind to where the young boy sat, slumped against a log in frustration.

"The goddess does this to mock me, I'm sure of it." He said, kicking up the dirt at his feet. Balls of light rose up from the ground and flew angrily in his face before giving up and rising to the tree tops. The boy heard a deep, booming laughter, and looked up at the old tree.

"They're hardly punishing you, Link. This is a gift." A gaping knot on the side of the mammoth oak would twist and turn as the words were formed.

"A gift!" Link snorted, "Mido and the others get to play, and I'm stuck learning. I'm not even allowed to tell Saria the stuff I learn! It's just no fair!"

The old knot seemed to form a small grin.

"Child, you are learning about the history of your people, and you will one day rejoin them. Saria and Mido will forever be forest children, and will never need to know these things."

Link sighed and looked down at his small hands and feet, his messy blond-red hair falling in his eyes. After a long silence, he looked up at the Deku Tree, squinting from the light in his eyes.

"What does a grown-up look like?" he asked. When the Tree didn't answer, he continued. "If I pray to the goddess, will she make me grow faster?"

The Tree blinked at him.

"Why do you say 'the goddess', Link, when you know there are three?" it asked gently, as if afraid of what the answer might be. Now it was Link's turn for silence. When he finally did answer, his response was hesitant, like it came from his head and his heart wasn't sure if it believed the words.

"Well . . . isn't Din the leader of the three? She must be more important, because she represents power." He said.
The tree let out a huge, shaking sigh. Its branches quivering, it replied.

"No, child. You mustn't ever think that power is more important than wisdom or courage. Nor that courage is more important, nor wisdom. To consider one more necessary than the others would be a weakness, and your eventual downfall. One cannot be successful without an equal balance of all three in the heart and mind."
The Great Tree paused, seeing the confused guilt in the young boy's eyes.

"Do you understand?" it asked. The boy slowly looked up, his eyes shining with emotion, his face strong and determined. The admirable expression was quickly replaced by complete confusion.

"Not really." He said shyly. The Deku Tree smiled.

"You will, Link, you will."

Link grew. He grew at an incredible rate, his shoulders broadened and his legs got longer. Because of his spurt, he had been forced to take up the life of a loner, living in the lost woods. The Kokiri children would only be afraid if they saw him now, so only Saria was allowed to visit him. Apparently, his best friend was a forest oddity. Kokiri were created to tend the forests, child-like sprites never meant to worry. Saria, however, was wise and knowing. She alone could handle the truth, and for that, Link was grateful. He would tell her everything, and she would listen quietly and give her opinion. She would understand every little detail, yet when the dreams started, Link couldn't bring himself to speak of them.


She couldn't sleep. Her eyes blinked in the dark, staring up at the top of her four-post canopy bed. At 15, she was being asked to become queen because of the "accident" that killed her father, the king of Hyrule. That alone wasn't bad. She could grieve for her father and still be a good queen. Impa had raised her strong.
But she knew that they wouldn't care. They would use this time to complete their plan, for her father's death had not been an accident, no matter what the officials believed. He had been murdered, and her father's killer was now after her, as well. She didn't know who the killer was, but she had her suspicions. If she were to suddenly "disappear", the King's general would become the new ruler.
Lord Ganondorf.

The dreams began the same way every night. It would start with a young girl - who looked hauntingly familiar - lieing on her bed. She would jump up, her long, red-gold locks falling around her face. Her large, blue eyes wide with horror . . .


The young princess sat up in her bed, her widened eyes scanning the room through the long hair that hung in her face. She had heard a noise, and she knew already that those Gohma spawns hadn't decided to wait. With all the pain they'd caused, why stop now?

He would watch helplessly as a large man in black, metal body armour charged into the room. The girl would reach under her mattress and pull out a jagged, twisted dagger with strange markings on it. She would lash out at them, not seeing the dark, ominous figure approach her from behind. The figure would reach out and grab her around the neck, she would scream, and all would go black . . .


She grabbed the Sheikahn dagger hidden under her mattress and lunged at the nearest guard, barely missing his neck. She sensed a dark power entering the room, and felt a hand grab her by the neck. She let out a terrified scream and succumbed to darkness.

Link awoke, drenched in a cold sweat. These dreams had to stop! Their intensity increased every time he had one, and it was going to drive him mad. He slipped his tunic over his head and stepped outside to see that it was almost dawn. A bit early, but he had to see the Deku Tree as soon as possible. He made his way through the woods, the moist grass blades sticking to his boots, and came into the forest clearing where the Kokiri lived. His legs carried him to the Tree's field by memory, as his mind was to busy recalling the look of terror on the girl's face and the silent pleading in her eyes. He was lost so deeply in his thoughts that he was surprised to find himself standing near the Deku Tree's largest root. He tapped it gently.

"Great Deku Tree?" he whispered tentatively, "Are you awake?"

The gnarled knot twisted in reply.

"Of course, I've been waiting for you." It said. Link raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Waiting for me, but how-?"

"I knew that the time for thy departure was nigh." It's voice sunk into that formal way of speaking that it had always taken when the topic was Link's "destiny".

"I sensed the changing moons to be making thy nights sleepless. Thy time hath cometh for thee to take leave of mine forest and seeketh thine own true path. Art thou ready?" Link's heart thudded in his chest at the realization that he would finally return to his own country. He gulped nervously, nodding his head.

"Then take this sword, brave lad, for it was your last gift from your mother." It lifted one twisted old root and Link bent down to retrieve the blade buried below. Its sheath was made of old leather, and its hilt somewhat rusted, but it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Link felt the weight in his hands and was immediately comforted by it. He swung it experimentally before sheathing it and strapping it to his back. He looked up at the Tree, a fierce determination in his heart.

"Link . . ." It said in a surprisingly loving tone. "I wish, just for a moment, that I could say you were Kokiri, just so I could believe that it was I who created such a brave, wise, and powerful being. But that would be blasphemous. Only the goddesses themselves could have made such a boy, nay, a man, and you are truly deserving of your birth name . . . Dragonclaw."

The Deku Tree had then given Link instructions on how to exit the forest, and with one last goodbye, he was on his way.